Our first week on the road and we’ve certainly learned a thing or two. In many cases, our expectations didn’t line up with the realities of van life. That being said, I would say it’s better than our expectations. Here are a few of our van life expectations vs. reality.
Parking Overnight
I truly thought that finding a place to park overnight was going to be super stressful, even given the apps that we have downloaded. When you live each day being like – well, we could travel there – it makes it a little hard to plan. Luckily, it hasn’t been too hard for us.
We have been fortunate to use a service called Harvest Hosts. It’s $100 for the year, and it gives you access to a bunch of wineries, farms, breweries, and attractions where you can stay over for free. Of course, you’re expected to spend some money as a thank you for letting you stay. We have done this several times so far, and it’s honestly been so fun. While you may be spending money while you’re there – you’re spending money on an experience and getting a view like no other.
For us, so far, it’s been a mix of harvest hosts and Walmart parking lots – both good in their own unique ways. We have also been fortunate to stay overnight outside of a friend’s place.
Working from The Road
To do this adventure, both Travis and I are working from the road. Travis has his 9-5 job from before that allows him to work remotely indefinitely and I am doing some freelance work, as well as handle most of the day to day planning/chores that comes with the van. I expected that it would be hard to find consistent internet (we have a hotspot) and that we would be on top of each other or distracting each other when we were trying to work.
The reality of it is – while there are times where we get in each other’s way when we have to work from the van, for the most part we are working outside of the van and have our own space. Working from the van mainly happens just when it’s raining, but for the most part, we have been able to utilize public parks for their space and get just as great wifi out there.
Whether we are working from picnic benches or doing our own setup – it’s been easy. Plus, more often than not – we get to work with a beautiful view or take a walk and explore the park when we take a break.
Bathrooms/Showers
Our van doesn’t have a toilet or a good shower – so I was really worried about how we would figure this out on a day-to-day basis. I was expecting it to be a lot harder to find bathrooms easily or be constantly doing our business in a hole we dug in the wilderness. While that will probably be our reality when we are in more remote areas – so far, we haven’t had an issue.
Every public park we have been to has a bathroom that’s been open. Additionally, we have utilized bathrooms in grocery stores, gas stations, and at our Harvest Host accommodations. The only semi-issue for using a bathroom is going in the middle of the night. And that’s why we have a designated “Pee bottle”. Yes, it’s a little gross. But when you have to go – it works perfectly.
For showering, we were gifted with a Planet Fitness membership by some family, which has been a lifesaver.
Eating
Being out on the road, I did have a little bit of a fear of us eating out all the time. It’s so convenient to pop into a fast food restaurant for a quick bite or to go out to a nice meal and eat outside. While we are definitely going to be doing this from time to time, (we do want to try local eats and support the towns we pass through), it hasn’t been the default.
We have been mainly using our camp stove, fridge, and freezer and going grocery shopping every couple of days to keep us going. This has been wonderful for me personally, as I get bored easily. Now we decide what we might want for dinner and only buy enough so we won’t have leftovers. If we do have some leftovers – we have been putting them into ziplock bags and storing it in the fridge. It’s been a good system that’s been working out for us pretty well.
Being Social
When it comes to being social, I thought that we were going to have a hard time finding people to talk to besides each other or when we are visiting with friends of family. This honestly hasn’t been the case at all. No matter where we are or where we park – some people have come up to us and started a conversation.
A lot of times, it’s people who are doing the same thing as us or people who want to be doing the same thing and have questions about it. Sometimes it’s random people see us with Pepper Jack and want to say hello and give him all the love and pets he can get. It’s been so wonderful briefly meeting and talking to people from all over the place, and I’m really looking forward to meeting more people along the way.
Making Decisions
Last but not least – making decisions. I never thought that I would have decision paralysis, but this is something that both Travis and I have experienced when planning out where to go next on our route. While the freedom of being able to go anywhere and/or do anything is really nice – it’s also hard to choose. How DO you choose when there are so many options? Plus, how much do we drive at any one time? We have a very loose plan in place for some sort of structure, but it can all change depending on the weather, literally.
Van life is amazing so far and is both easier than we thought in some ways, and more difficult in other.
Let’s Discuss! Comment Below:
- What are your expectations of van life?
- What has been your biggest challenge with van life?
- Did your van life expectations match up with your reality?
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