what do you think about #vanlife
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more_oomph
Posts: 112 Member
in Chit-Chat
good for them?
damn hippies?
the only thing that makes me uneasy about this phenomenon is the current trend of brand new $50k sprinter vans with all the bell & whistles. It used to be that van lifers would convert old RV's or a magic school bus, there was a frugality involved. but now it seems like your van ain't sexy if the interior isn't decked out in wood panels cut from fresh cedar.
damn hippies?
the only thing that makes me uneasy about this phenomenon is the current trend of brand new $50k sprinter vans with all the bell & whistles. It used to be that van lifers would convert old RV's or a magic school bus, there was a frugality involved. but now it seems like your van ain't sexy if the interior isn't decked out in wood panels cut from fresh cedar.
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I think vanlife is so popular because the housing market is insane, rent is insane, wages are low and a lot of people have student loans. 🤷🏻♀️ What else is there if you weren’t left a place by a relative?
As far as the decked out stuff, idk they just want to be trendy?2 -
I think a lot of people really just like the "extreme" of van life or years back, tiny houses. If they like it, great!
Much of the time, though...I think they could probably have a minimalist lifestyle that is a lot more user-friendly and within societal "norms" but still benefit financially and ecologically. That's kind of what I aim for, myself.
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Didn't work out so well for Gabbie Petito.
I've always dreamed of taking to the road and just going wherever the wind blows. Back when I was 21, a motorcycle was my fantasy. Now in my senior years, a camper would be my fantasy. Or an extremely rich long-lost uncle who left me millions so I could afford hotels.
There are so many places to see in America and I'd love to see them all.2 -
I can see the appeal to a nomadic life if I were kidless and had the means to do so, but it would certainly take its toll mentally especially when you add a partner to the mix. I've read so many experiences of people that are part of the vanlife lifestyle, and they said communication is key so when an argument or disagreement comes up you need to have a plan of how to handle it. One stays in the van, one goes outside or whatever.
But I do think it's really cool that you can change the view outside your window and really see the world in a different way.0 -
I don't trust anything with a hashtag to be honest/sincere.2
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Are you asking about the actual practicalities of living in a van, or commenting about the social media phenomenon on the hashtag #vanlife.
Because there's a huge difference between living in a van and living in a van on social media.3 -
Are you asking about the actual practicalities of living in a van, or commenting about the social media phenomenon on the hashtag #vanlife.
Because there's a huge difference between living in a van and living in a van on social media.
Yep. Vanlife is huge with my hiking and mountain biking friends that love to travel. Can fit their bikes in fhe vehicle for security and still have a bed and kitchen. They all have homes tho.
I know one person that lives vanlife and it doesnt seem easy or practical at all. Seems like a great hobby and I'd leave it at that.0 -
I have been intrigued by the idea since I love travel and nature. However, I do not buy into the IG #vanlife hype where every post is perfect scenery from the van POV (usually includes a young woman in a bikini as well for some reason). Like @Butt_Snorkeler mentioned, not an easy life style at all. Probably a cool experience for a young person though.0
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I would have liked it for a time when I was younger, single, and no kids. We were just in Moab, UT a couple of weeks ago and I got to chatting with our river rafting guide on the way out to the launch site. She's in her early 20s and doing the van thing. It didn't sound like she was planning to go through her entire life that way, but she sounds like she's having fun for the moment.
She's been doing it for a few years and just goes from cool destination to cool destination namely river rafting and working ski patrol and bartending part time to supplement those incomes. She typically takes off two months per year to travel...one month at the tail end of rafting season but before ski season, and a month after ski season but before rafting season.
Seems like a fun thing to do while you're young and you don't have any other obligations to worry about. She bought a used Sprinter cargo van and had a conversion done for camping/living. It didn't sound cheap, but also not overly expensive and she pays less per month than she would for rent on an apartment most places, and certainly the places she's traveling to for work. Another nice thing about Sprinter vans is that, at least where I live, they maintain their value very well so they're a pretty good investment if you're going to do the whole van thing...even more so if they've been professionally converted to a camper van. In the current climate I'd wager she could actually sell hers for more than she paid for it...I certainly know that is the case for my little RV trailer anyway, which is very tempting.
ETA: Years ago when I waited tables we had four waitstaff that did the nomad thing, just going all over the place waiting tables or bartending and then moving onto the next when they got bored...usually six months or a year when their lease would come up. They didn't do the van thing and had apartments, but the van thing in the current climate would be a much more frugal approach.1 -
more_oomph wrote: »good for them?
damn hippies?
the only thing that makes me uneasy about this phenomenon is the current trend of brand new $50k sprinter vans with all the bell & whistles. It used to be that van lifers would convert old RV's or a magic school bus, there was a frugality involved. but now it seems like your van ain't sexy if the interior isn't decked out in wood panels cut from fresh cedar.
There's essentially no difference (in my opinion) between RVing everywhere and "van life". Both are about escapism to the outdoors, while maintaining some (or most) of the amenities of home life (a home on wheels essentially). Both have pretty much the same pros and cons. Plenty of (usually) older people I know gave up their homes to tool around in an RV with all the bells and whistles. The only difference between a van and an RV is the space. Van life seems to be something more younger people are interested in, but I've encountered older people who reside in decked out conversion vans, as well. I have yet to see a good "van life" van go for less than $80k though.. and that was pre-pandemic. I'm guessing it's more costly now given that so many SUVs, trucks and vans all require the same microchip manufacturer that was hit hard by Covid issues.
But both versions of free spirited living come with the same cons: small spaces, no escape from partners, children, pets, etc., lack of storage, cost of gas, finding places you can park the thing for the least amount of money (or free if you're lucky), managing to get it around in certain parts of national or state parks (RVs might have a one up on this depending on what vehicle(s) you tote around with you), etc.
It can work for anyone, BUT it takes a massive commitment and if you are traveling/living with other people, you have to be 100% comfortable with being around them 100% of the time or knowing how to go on hikes, surf, walk around, etc. for mental health breaks for them.
I think what bothers me most about either is how expensive either pastime is, even pre-pandemic before shortages. Expensive in up-front costs, anyway. It might equalize depending on how often you utilize your vehicles, how well you upkeep them, how you mitigate gas costs and the like. I think I also dislike (for van life currently) the glamorizing of it as though it's something only young people do.. even though most young people I know in the "age bracket" couldn't afford the vans the show on Instagram or in FB groups. It just feels like you're selling an ideal without mentioning any of the negative points, which just sets people up for failure if that is, in fact, their current dream.
I also kinda miss the days of them repurposing and decking out old vehicles to convert for their vans, but also.. that's not cheap anymore, either. The "sexy" van might be the cheaper option these days, sadly.1 -
Live in your car for a week, then get back to me with an opinion of “Van Life”
Been there. Done that.
Only it was two years.
When I was ~ 20ish I also spent many months hiking/wandering around Canada and SE Alaska living out of a small tent.
Zero regrets. But it definitely isn’t for everyone.
The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.0 -
My sister isn't a social media person at all, and she and her husband spend months at a time traveling in their van.
That's why I asked if this question is about the social media culture of it or what the experience is actually like.
She would have no idea what the expectations are in the hashtag world of #vanlife, and I don't think she even knows it's a trend. Her only social media account is LinkedIn and she doesn't know how to use it.
Her husband is a carpenter, so he built their setup and it's quite nice and very functional. They're woodsy people who love mountain biking, and he lived nomadically for 15 years, so they're pretty comfortable with it.
They're starting to make noises about getting a bit old for it though. I rented a condo in the same area they were traveling recently, and they really, really loved having access to a proper shower and some sofas for a few days mid trip.
I know I'm personally WAY too soft for that kind of travel. My sister loves it, but I like proper plumbing in the middle of the night.0 -
KosmosKitten wrote: »more_oomph wrote: »good for them?
damn hippies?
the only thing that makes me uneasy about this phenomenon is the current trend of brand new $50k sprinter vans with all the bell & whistles. It used to be that van lifers would convert old RV's or a magic school bus, there was a frugality involved. but now it seems like your van ain't sexy if the interior isn't decked out in wood panels cut from fresh cedar.
I think I also dislike (for van life currently) the glamorizing of it as though it's something only young people do.. even though most young people I know in the "age bracket" couldn't afford the vans the show on Instagram or in FB groups. .
Actually might be surprised. I don't really know much about #vanlife on Instagram and such, but as mentioned in my previous post our Moab river guide is doing the van thing as were most of the guides out there. Most of them were in their early to mid 20s with several of them late 20s and early 30s.
An RV or camper van can be financed very similarly to a home loan and you can get a tax break on the interest just like a home mortgage. In the case of Sprinter vans, there are places like Umpqua Bank who will issue you a vehicle loan for the cost of the vehicle purchase and then issue a line of credit for the buildout and once complete the vehicle loan and line of credit are refinanced with a long term RV loan...typically 15 years. I believe you can also do it directly through Mercedes Benz financial with more favorable interest rates, but a higher bar for qualification. That said, I would also believe that many of these folks posting #vanlife are likely to be what I call "trustafarians"...though our Moab guide didn't seem to be, but who knows.
Obviously you have to be committed, but it is typically cheaper monthly payments than renting an apartment these days, not to mention you can move from place to place as often as you want without being tied into lease agreements for an apartment rental if being a nomad is your thing and your van is your full time home. I'm sure it's not as glamorous as Instagram posts, but nothing about Instagram is real life. All of the guides we came across who were doing this though seemed like they were living their best life for the most part and just enjoying the freedom of not being tethered to any one place.0 -
My sister isn't a social media person at all, and she and her husband spend months at a time traveling in their van.
That's why I asked if this question is about the social media culture of it or what the experience is actually like.
She would have no idea what the expectations are in the hashtag world of #vanlife, and I don't think she even knows it's a trend. Her only social media account is LinkedIn and she doesn't know how to use it.
Her husband is a carpenter, so he built their setup and it's quite nice and very functional. They're woodsy people who love mountain biking, and he lived nomadically for 15 years, so they're pretty comfortable with it.
They're starting to make noises about getting a bit old for it though. I rented a condo in the same area they were traveling recently, and they really, really loved having access to a proper shower and some sofas for a few days mid trip.
I know I'm personally WAY too soft for that kind of travel. My sister loves it, but I like proper plumbing in the middle of the night.
They honestly sound like *the* quintessential people nomadic living would work for. Which is cool; happy to see people doing what they want and getting along while doing it for so long. I can imagine that at some point, as you get older, living in your van all the time might see you waking up with more aches and pains than maybe you'd want... and that's fine, too if they decide to trade in for something else.
But it also sounds like your sister and her partner knew what to maybe expect with living in a van (as a choice, that is). Similar in a lot of ways to camping in tents for extended periods of time, but with slightly better options (as far as the elements are concerned) and that they've somehow managed reasonably well for all that time. It also sounds like they came to the conclusion on their own (without any influence of social media... 15 years seems like so long ago! Instagram definitely wasn't around then!). Have they ever expressed where the idea came to them? As others have mentioned, living out of a van isn't a *new* concept, although the kinds of vans you see these days are definitely shinier, upscale models of the old ones they used to use/convert.
I also wonder if part of the semi-resurgence (again, pre-pandemic) of van life/nomadic living is related at all to more people valuing "tiny homes" and semi-portable homes that started up in the mid 2010s?0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »KosmosKitten wrote: »more_oomph wrote: »good for them?
damn hippies?
the only thing that makes me uneasy about this phenomenon is the current trend of brand new $50k sprinter vans with all the bell & whistles. It used to be that van lifers would convert old RV's or a magic school bus, there was a frugality involved. but now it seems like your van ain't sexy if the interior isn't decked out in wood panels cut from fresh cedar.
I think I also dislike (for van life currently) the glamorizing of it as though it's something only young people do.. even though most young people I know in the "age bracket" couldn't afford the vans the show on Instagram or in FB groups. .
Actually might be surprised. I don't really know much about #vanlife on Instagram and such, but as mentioned in my previous post our Moab river guide is doing the van thing as were most of the guides out there. Most of them were in their early to mid 20s with several of them late 20s and early 30s.
An RV or camper van can be financed very similarly to a home loan and you can get a tax break on the interest just like a home mortgage. In the case of Sprinter vans, there are places like Umpqua Bank who will issue you a vehicle loan for the cost of the vehicle purchase and then issue a line of credit for the buildout and once complete the vehicle loan and line of credit are refinanced with a long term RV loan...typically 15 years. I believe you can also do it directly through Mercedes Benz financial with more favorable interest rates, but a higher bar for qualification. That said, I would also believe that many of these folks posting #vanlife are likely to be what I call "trustafarians"...though our Moab guide didn't seem to be, but who knows.
Obviously you have to be committed, but it is typically cheaper monthly payments than renting an apartment these days, not to mention you can move from place to place as often as you want without being tied into lease agreements for an apartment rental if being a nomad is your thing and your van is your full time home. I'm sure it's not as glamorous as Instagram posts, but nothing about Instagram is real life. All of the guides we came across who were doing this though seemed like they were living their best life for the most part and just enjoying the freedom of not being tethered to any one place.
Interesting. Also, ha ha, "trustafarians". I love it.
Most of the people I know who are nomadic/semi-nomadic are very down-to-earth and more akin to the guides you've encountered. They do it because they love it and they hated being tethered down to an apartment in a city or even a home in the suburbs. I think it helps that the jobs they have (or things they do for spare cash) are things you can do in a tent/outdoors/on-the-go (photography, tour guides or park guides, illustration, craftmanship type things, etc.).
Your point about financing is interesting since it's not something I'd considered. I've gotten so used to having to pay rent for places due to my partner's job (we move every few years, so buying a home isn't really an option right now). I also wasn't aware that the companies themselves would issue lines of credit for such things. I wonder what the interest is like on some of them, though?
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KosmosKitten wrote: »My sister isn't a social media person at all, and she and her husband spend months at a time traveling in their van.
That's why I asked if this question is about the social media culture of it or what the experience is actually like.
She would have no idea what the expectations are in the hashtag world of #vanlife, and I don't think she even knows it's a trend. Her only social media account is LinkedIn and she doesn't know how to use it.
Her husband is a carpenter, so he built their setup and it's quite nice and very functional. They're woodsy people who love mountain biking, and he lived nomadically for 15 years, so they're pretty comfortable with it.
They're starting to make noises about getting a bit old for it though. I rented a condo in the same area they were traveling recently, and they really, really loved having access to a proper shower and some sofas for a few days mid trip.
I know I'm personally WAY too soft for that kind of travel. My sister loves it, but I like proper plumbing in the middle of the night.
They honestly sound like *the* quintessential people nomadic living would work for. Which is cool; happy to see people doing what they want and getting along while doing it for so long. I can imagine that at some point, as you get older, living in your van all the time might see you waking up with more aches and pains than maybe you'd want... and that's fine, too if they decide to trade in for something else.
But it also sounds like your sister and her partner knew what to maybe expect with living in a van (as a choice, that is). Similar in a lot of ways to camping in tents for extended periods of time, but with slightly better options (as far as the elements are concerned) and that they've somehow managed reasonably well for all that time. It also sounds like they came to the conclusion on their own (without any influence of social media... 15 years seems like so long ago! Instagram definitely wasn't around then!). Have they ever expressed where the idea came to them? As others have mentioned, living out of a van isn't a *new* concept, although the kinds of vans you see these days are definitely shinier, upscale models of the old ones they used to use/convert.
I also wonder if part of the semi-resurgence (again, pre-pandemic) of van life/nomadic living is related at all to more people valuing "tiny homes" and semi-portable homes that started up in the mid 2010s?
They don't live in their van, they have a nice big beautiful house in the country that he built, so they're not tiny house people at all. But they do travel for months at a time in their van, and they are generally minimalists.
He lived nomadically around the world for years because of his work, he settled down when he married her. Before that, she had backpacked for 6 months at a time herself in her 20s. So I don't think there was so much an idea of #vanlife for them so much as just a natural progression.
They used to really be into harsher tent camping that required a lot of hiking, but they got really into mountain biking, so the van is a major step up in terms of comfort and luxury.
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