10 Reasons Why Van Life SUCKS

Hi. Hello. I'm Christian Schaefer. I'm an outdoor adventure photographer, and I've been living on the road for almost four years. It'll be four years this May. I started out in my SUV. I lived there for 14 months, and then I transitioned into this 60 square foot van, which I've called home now for just over two and a half years. There's a lot of content out there that creates this unrealistic expectation of beautiful views and never-ending adventure. I definitely contribute to a lot of that content. I really like to focus on the positives because I personally love this lifestyle. That said, this lifestyle is by no means easy. It is challenging. It is not for everyone, and that's why I want to make this video. Let's begin with overnight parking, which sometimes is difficult to find, especially on travel days or times where I'm waiting on a shipment. I need to be somewhat near a city, and that can limit my camping options. Sometimes that means I'm camping at a Walmart or stealth camping on the street, or I'm having to drive long distances from my campsite into the city so that I can run errands. There are a lot of places that highly discourage, if not criminalize, vehicle dwelling, which means you need to familiarize yourself with local laws whenever you travel someplace new. And of course, there's always the possibility that you might get that dreaded knock from a cop in the middle of the night, which, knock on wood, has never actually happened to me, but I know that it does. If you're in the middle of nowhere, you might be more exposed. You might have fewer amenities, such as a shower or the ability to restock essentials like water, food, and gas. Generally speaking, you're always on the hunt for a place that meets a few different criteria. You want it to be safe, legal, accessible, flat. It'd be great if it had cell service. Hopefully, it's somewhat quiet, and if you're lucky, you might get a beautiful view. Okay, so head needs to go in one of those corners, and now, okay, head needs to go in that corner. And that's how I work out which way to sleep every night. The bed is six feet across, and I'm only 5'9", so I do fit, but I like to spread out, so when I sleep diagonal, you get six foot three foot of space, so that's my preferred way of sleeping. Or I can level out the van using RV blocks, but that isn't something I would do in an urban location because it pretty much shouts that you're sleeping in there. Also, it was far easier to park overnight in my SUV than it is in the van because the SUV had more of a stealth factor, and it was also four by four, so I could get to remote camping spots that my van just can't reach. Now that I have the van, I tend to scout with my drone for open campsites before driving down roads where I might get stuck. As far as safety goes, I did a whole video on that, which I will link up here if you want to check that out, but that is an important part of finding a quality campsite. Space. Okay, so this van is 60 square feet, and I have no idea what my SUV was, but it was way smaller than this, which means there's only so much space. Everything has a home, and things can get really messy really fast. Living like this tends to create one of two scenarios. You either become really clean and organized or really messy. Having less space means I have less room for luxuries like a full bathroom or a shower or a dedicated workspace or garage where I could store something like a bike or a surfboard. I can only have so many clothes or shoes or camping gear, and fitting it all in starts to feel like a never-ending game of Tetris. I also have storage for just 10 gallons of water, and my fridge and cupboards are small, which means I have to pass through cities on a more regular basis to resupply. Also, side note, this van was built for one person. Two people in here would not be very comfortable. Nathaniel and I have our own separate rigs, and that works well for us. Shower and bathroom. I do not have a shower or a composting toilet in my van. I do, however, have a cassette toilet, but it's for number one only, which means I'm always planning my route according to gyms, campgrounds, and other places where I can comfortably shower and use the restroom. Most of the time, I'm camping in remote locations where I can use a solar shower and use the bathroom in the same way I would when tent camping, using a shovel. During the summer when it's hot and I'm hiking a lot, I'm jumping into lakes and rivers, and I might not take an actual shower for a week. Honestly, this doesn't even bother me at this point. I've just been doing it for so long that I'm just used to it, but if you're transitioning from a house into a van or a vehicle, it's definitely annoying. Next is lack of normalcy. Living out here on the road, you start to feel like you're living on the fringe a little bit, kind of disconnected from society and a little bit of an outcast. Add to this a lack of routine, lack of community, and the occasional bout of loneliness, and the overall lack of normalcy can start to take a toll on your mental health. Always waking up somewhere new means constantly navigating new roads and familiarizing yourself with state laws and local ordinances and overcoming obstacles that sometimes just really only happen on the road. So today has been super annoying. Nathaniel got a mouse in his engine bay, and then we discovered little nests all around where we were parked. Mice can do a lot of damage, so we packed up everything in a hurry and we left. And right as we were pulling out, I got pulled over. I didn't know what the speed limit was and ended up going 10 over, so that was crappy. And then we ended up driving for a couple hours and sleeping in a Walmart parking lot, which is always my favorite. And then this morning, I discovered that my cabinet up here, this whole cabinet, is starting to fall. There's almost half inch gap between the ceiling and the cabinet. So I'm at a Home Depot now, and yeah, got to go buy some screws and cross my fingers and hope I do this right. This is van life. Out here, things rarely go as planned, and you have to be flexible in order to be successful in this lifestyle. Things like doctor and dentist appointments, or having a trusted car mechanic that you always go to, or a hairstylist that you love, or a local bakery that you love to stop by because you know everyone that works there. Those things kind of go out the window when you live on the road. They're not impossible, but they're just, they're more difficult because you don't live there and you don't have the roots in the community like you used to. Same thing goes with just grabbing a friend for lunch or, you know, signing up for a weekly pottery class in the town that you live in. Those things are harder to do on the road. And one thing that I've learned while being out here is to travel slow. So I try to spend two to four weeks in every location just because it helps me slow down. It helps me have a little bit of routine and hopefully community, even if it is only temporary. Another thing I want to mention is decision fatigue. Every day on the road you have to make some decision, whether it's where to park, where to sleep, how long to drive, where to go, whether or not to shower, where to shower, where to shop. And that can be exciting at first, but over time it can start to wear you out because making all those decisions just requires a lot of mental energy. It is the next day and officially five days since my last shower. But we continue with legal stuff. Legal stuff can be challenging while living on the road. Our society doesn't really cater to the nomadic lifestyle, which means you're left to figure out how to have a mailing address, how to actually receive that mail while traveling, how to renew your driver's license, vehicle registration, how to obtain vehicle insurance, how to insure the things in your vehicle, health insurance, and of course taxes. It's a lot and oftentimes it really just depends on the state you reside in. For example, in Washington state it's legal to live in your vehicle, but that's not true for every state. And for vehicle insurance, I had to have my van inspected and registered as an RV in order to have it properly insured. And if on top of all that you're working remotely and you're self-employed like I am, then you also have expenses to track and taxes to file. So thank you TurboTax for sponsoring this video. I have actually used TurboTax for nearly a decade, so I was super stoked when they reached out. Actually a big part of living on the road full-time is finding a way to sustain this lifestyle, which is why I sometimes work with sponsors when I create these videos. But earning an income is only part of the equation. You also need to track your finances, budget, and pay taxes on those earnings. With TurboTax I'm able to have a hands-on approach with my finances so that I have a full understanding of what deductions I qualify for, what rate my income is taxed at, and how to set myself up for success moving into the new tax year. I use the TurboTax Live self-employed version, which allows access to a live tax expert who will give advice and answer questions as you go. And for me this has made the process of filing taxes so much easier. After uploading my tax forms an expert was able to walk me through a few different questions and tax scenarios over the was super helpful and saved me a lot of time and research. TurboTax experts help you find every possible tax deduction and credit, and you can connect with them as often as you need throughout the tax year. I recently jotted down a few new questions around reporting crypto earnings and investments, and it's nice knowing that I can reach out and get answers all from the comfort of my own van. They also do a final expert review just so you have peace of mind that your taxes are done right. And if you use my link below you can save up to $15 off your purchase with TurboTax. Lack of convenience. Van chores can be a total time suck. In a house you just walk over to your shower and take a shower. When I want to shower I have to drive to the gym or campground. You probably don't have to convert your bed into a living space every morning like I do, and you likely have endless hot water and soap whenever you do your dishes. I used to be able to throw my laundry in the wash and then switch it over when I got home. Now I have to find a laundromat and hang around while I wait for my clothes to wash and dry. I fill my water tanks once a week, switch out my propane tank pretty often, find places to empty trash, empty my toilet, empty my gray water tank, go grocery shopping. I don't have a freezer and I can't buy anything in bulk. I don't have an oven or a closet where I can hang my clothes so they're pretty much always wrinkly. And mail and packages aren't delivered to my doorstep. So basically everything just takes longer. And I'm pretty much always at the mercy of the weather. If it's too hot or too cold I relocate. If it's raining or cloudy and there isn't enough sunshine for my solar panels I relocate. It's frozen. Planning things can be difficult and sometimes I just really miss having a home to go back to and relax and not have to think about all the things that van life requires. Lack of privacy. You're pretty much always on display when you live in your vehicle. Unless you're always hiding inside your rig or parked someplace remote people can see you when you're cooking food outside or filling your water or whatever chores you need to do. If you don't have a full bathroom you're showering and using the restroom in a lot of public places. If you're hanging around cities you're dealing with the sounds of cars driving by, garbage trucks, or car doors shutting. The sound of cars and people are starting to drive me insane if I'm being really honest. People are pretty much always walking around you and sometimes they might even peer into your windows. Actually that happens to me kind of often. I think people are just curious but it can be weird sometimes. Like they don't even see me even though I'm literally sitting at my desk working and I can pretty much guarantee that if I leave my side door open for more than five minutes in a public place someone will start asking me questions or want a tour. And look I think that's great. I mean before I had a van I was that person. I was constantly curious if I saw another van lifer I'd be like asking all the questions and I'd want a tour. So I get it. It's just when you do this full time and say you're in a hurry or you're trying to get through a to-do list or you just don't want to talk to anyone it can start to feel like an invasion of privacy. I mean imagine in your house every time that you walk outside if someone's just passing by on the sidewalk and they stop and say wow your house looks really cool can I come inside? And you're just being like sure come on in. But that's the kind of thing you're really opening yourself up to when you live on the road. I think if you're an extrovert or craving social interaction this is no problem at all. In fact it's a great conversation starter and I've met a lot of cool people this way. But if you're an introvert like me it might push your limits over time. Mail and shipping. So this one is actually a huge headache for me. I would have made it number one but I think it's probably not that big of a deal for most road lifers. But with the kind of work that I do I have to be able to receive products on a really regular basis in order to shoot upcoming brand campaigns. So that means I'm typically hanging around cities way more than I want to. Sometimes I get stuck in a place waiting on a package. Sometimes the package never shows up or is sent back for unknown reasons. And other times a package will arrive well after I've left and I have to either backtrack or just let it go. When they do arrive my next task is usually to hunt down public recycling bins that are legal to use or else my van can turn into a trash bin real fast. I have a private mailbox in Washington and I forward mail from there pretty often so I don't miss important documents like toll fees, client checks, or jury duty summons. If you're interested in learning more about this specifically I will link a video I did up here about a day in the life and how I get mail. Wi-Fi. This is another one that is uniquely frustrating if you are working remotely. I have left many a great campsite because I was pulling out my hair over getting a signal. If your goal is to relax and be off the grid this isn't such a big deal. But when you need internet for work hunting down a solid signal can become a huge time suck. A lot of times this might mean hanging around cities more than you want to or investing in a Wi-Fi device or a signal booster. I also have a video on how I get Wi-Fi and I will link that up here if you want to check it out. Breakdowns and unexpected maintenance costs. I don't have any mechanical skills and I need this vehicle to be reliable for work assignments so that's the main reason I bought a new van. That said I've got 37,000 miles on the van now and no doubt I'll have some maintenance coming up. The only issues I've had so far are a cracked windshield, needing to replace the tires, and a weird mirror issue that was finally solved after tracing it back to a pinched wire. Other than that this van has been super solid. The build itself is starting to show some wear and tear especially in the last six months. I've had to do some maintenance here and there but I suspect it will need some major upgrades in the next year or so. That said I do take really good care of this van by keeping it clean and staying on top of minor repairs and that does require time and energy on a regular basis. Also living in a vehicle especially in remote locations means that you're often parking your entire home in places that are home to mice and spiders and all kinds of creatures. Mice can do some pretty serious damage to your electrical wiring once they get in. And spiders? Okay that cannot stay in the van. Last month I had a couple spiders wander indoors and since then I've been using peppermint spray which seems to be working so far. I also use a bear bin to store my trash away from my vehicle when I'm camped in remote locations for long periods of time and that definitely seems to help. Okay that was a lot. Hopefully I managed to convince you all that van life sucks. I'm totally kidding. If you know me at all then you know I love this lifestyle. This May will actually be four years of being on the road and despite all of these challenges I stay out here. I really value the freedom to travel and be outdoors and meet new people and experience things I might otherwise miss. Here on the road there's solitude and beautiful views and a chance to escape all the noise of cities in constant motion and just slow down and allow myself to explore and create and live life on my own terms. If after all this you're still interested in van life you can check out my video on how to get started. I'll link it up here. I walk you through practical steps on what it really takes to downsize, plan, and adapt to life on the road. One thing I mentioned in there is that I started living out of my SUV as an experiment. It wasn't meant to be permanent so I had very low expectations and because of that I found it to be much better than I imagined. And when I finally upgraded to a it felt like a mansion compared to an SUV. So I think those transitional steps helped me adapt to this way of living in a very realistic way which is something you might consider yourselves before investing in an expensive setup. And that's about it. Thanks for sticking around. I know this was kind of a long one. I appreciate you guys being here and I guess I'll catch you in the next one or in the meantime you can find me over on Instagram at Christian Schaeffer.