If you’ve just come from our challenges of Van Life article, here’s a bonus article with a quick fire round of our thoughts on how to get deal with challenges or van life.
Finance
Maintenance and upkeep: Living in a van also requires a certain level of maintenance and upkeep, such as fixing leaks, replacing batteries, and monitoring water levels.
Keep on top of it, it’s part of the course.
Cost: Living in a van can be expensive, especially if you need to make modifications to the van or if you have to pay for overnight parking.
It can be, and all of the tips of living cheaply won’t fit here. It’s likely you’ll find ways to cut your costs after a few weeks or months in the can. And, all the more reason to make your van build as cheap as possible, so you have more money for travelling in it.
Balancing work and travel: When living in a van, you’ll need to find a balance between travelling and working, especially if you need to make a living on the road. This can be challenging, especially if you have a demanding job or schedule.
Try to assemble a routine, as best you can. Find a job where you command the schedule and won’t be called onto random calls. Stick to the same, or near same time zone.
On the road
Privacy and comfort: Privacy can be difficult to come by, and sleeping arrangements can be uncomfortable, especially if there’s a lack of a proper bed or mattress. Living in a van means you’re often in public places, and privacy can be hard to come by. This can be especially challenging for those who are used to having their own space.
Buy a good mattress. Spend time on finishing touches.
Weather and elements: Living in a van means being exposed to the elements and inclement weather, which can make life difficult. Living in a van means you’re exposed to the elements, and inclement weather can make life difficult. This can be especially challenging in cold or wet climates.
Have indoor activities and a process for getting back into the van after being rained on.
Lack of amenities: Van life often means giving up the comforts of home, such as a full kitchen, comfortable bed, and private bathroom.
Embrace it.
Accessing wifi and power (particularly in stormy weather): like data, signal, Wi-Fi and electricity can be challenging.
Check review on Park4Night. Get local sim cards and do a bit of research to pick one with good coverage. Plan your electricity needs.
Constant checks, maintenance and repairs: Living in a van means that you’ll need to be able to perform basic maintenance and repairs on your vehicle. Living in a van requires a certain level of maintenance and upkeep, including fixing leaks, replacing batteries, and monitoring water levels.
Part of the deal. Don’t do it at your peril. Set aside an hour on a Sunday morning.
Limited space: Living in a van means living in a small, confined space. This can be difficult for some people, especially if they’re used to having more room.
Get outside.
Parking issues: It can sometimes be really hard to find a place to park up, either for the day or for an overnight. Places are full, your van doesn’t fit under the height restriction, there are prohibited signs up everyone. It becomes pretty stressful pretty quickly when it’s dark and you’re driving around aimlessly looking for somewhere – nay, anywhere – to park
Use Park4Night
Safety and security: Safety and security can be a concern when living in a van, especially when parked in remote or unfamiliar locations. This includes finding somewhere you aren’t going to get moved on or disturbed, as well as feeling comfortable leaving the van and not getting broken into.
Park4Night. Safety in numbers. Park under lights. Read our guide on security
Difficulty finding toilets and showers: This can be a biggie.
Get a toilet inside your van. Visit fancy hotels.
Lack of personal space: If you’re travelling with someone, then you’re always with that person. And when you get into routines it can be hard to find time for yourself, especially when you both want to do whatever the best thing in front of you is. It’s easy to fall into a trap where in theory you have all of the time in the world but in reality none of it is just for you.
Get comfortable being in view of people
Decision fatigue: Urgh, the biggest, most annoying thing about travelling in a van is the constant number of decisions you have to make. Where to go next, what’s the best way to get there, what shall we do when we’re there? Where’s the best place to get a coffee or to eat dinner? Shall we go to the Aldi on the way there?
Take it in turns. Ask less questions and take a stance that good is good enough.
FOMO: You can only be in one place and dealing with the fear of missing out is real.
Balance research with spontaneity and just get over it.
Constant chores: When you have a van you are in charge of all the vans inputs and outputs. That means you need to constantly be making sure you have sunlight, you have a water source, you have a place to empty your grey waste and toilet. The trade off of an outdoor lifestyle is that so much sand and dirt is always blown in with the wind. Every bit of dirt you bring in with you, takes up much more space in a van than in a house, so be prepared to clean a lot. You’re always sweeping. Your bin is small so you’re always emptying it.
Make your cleaning stuff easy to access. Have a pack down routine. Don’t stress too much. Share the cleaning.
Limited storage: Storage space is limited in a van, and you’ll need to be creative in finding ways to store all your belongings.
Build with dedicated space for things and ruthlessly leave things behind/ sell them or find a way to give/ recycle things that don’t make the cut. Remember, you don’t want to leave on a trip with a full van, because you will pick things up on the way.
Navigating road/ local laws: It’s important to be aware of these laws and to obey them to avoid getting into trouble. In Bosnia we got fined for not having our lights on, in broad daylight. Depending on where you are, there may be restrictions on where you can park and sleep in your van. As an example, Albania is very camper friendly, Croatia is not. You can park most places in the former and if you do the same in the latter you will get a fine.
Bit of research up front. The RAC site is pretty good.
Limited access to laundry facilities: Doing laundry is a real pain, this is what happens. You save up laundry because often it’s expensive in campsites, so you want to get a full load in. Plus you don’t want to beat campsites. What ends up happening is you have two or three full loads (with towels and bedding and stuff) when you get the only campsite with a €2 washing machine for 100 miles. But, everyone else has all their washing so you need to wait, or get up super early. Then load after load goes in and you realise the washing machines are shite and not really cleaning your stuff, and you don’t have enough space to hang the washing up because the campsite pitches are either in shade or don’t have anywhere to place your lines. And the spin setting doesn’t work. And then it starts to get dark because you’ve not got the wash on until midday and you end up needing to take all your clothes inside the van overnight where everything gets damp. And you spend the next day trying to dry everything out. You think this is such crap I’m not doing this again for ages, and so the cycle continues.
Pick a sunny day, get the wash on quickly, don’t be afraid to pay for a wash, the free ones are usually terrible and very busy. Get your own washing line.
Mechanical issue and Dealing with breakdowns: Living in a van means you’re relying on your vehicle to be your home, and breakdowns can be a major inconvenience. Breakdowns can be a major inconvenience when living in a van, especially if you’re in a remote area.
Breakdown cover
Dealing with waste: When living in a van, you’ll need to find ways to manage your waste, whether it’s food waste, grey water, or human waste.
Park4Night will help. Lots of campsites will let you go in and dump stuff for a small fee, which is better than paying for the night there (unless you are doing washing).
Health
Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle: It can be challenging to maintain a healthy lifestyle while living in a van, as access to nutritious food, exercise equipment, and healthcare can be limited.
Cook your own food. Keep a diary of it. We eat a vegetarian diet in the van and try to get 30 different plant based foods down our gullet each week. Drink water. Do something physical each day. Try to avoid those 4pm beers sitting in the sun on a few days of the week.
Social Interaction: Van life can be isolating, and it can be difficult to find opportunities for social interaction. Living in a van can sometimes lead to feelings of loneliness and social isolation, especially if you’re travelling solo.
Try talking to some people. Make more effort with friends at home.
Lack of stability: No permanent address and the need to constantly move to new locations
Part of the course.
Inconvenient sleeping arrangements: Sleeping in a van can be uncomfortable, especially if you don’t have a good bed or mattress. You may also find it difficult to find a safe and quiet place to park for the night.
Black out blinds. Comfortable mattress. Pick a good spot on Park4Night.
Miscellaneous
Lots of people don’t like van lifers: Also, some do.
Definitely don’t go around attracting lots of attention to yourselves. Don’t park up in front of peoples houses/ blocking views. Smile. Say good morning or good evening in the local language. Represent the Van Life tribe.
Environmental Impact: Living in a van may have an impact on the environment, particularly in regards to waste management and resource conservation.
Be thoughtful about your impact on the environment. You are already a step ahead if you have things like solar panels on your roof. A good rule of thumb is leave no trace. A great rule of thumb is to leave a place better than you found it.