I live in a van full-time — here are the downsides no one talks about

  • 📰 BusinessInsider
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 86 sec. here
  • 3 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 38%
  • Publisher: 51%

Finance Finance Headlines News

I've lived in a van full-time for 3 years. Here are the 5 biggest downsides no one talks about.

Everyday tasks can be exhausting, like getting a glass of clean water.Back in 2018, my boyfriend Nick and I traveled to Cambodia to teach English. At the time we were living out of our backpacks when I found van life videos on YouTube. I just remember thinking, wow, that would be such a cool way to travel.

Now that we've lived out of our van for three years, we've learned a lot along the way. Although we wouldn't trade van life for anything, here are five things you should know before trying it for yourself.When you're staying in a house, and you want a glass of water, you just head over to the tap, where people usually have an endless supply.

This also all changes by the geographic location you're in. Are you off grid? Are you close to the city? Can you fill up your water tank right away? Or, maybe you will have to wait. This all changes your consumption. But then, you have your car insurance, your oil changes, and another is a gym membership. While the gym might seem optional, that is where most who choose van life shower. For us, our breakdown looks like this:Gas: $800 a month Then there's the biggest expense, van breakdowns. Once we were on a trip through the USA, and ours broke when we were in San Diego. It was stressful, as we were quoted $3,000 which is $4,500 Canadian dollars.

We are lucky with ours. Since it's an ambulance conversion, it has the typical chevy engine. It's cheap to source and most mechanics can work on it.There is a lot of misunderstanding when it comes to sustaining van life. Many think, people who participate in van life don't work, or we don't have real jobs. While some who live in their vans might be rich, or have trust funds, that's not true for all of us. The social stigmas are very loud, but the truth is just like everyone else, we are all different.You have to put in a lot of work to maintain friendships and relationships. You have to make the time, and make the calls, in order to stay in touch.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 729. in FİNANCE

Finance Finance Latest News, Finance Finance Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

How to support the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, Hollywood writers, actorsHow to support the SAG-AFTRA/WGA strike: Streaming TV shows, going to movie theaters doesn't cross the picket line
Source: BusinessInsider - 🏆 729. / 51 Read more »

Meet the typical shopper who participated in Amazon Prime Day 2023Insider tells the global tech, finance, markets, media, healthcare, and strategy stories you want to know.
Source: BusinessInsider - 🏆 729. / 51 Read more »

10 under-the-radar towns for Airbnb and Vrbo hostsInsider tells the global tech, finance, markets, media, healthcare, and strategy stories you want to know.
Source: BusinessInsider - 🏆 729. / 51 Read more »

9 ways to use ChatGPT Plus' Code Interpreter plug-in to crunch dataInsider tells the global tech, finance, markets, media, healthcare, and strategy stories you want to know.
Source: BusinessInsider - 🏆 729. / 51 Read more »

Stock market crash: Expert warns of bubble, says reversal is comingA top Wall Street strategist says the stock-market rally is due for a reversal as a bubble forms — and warns investors not to equate surging prices with a healthy underlying economy
Source: BusinessInsider - 🏆 729. / 51 Read more »

Elon Musk's Starlink satellites and the internet's futureInsider tells the global tech, finance, markets, media, healthcare, and strategy stories you want to know.
Source: BusinessInsider - 🏆 729. / 51 Read more »