What’s better then getting some real life insight from real time van lifers? We asked some of our favorite #vanlife friends to share their pro’s and con’s of living this lifestyle so it could be a resource to you! Whether you’re getting ready to hit the road or you’re still contemplating the lifestyle, there’s a lot of different opinions among those who live van life. There’s a range of individuals who shared below from families, to couples, to solo van dwellers.
Kyle + Tiffany @rambleandrevive:
“The Pros and Cons of van life are interchangeable depending on the setting and circumstances. One of our biggest pros is the ability to be so close as a family. But if you're having an off day and need space or perhaps need to get work done, everyone being so close can quickly turn to a con. The same goes with things like finding where to sleep. It's alot of fun and a big pro to search out places to stay others can only dream about. But when you're in an area that is opposed to this lifestyle, having to find place to park for the night can be a con. Nevertheless, the pros of van life vastly outweigh the cons. Being able to live a life of adventure and exploration is well worth any small "con" we have to endure along the way.”
Isak + Maria @isakandmaria
"If you’re willing to sacrifice convenience, #vanlife opens your life up to amazing opportunities. Maria and I used to spend all year waiting and daydreaming for our one-week vacation. Now we spend almost every day in places we’d always dreamed of exploring: mountain towns, national parks, and ski resorts. We get to spend our days working and exploring new places together instead of being in separate offices across the city. Sure, showering, cooking and day-to-day life can be harder in a small space. But in exchange, we get exponentially more freedom and intentionality to live life according to our terms. And that’s well worth sacrificing a little convenience."
Kristin @wheretheroadforks
Pros: My absolutely favorite part about van life is having the freedom to move wherever and whenever I want. I can take my time in some places or pass through quickly if I want. The US has some incredibly diverse landscape (especially waterfalls!) and I have the ability to see it all in my own timing. I’m also extremely blessed to be able to take my dogs with me along my travels and share those special moments with my kiddos. Connecting with fellow nomads along the road is also something I love about this lifestyle. It’s so nice to connect with people who have similar dreams and passions.
Cons: I work a corporate job remotely and I still have “office hours” on the road. One of the most difficult things for me is having reliable cell service. National Parks and Forests don’t have great cell service so I have to be very intentional about where I’m parking overnight. I’m pretty independent, but it’s still hard to not have those I’m closest to on the journey with me. Especially in the stressful moments, I find myself really wishing I had my support system. The absolutely worst part about living on the road is missing my nieces grow up. Luckily, we live in a era with great technology, but it’s still hard to watch them grow from afar.
Natacha + Vincent @misslollipopthevan
“We love living the van life, but as everything in life there are pros and cons. What we live about it is discovering so many beautiful places and having the freedom to go wherever we want. WE find it very liberating to live in a van and have everything we own in our small place. There is a freedom that comes with that. Also as mountain bikers and skiers, with this lifestyle we are able to go practice our passion in lots of amazing places. As for the cons, the fact that you have to find water to fill up your jug constantly and a place to empty the gray water and our toilet can definitively be a challenge. We also have an outdoor shower so it makes shower easier but we have to find the right place to be able to use it. We would say the cons is that it is taking a bit more organization to make sure that basic need are being fulfilled. A big cons for us is that we both work on the road so often we can go to far in nature because we don’t have good connection.”
Orry, Carroll Marie + Etta Rose @summitoffreedom
“A lot of people see the glamorous side of vanlife on Instagram, but I’m always quick to remind everyone that we are living in a VAN, haha, and there are pros and cons. The first con that always comes to mind for me is having to hand wash dishes. It’s the pits. Traveling with a kid can mean less privacy and date nights. And, as we have recently learned, having your car and home be one in the same can be hard if the car needs to be worked on. However, the positives kill the negatives, hands down. We get watch our daughter grow and learn with the world as her classroom which is incomparable. My husband and I’s dreams are coming true traveling all over the country. Our ever-changing front porch view makes any and every con worth it. This life isn’t for everyone, but we wouldn’t change it!!”
Courtney @earthcoco_
When living in a van was just an idea, I later realized that those ideas were quite romanticized. As if the difficulties of life on life's terms wouldn't matter because I was living this awesome vanlife dream. BUT life is still life, and sometimes it's harder in the van because it forces you to deal with your sh*t. You can't really run away or distract yourself as easily. The positive part was for me was the ability to be outside almost every single day. That kind of lifestyle has a way of making you super grateful and remember what's actually important.
Lindsey + Danny @lindseyanddannyvanlife
“Just like everything in life, van life has it’s pros and its cons. It’s a life that has served us well and allowed us to re-focus on our wants and needs for this lifetime. We have only been on the road for less than a year and we already see the magic that it possesses. The hardships or cons, for us, are not deterrents from the lifestyle because we’ve realized that 9 times out of 10 that “con” generally turns into something that helps us grow into a better version of ourselves. Maybe it teaches us a new skill, or in most cases, it just plain out sharpens our abilities to conform to the situation at hand, even when it’s not ideal.
Pros: Mobility: Now, it’s really hard to pinpoint what our number one favorite is because for us van life has provided so many positive attributes to our life. One of our top 5 and the reason on why we moved into a van initially is that it allows us to be more mobile. Danny is a traveling nurse, so we move every 3-12 months to a new city to fulfill hospital needs. We were getting killed financially from all of the apartment fees and moving companies, so now all we have to do is jump into the driver's seat and head off to the next contract (with not having to pack a single box). We park in residential when in the city (for free), and then disperse camp in nature on days that Danny has off. We like always being on the go, and having our backyard be an ever-changing scenery. We have doubled if not tripled our adventure time because of our ability to be more mobile. Van life has given us the ability to simultaneously combine our two worlds, homelife and adventure, so that we no longer have to choose. The COMMUNITY (insert a chorus singing hallelujah): With living nomadically, we found that it was so hard to build a solid friend base when you are constantly on the move. We felt isolated and lonely a lot, but that all changed when we embraced van life. I am still taken aback about the genuine friendships we have built in the short amount of time we have lived in this van. Oh, and don’t even get me started on how freaking cool gatherings are. THEY ARE THE BEST!!! Just imagine all walks of life and all different backgrounds coming together and spending their time just based on a notion that if you live this alternative lifestyle, then you are good in my book. No drama was present, not one fight was started, and generally a good ole makeshift band will start up once the sun goes down. We all just want to be present with each other and celebrate this alternative lifestyle that most of the world will never understand. It kind of reminded me of Woodstock a little. It was just such an honor to be amongst these unique and beautiful souls that I probably wouldn’t have ever gotten the chance to meet if it wasn’t for van life.
Cons: Personal Space… now what does that feel like again? For me, Lindsey, this is one of the biggest cons. The utter lack of personal space is somewhat comical at times. I am a person that likes my “bubble” and I am fiercely independent. It took me… well who are we kidding, it is still taking me a hot minute to get used to always having someone in my way or having to always compromise on how we spend our “free” time. When in the city, I have found that sometimes escaping to the cab when Danny is in the cargo to be a nice little getaway. It allows me to inward think or get work done with less distractions. If we are in nature, then shoot I just go outside. The outdoors become our living room, and our space becomes infinite. The Sacred Water: When living in a van, you no longer have this endless supply of water. Showers are few and far in between, and dishes take way longer than they ever did in a brick and mortar because you are trying to conserve every single drop. It is a constant dance of turning on and off the facet… and when I say turn on, I mean tricking stream. Don’t get me wrong, I was already conscious about our water usage before living van life, like always turning off the water while brushing your teeth or not always flushing the toilet when you go #1, but living in a van, your water conservation skills become Jedi level. You only have “x” number of gallons of water, and you want it to last as long as it possibly can. We generally can only stay off-grid for 5-7 days because of water, it is always the first resource that we run out of.”
