7 Reasons Why Van Life is the Best
Here are the top 7 reasons why van life is the best. This list may change depending on who you ask but after living in the van for over a year and speaking to others doing the same thing, I think this list covers the major pros of van life.
There are so many pros to van life, this list just names a few. Some of them are more obvious, others you may have not thought of in the way I have. It sounds dramatic but choosing to live this way is literally life changing.
If you take full advantage of this lifestyle, you will experience freedom like you never have, grow so much as a person, and learn to view things from a whole new perspective. And of course, all of this is happening while you are traveling and seeing more of the world than you ever would have otherwise.
After reading this, you're probably going to want to move into a van yourself and experience all it has to offer.
This post is all about the top reasons why van life is the best!
1. Freedom
The freedom you experience while living out of a van (or other rig) is unmatched. You might be thinking “well what about if you’re a digital nomad and get to go to a new country every month?” Yes, I’m sure that provides a whole other sense of freedom that I can’t wait to experience one day. But I still don’t think it provides the ultimate freedom that this lifestyle gives you.
The reason I say that is because you literally have every single thing you need with you at all times. You’re at home wherever you go. You could be in a Walmart parking lot but once your windows are covered, you’re just at home, as much as you would be if you were in the backwoods on the side of a mountain. You could be stranded on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck that can’t come until the next day but it’s fine because you have your home with you.
Not to mention, if you are somewhere that you decide you don’t want to be anymore because you either feel unsafe or you just want a new scenery you can get out of bed and move you and your home somewhere new. It is a feeling that is hard to put into words. I honestly don’t think anything could come close to providing the type of freedom that van life does.
2. Challenging
I know this one sounds like it may belong on the negative side of van life but hear me out. In a world where we have grown accustomed to constantly having a new thing that will make our lives easier, it seems as though we have gotten way too comfortable with never having to challenge ourselves. But doing things that are hard, that’s what makes us grow as people. Living this lifestyle is difficult but in a way, that makes it even more rewarding.
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that it’s not always easy to have that mindset while you are in the midst of dealing with a challenging moment. (For some examples of the not so good stuff, you can check out my other post 7 Reasons Why Van Life Sucks.) But you learn to deal with those things and then when you get to that amazing spot or see an incredible view, you forget all about that other stuff and realize all of that was worth it for this moment.
Like I said, doing hard things makes you grow as an individual, so as you are learning how to deal with these challenging situations you are gaining the knowledge and strength to know how to deal with it better in the future.
3. Travel
This is probably the most obvious of the reasons why van life is the best. There is so much to see in the world and the majority of the population won’t ever get to see or experience even a tiny portion of what this world has to offer. Living on the road allows you to see more than you ever would have otherwise. Places that you didn’t ever consider traveling to before.
For example, I am writing this while parked up in the Georgia mountains, someplace I never imagined being, and let me tell you..those unexpected places end up being some of my favorites. You can go basically anywhere in a van, the mountains, the beach, cities, ect. You can see more of your own country than you could have ever dreamed of and you can even ship your van to another country and explore all they have to offer as well.
4. Simple
We live in a very materialistic world and living a more simple life probably wouldn’t appeal to a big portion of the population. But this is something that really intrigued me.
Of course, I enjoy certain things and appreciate the convenience of today’s technology. But material items have never played a big part in my life. So, when it came time to move from a house into my small van, it was surprisingly easy. And I've even gotten rid of more stuff since being in the van!
Living on the road forces you to cut down a ton of your possessions. You must figure out how to go from an apartment or house into a much, much smaller space. This process makes you figure out what you truly need to live on a daily basis. Obviously, the bigger rig you have, the more stuff you can bring with you. But from my own experience, as well as, other stories I’ve heard, after living on the road a while you realize you don’t even need everything you thought you did.
Living in such a small space, it can get messy and cluttered very easily and if your space is cluttered, your mind will be too. I’ve noticed, the more simple people live, the happier they are.
With that said, you don’t have to just get rid of everything you own. Some people do, but you can figure out what works best for you. Personally, there were some things I didn’t want to get rid of, so I have a small storage unit. There are sentimental items that I didn’t want to part with and I don’t necessarily plan on living on the road the rest of my life so there are some things in there that I would like to have for when I buy a house one day. Now, a storage unit does add an extra expense every month but I’m fine with that so as I said, you will need to figure out what works best for you.
At the end of the day, living a more simple life is very freeing.
5. Save Money
I’m pretty sure this is the one that intrigues people the most about this lifestyle. I see the question a lot, “can you actually save money by doing van life” and the short answer is yes, absolutely you can.
Everybody does van life differently so the monthly expenses while living on the road varies greatly based on who you ask. Some people are still working 9-5 jobs in the city, some are working full time remotely, some trying to start their own businesses, some who work seasonal jobs and then live off their savings the rest of the time, ect. I mention this because the way people make money effects how they live on the road which in-turn effects their monthly expenses.
The most obvious way you will save money is by not having to pay rent/mortgage, as well as, the utilites and other bills that come along with that.
Usually. the biggest expense you have while on the road is gas. So, if you are staying in one spot for a while, you’re obviously going to spend a lot less in gas each month than someone who is constantly moving.
As for other expenses this too will vary greatly depending on who you ask. Some people have more monthly expenses than others, like a large vehicle payment, health insurance, storage unit, vehicle repairs, ect.
The beauty of this lifestyle is that you have more control over your expenses. If you want to spend less in gas, stay in one spot longer. If you don’t want a vehicle payment, get an old van and build it out yourself. If you need more money, find a seasonal job or somewhere hiring where you’re at, work there for some extra cash and then move on when you want to. Get a cheap pour over coffee maker instead of grabbing Starbucks every day. I won’t go over all of the ways to save more money while on the road, but you get the idea. Aside from your “must-have” expenses like car/rv insurance, business expenses, ect, you get to choose how much or how little you spend each month.
6. Learn A Lot
This one closely relates to some of the other points I’ve made but I decided to give it it's own section because it’s a major benefit of this lifestyle, in many different ways.
Build/Maintenance
If you are building out your own rig than you will obviously learn a ton from this process. Unless you have a ton of experience building a tiny home in a vehicle than this will be a huge learning experience for you. It will not be easy and it won't be perfect but you will be so proud of yourself once it is completed and you will have all these new skills that you wouldn’t have otherwise.
No matter if you build out your new home or buy one that is already done, you will no doubt learn about the maintenance along the way. Whether it is with different aspects of your home or the vehicle itself, you will run into issues throughout your journey and have to learn how to fix them. Unfortunately, it is just part of living on the road. But through those difficult moments you will learn new things that will expand your knowledge on your home, and I think that is very empowering.
History
As you travel you will see parts of the country/world that you might’ve not even knew existed. You will learn about the history behind those locations (if you take the time to). You don't have to be a huge history buff starting out, I know I definitely wasn't, but I promise, learning about the past of the spot you are exploring, how it came to be what it is today, makes you appreciate it so much more.
Yourself
I spoke on this earlier in the post but to re-emphasize it, you will learn more about yourself during this journey than you ever could have imagined. Learning how you handle certain situations, what you enjoy doing, what you don’t necessarily enjoy, how to challenge yourself, how to grow, how strong you are, how to have patience, you will learn about different parts of yourself that you may have been “hiding”. I could probably write a whole post about this one, but I’ll keep it simple…learning about yourself though this is so rewarding and doing so will help you in so many different areas of your life.
Problem Solving
I will always be very honest about the struggles of van life. A lot of people tend to think it’s all rainbows and sunshine and some people will get into it and realize there are constantly problems you have to deal with, so they decide it’s not for them.
There will be problems that come up that will force you to either learn a new skill or problem solve in a way you haven’t had to before. I think this is such a valuable thing though, learning how to problem solve like this will help you in a major way moving forward. Whether it’s more van life issues or even after you no longer live on the road, these skills and mindset that you accumulate during these moments will only be beneficial to you in the future.
People
If you are living full time on the road, you are going to be meeting new people everywhere you go. Whether that is someone you pass on a hiking trail, a stranger at the grocery store, new friends at a van life gathering, ect.
Obviously, you need to be smart and conscious of who and what is going on around you, but you will come to find that in general, people are good. If you know me, you know I am a very guarded person, I am not one who easily trusts, but living on the road has honestly made me trust people more.
I’m definitely not saying to just go trust anybody you meet but the longer you live on the road the more you will learn how to listen to your gut and you will learn about people and how to tell whether or not they are kind and genuine.
If you're open to it, sometimes you will get into full conversations with these people and get to hear their stories and learn about a small portion of their lives and that is always rewarding. They may even teach you something valuable or show you a different perspective on something and those unexpected moments are really special.
Nature
This one will cause you to do more research than the others. You will learn how to read maps and find cool spots to sleep.
More importantly though, it will cause you to learn about nature and how to be safe while you are out there. Anytime I get to a new spot (do this before going somewhere you may not have service) I will take some time to learn about the wildlife that is around me. What kind of animals and plants I should be looking out for, what could harm me or my cat.
After learning what is around me, I will take it even further and learn how to defend myself from one of those animals if needed. For example, how to handle an encounter with a black bear vs grizzly bear or what kind of snake is venomous or not. Having this type of knowledge before actually needing it, can literally be the difference between life and death so make sure you are taking the time to learn these things!
7. Healing
It’s important to understand that you can’t just “run away” from your problems. If you think that starting van life will solve all of your life problems, that is definitely not the case. With that said, if you choose to put in the work to heal yourself, this lifestyle can be extremely helpful in that area.
This may not be the case for those that continue to work and live in the city but usually, living this way will force you to spend more time in nature than you ever have before. And guess what, it is scientifically proven that the more time you spend outside and in nature the better off you will be in many different areas of your life. If you don’t believe me, do some research on the topic, there are tons of studies on it! But for the purpose of this post, I’m going to focus on just one of the benefits.
The silence.
Whether you are in the desert, the middle of a forest, or by a body of water, being alone in nature gives you time to think, reflect, learn, understand, and ultimately heal parts of yourself that you probably didn’t take the time to before. In “normal” life we are constantly distracted. There is always something at the tips of your fingertips that will allow you to ignore what’s going on in your head. Trust me, I am a pro at distracting myself. It’s easier than dealing with the tough stuff. But unfortunately, ignoring the issues doesn’t make them go away.
Now, don’t get me wrong, you can still distract yourself with things while you’re in nature but if you truly want to take this opportunity to grow then it’s important to sit in the silence, to take these moments and use them to your benefit. It’s not an easy thing to do when you’re not used to letting your mind wander to all the things you’ve been avoiding but the more you do it, the easier it will get and the more healing it will be.
Immerse yourself in the silence.
There are so many reasons why van life is the best. While it's not always "rainbows and sunshine" the pros still definitely outweigh the cons in my opinion. The benefits of this lifestyle can be life changing if you allow it.
