I'm Going to Be a Van Dweller - I Think

I came of age in the 70s, a magical time full of peace and love and hippies and people who traveled all over the country in their VW vans. Most of them were not as pristine as the one in this picture, and they were usually painted with wild psychedelic flowers and peace signs, but still, it was so much fun. Nowadays, I am longing for those days. I know I can never get them back, but the world is so evil and full of hate right now. I just want to go back to a simpler time in my life.

Why Van Dwelling?

I'm tired of being stuck in one place, spending all my money on bills and essentials, and never having any fun. I've been watching van dwelling videos, and joining van dwelling groups and forums, and I've just about made up my mind that this is what I want to do -- at least for awhile.

I can't do it right now, because I don't have the money, so I will resign my lease in July and start planning, saving and getting rid of most of what I own. I may not have the money to do it all by mid-July 2018, but I know I can at least get a van and outfit it for simple camping, so that's what I am planning on doing. Of course, best laid plans often go awry, especially mine, so I don't know if I'll actually get there, but this is my plan so far.

Making Money

I had already planned to start working on affiliate marketing to create passive income, so I'm going to kick that plan into high gear. I only need to be making a few hundred extra by the time I leave, and from what I've read, I think I can easily do that in a year. On the road, I'll go to wherever I can get free wifi and still do a little writing for quick cash, plus continue to work on my affiliate marketing plan. I've also considered other income streams, such as a YouTube channel and ebooks. I'll work all that out over the next year.

Pros and Cons of Van Dwelling

There are pros and cons to this lifestyle, and I've considered them all.

Pros:

• Chasing Good Weather - One of the main pros of this lifestyle, of course, will be that I'm not stuck in one place for very long, and can chase pleasant temperatures as money allows. The summers in Florida, as I have said many times before, are brutal for me with my lupus. The van dwelling community has a phrase - "chasing 70" - which means moving to wherever it is around 70F during the day. Of course, that can mean chilly nights, but it also means no steaming hot days when I can't go outside. I can get warmer at night, but it's hard to get cooler during the day without air conditioning.
• Seeing the Country - I've never been much of anywhere, and I've always wanted to see the country "from sea to shining sea," so to speak. I won't have to stay any longer than necessary, so if I get to a place and don't like it, I can leave when money allows and go somewhere else. There is free camping on federal Bureau of Land Management land in national parks and forests all over the country, and even fellow travelers who are willing to let you park a day or two at their place for free. There are special cheap passes for staying in more accommodating places with amenities, like state parks and campgrounds.
• New Friends and New Experiences - The van dwelling community calls themselves a "tribe," and once you've gotten into the tribe, you can make new friends, find traveling companions and even find the love of your life (as some have done). I've become such a loner and so reclusive that I need now to go out and be among like-minded people. I'm hoping it will bring me out of myself a bit.
• Saving Money - Last, but not least, I'll be saving money by living in a van. Here, where the rent is actually cheap for this city, I still spend the bulk of my money on rent and utilities. Although I'll still have bills to pay (auto insurance, gas, maintenance, etc.), it won't be nearly as much as I spend here, and I'll be out seeing and doing and making new friends along the way. I'll never be able to travel if I stay here.

Cons:

There are a great many cons to life in a van, but it really depends on how well set up you are. Some of the major cons are

• Toilet Issues - I start with this because this is my biggest concern. I'm very modest, and sort of squeamish, so the idea of having to use the toilet a couple of feet from where I'm sleeping and having to dump it and such is not appealing to me. However, there are methods of doing this that are more private and less icky, so I'll be using those methods. I don't know how I'll do. I've seen videos of grown men tossing their cookies when they go to dump their potties, so I guess I'll find out.
• Bathing - This is not as big a concern as the toilet stuff, but it does involve water, which is a precious commodity on the road. A lot of van dwellers clean daily with wet wipes and pay for showers somewhere about once a week. I have no problem with sponge bathing, though, and I've had to wash my hair with a gallon of water before, so I think I'll be fine with staying clean. I'm working on find a way to maybe make my own wet wipes to save money. More on that later.
• Bad Weather - During bad weather, you are pretty much stuck in the van, so if you don't have some way to get ventilation, it can get pretty miserable. That will be one of my essentials when I start building out my van is to be sure that if bad weather hits, I'm going to be able to get some air flow. Plus, winds in some locales can get pretty dicey, and being in a van is not always the safest place to be. Your van can get blown over, or if you're in a forest, limbs can come falling down on you. You have to keep up with local weather at all times and be able to move quickly if bad weather threatens.
• Cooking and Refrigeration - Most van dwellers use propane camping stoves to cook, which is fine in most circumstances, and some even cook inside their vans, but I'm not sure I'd like to do that. You can't stand up in most vans, and having an open flame inside that enclosed space doesn't appeal to me. Keeping your food fresh is another challenge. If you can afford to get solar power on your van, you can have a small 12 volt refrigerator, but if you can't, you're relegated to using a cooler and having to buy ice every couple of days. I'm hoping to have solar, but if that doesn't work out before I go, I'm looking into how to get more days out of a block of ice. Meanwhile, I'm going to make sure I have foods I don't have to cook if necessary.

There is a lot more to talk about, but I'll go into that later, as I get further along with my plan, so stay tuned!

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