It seems cool but not for me. I like having a desktop, I dont want to poach off of someone else's wifi
The idea is very romantic and I sympathize with the escapism of it, but there are far more problems than I'm interested in dealing with. My boyfriend's grandmother and her roommate or whatever bought an RV a year or two ago and have spent their retirement just roaming around the country. It definitely speaks to the American idea of freedom and openness, of explorers and cowboys in the west or truckers on the open road and enjoyed it. I definitely could enjoy it as a temporary thing, like spending a couple of months a year living on the road or something. But that would take more money than I am likely to ever have in my life.
"Van Life" sounds like a good way to spend tons of money for little benefit really.
If you wanted to road trip for a month or two, "Van Life" seems like a pretty good way to do something like that.
Anything else though? Fuck that.
if you are travelling then its ok but in the long term i cant say it'd be good psychlogically.
This is a really bullshit take in my opinion because you're saying that just because someone wants to strip down to the essentials you're somehow coopting 'homelessness' as a fashion statement when in reality there are a lot of reasons to make such a call.
Having had to live in a car for a short bit, having friends who lived in a Subaru outback for a year out of necessity and being someone who is sick of having to deal with a big house, living out of a van seems like a valuable adventure not just financially but personally. You're constantly in camping mode, which to me seems like it constantly keeps you in a more focused mindset because yeah you gotta think for more than 3 seconds about how you're gonna shower or get internet. It helps you see value in these things we usually take for granted.
Now I get it's not a fun or sustainable lifestyle for everyone, but this backlash against people willing to take bigger risks than us is so childish. These are people we should cherish and respect, people who can survive off their ingenuity and are willing to sacrifice the comforts of ideal society for a real human experience.
I'm talking about people who take artsy photos for Instagram and think living out of a van is some crazy, unique thing to do for a week and put on social media while drowned in filters like the pictures on the first page. If you're really into it and ready to take it on as a lifestyle choice, by all means feel free to and rock on, but I'm still gonna roll my eyes at people who act like it's a new fad
I've got a friend who is part way through travelling around Australia in a camper for a year and he is having a very mixed time with it. I'd say go for it if you have plenty of money and a fixed time period before you go back to normal but don't think it is a solution to financial problems.
I know someone who vandwells. He's a crew lead for the solar installation division of Tesla (formerly SolarCity.) He's made it seem pretty appealing, and I'm thinking about trying it myself.
I'm going to attempt to play devil's advocate to some of your points for fun.
Beyond the obvious risks
Care to list some examples?
I think it's a pretty bad solution to the current housing crisis.
I think a short-term loan (plus insurance) for a van is a pretty good solution if you're comparing it to a 30-year mortgage or a never-ending rent trap.
It's basically a one-way ticket out of society altogether.
Care to explain this one in detail? I've been renting an $1150/month two-bedroom house in Philadelphia for two years and working from home the entire time. I've managed to escape society pretty well this way. Does vandwelling have any bearing on a person's willingness to socialize and engage in fulfilling hobbies/events?
It also requires basic and sometimes advanced knowledge in electronics, plumbing, mechanics, and many other every-day subtleties that can easily stack, and before long - it's not even worth it to keep a van and you could probably find a cheaper 1-bedroom apartment at a lower cost of long-term maintenance with half of the required know-how.
That depends on the exact setup of the van. My essential living expenses have been $24,778 for the past two years of renting a relatively cheap house with basic utilities. Would a $460 24-month van payment with $112/month interest be cheaper across two years? I'll be leaning into this a bit more with a spreadsheet, but I'm gonna go ahead and say it's probably cheaper to own something within two years than to rent indefinitely.
A van is basically a vehicle cramped with a bunch of delicate and intertwined electrical appliances and other things that can easily break while on the road.
This also depends on the exact setup of the van. My friend has two solar panels, a charge controller/battery setup, a hotplate, and a powerstrip. There's also a mattress. Pretty simple! He showers at Planet Fitness (the black card lets you go to any P.Fit in the country) and if he's not working, he's sleeping in the van or hiking/rock climbing/playing video games on his laptop. Not a lot to break. He also drove from the Philadelphia area to California with no issues.
Given how most people also probably buy these vans second hand, that increases the risk of internal malfunction.
Buying it secondhand is certainly an option! I'll be financing a brand-new van, myself, since I have the credit and liquid cash for a down payment. The van payment won't break my bank because I won't be paying rent, and the risk of internal malfunction will be next to nothing because it'll be brand-new!
Things can sometimes coincide so badly that you could end up with a broken van, no job, and no way to repair the van without going to work. Which no one will hire you for because you don't even have an address.
Yes, if you plan your life poorly with no security nets you can up destitute whether you're vandwelling or not. If I get fired and need to repair my van or something, I suspect my credit card with the $17,000 limit will help with that. Or my savings. If you are an independent adult, you need to have something set aside to cover unplanned expenses or you will end up desperate and hungry.
What companies won't hire you without an address? From my experience your address is only used for the online application. Does your boss need to stop by your house for weekly tea as an employment prerequisite? When I'm vandwelling, I'll probably just use a parent's or friend's address on job applications. Assuming I need to fill out a job application at any point in the future (probably won't.)
In my case I'd probably keep my parent's home address listed as my home address and would just stop by there regularly to pick up mail and such. I don't plan on traveling around that much, I would just stay locally. I just want somewhere that's my own space and place to sleep outside of my parent's home so I don't have to pay rent and such. (Am currently paying rent to my parents)
Ah yes, drive away from disasters. Like, do you mean take (paid?) vacation and bail early, or get stuck on the road with the other knobs?
The issue I see is less big visible ones (ie hurricanes) and more of the sudden acts of god (flooding, snowstorms, or those things cars often get in called accidents.)
And then, yeah - you have the ludicrously expensive internet likely provided by a phone carrier that will gouge you and may have spotty reliability depending where you're tooling around. Lack of address, lack of space if that gets to you (it does for me, but that's pretty personal. I legitimately enjoy a good sprawling out on a bare floor now and then.) You can install a shower and other amenities, but it's going to be cramped.
Beyond filtered photos and hashtags, there is definitely something alluring about it - but I feel like you need an oddly specific set of circumstances and personality traits to make it a sustainable thing.
Now, with:
Enough capital and time to get started.
A financial safety net (accidents, ability to swap back, maintenance)
A job that allows remote work (in case of having to bail from a disaster at the very least)
A means of circumventing a physical address (PO Box or just an actual physical address)
Basic know-how for maintenance to do it yourself
A feasible service provider to mobile hotspot from (and a place with good enough tower coverage)
An interesting enough locale to make the mobility of it interesting vs. just a tiny house (Iowa represent, we got.... fields?)
A safe enough locale that sleeping in a vehicle that may or may not be exposed doesn't represent a threat (or allows reasonable means of self-defense)
An ability to cope confined spaces for some time.
It could be really exciting, you can fulfill some serious wanderlust and bring all your comforts with you.
This is one of my favorite van guys on youtube. He's just so personable.
https://youtu.be/-gj3ocdO4Qk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D8639Te2nk
This reminded me of this vid:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iym_CCGAD5Y
This doesn't seem like a great vehicle for this lifestyle... No matter how hard he tries to sell it.
Those handprints... Someone really wanted the free candy inside
Definitely not. Even though I work for them, I'm not a huge fan of the vehicles themselves. Also, they just laid me off today after 4 years so fuck em lol
I don't think this makes for any more of a "Real human experience" than anything else anyone else could possibly do
tbh the fucked up part of that is that many people may be vacationing in a van as a road trip and not actually homeless
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