Van Life Expenses and Month in Review: June 2026

Check out how our stats and how much we spent on van life.

We started a series showing some of our stats each month to show you how possible it is and how affordable it can be to live the van life. You don’t have to be rich - you just have to know how to work it. 😉

Are there other things you’d like to see listed? Anything you’re wondering about? Let us know and we can add it to our month in review list.

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Month in Review

Miles driven: ~2,500

States visited:

• Iowa

• Nebraska

• Wyoming

• Idaho

Longest drive day: 231 miles (June 9)

Shortest drive day: 6 miles (June 29)

Where we’re headed next:
We’re making our way toward the Boise/Meridian area for my company’s annual convention! 😍

Stays

• Visit with friends: 4 nights

• Nights in the van: 26

Of those 26 van nights:

• Campgrounds: 8 nights

• Harvest Hosts: 5 nights

• Parking lots (rest areas, big box stores, travel stations, etc.): 12 nights

• Dispersed camping: 1 night

Van Life Expenses

• Free nights: 22

• Campground costs: $142.79

• Savings with various discounts: $86.21

• Harvest Hosts expenditures: $108.43

  • (Donations, food, drinks, electricity)

• Average camping cost per night: $4.76

We spent more than usual on campgrounds this month because we chose to stay inside Yellowstone National Park. It was worth every penny!

Other Travel Expenses

• Groceries: ~$427

• Restaurants: ~$154

• Gas: ~$640

• Laundry: $20

• Entertainment & special attractions: $47

Total: About $1,539

Of course, we still have the regular monthly expenses that we’d have whether we lived in a traditional home or traveled full-time, so those aren’t included here.

Gas prices definitely played a role in our higher costs this month, and we also treated ourselves to eating out a little more often than usual.

Does this look like what you expected? Is there anything you’d like us to include in future monthly recaps? Let us know in the comments!

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