She Cut Her Bills in Half Living in a $115K Van

About six and a half years ago I went through a pretty devastating divorce and during that time I started seeing a trauma therapist and she really was recommending for me to get outdoors more and as I started doing more and more hiking and wanted to camp and stay overnight in some of those places because I was visiting these amazing alpine lakes and doing like 10-13 mile hikes I realized I wanted to do something a little bit nicer for myself and that meant more than just tent camping. So I started looking into vans. During that time my youngest was graduating from high school and he had just finished a couple years of college so he was moving out and I found myself being an empty nester and I realized okay I actually have an opportunity of I'm not raising kids at home anymore. I'm solo and by myself. I have this amazing travel van and why not just do something crazy and have a little midlife crisis and just go full-time in a van. So that's when I actually started all my adventures and I call them Beth's Midlife Adventure instead of my midlife crisis because to me it was starting a new season in my life that I was really excited about and I wanted to share that with others. So my name is Beth and let me show you inside my van. I purchased this van four and a half years ago with the intention of it just being a weekend van and doing like weekend warrior travels so I didn't really know exactly the layout that I wanted other than I wanted it to feel really open and airy because I wanted the style and the design to feel like my home that I had already. One thing that was really important to me was just a really good working kitchen space. I love being outside hiking paddle boarding and so having something where when I'm inside being able to look out and feel like I'm still outdoors was really important. So with cooking the two main items that I use are going to be my induction stovetop here as well as my toaster oven. At first I thought it'd be really hard not to have a microwave because that's just something I use so much in my house previously but I actually cook almost all of my meals on my stovetop and I really wanted a good working space and part of the design with this is I have the counter that pops up on the side as well which is really expand so I have a lot of prep area. So I really liked that the sink is nice and big and wide so not only do I have a lot of room to do dishes but it also can hold things like my coffee carafe, my plants, things that might move around when I'm driving I can just set in there very easily. I also was able to pick out a custom backsplash which I really loved as well as my kitchen cabinets. I love color and for things to feel like me and so I always have done like a blue or green cabinet in any of my homes and so I really wanted to be able to do that in my van as well. Down under here is where I keep my gray water which is really different than some of the newer Nuvo vans. This one I actually have a seven gallon tank underneath so I have to dump that often. It's not as big as a lot of other vans but it works really well just for my needs and then I have really nice deep drawers to hold all of my pots, pans, silverware and then I have another drawer here above my fridge so I really enjoy that they've maximized all the storage spaces. My fridge does feel a little small at times but with it just being me and Apollo it's pretty easy. I usually do a weekly shopping trip just to kind of refresh everything. I do wish I had a bigger freezer. That's the only thing I really wish about this build is I had a bigger freezer space but other than that it's worked really well. Part of once I went full-time was the importance of storage and so not knowing that when I first bought this and now knowing that I would say make sure you get lots of storage and everything I own is actually in this van so if you don't see it here it's because I don't own it anymore but I really simplified my life and traveling so much like that really taught me that you can simplify things so much and really what do you really need to use and enjoy but I really love the design of these cabinets. These ones felt really unique to me because they're the rounded curvature and I chose not to do an extended cabinet on this side just because when I have my sliding door open I really wanted to be able to have a bigger view of outdoors. So this is a space where I sit down and have my meals and this is also the space that I use to work. So I work full-time remotely from my van and so having a good workspace is really important so I have space for my laptop. When I'm not using it and it's just myself in here I actually fold my table down so I have a lot of space just to move around in here but when I am done working right about lunchtime is when I head out for one of my adventures. I love doing things outside like hiking and paddle boarding and so I spend a lot of my times in the afternoons outdoors doing fun things like that. One of the things that gets me out on my adventures is the Onyx Offroad app and they are today's video sponsor. So I do a lot of camping and adventuring in the back country and I found this app to be extremely useful. So recently we were shooting an adventure out in Arizona and we were visiting this place called White Pocket which is some really cool rock formations but getting there ended up being a challenge because pulling up a regular map led us to a closed gate that was on private property and so I immediately pulled up Onyx and it showed me the right road that we were supposed to take from the beginning. The helpful thing about Onyx is that it pulls up roads that are not maybe the fastest way to get somewhere but the way that you're supposed to go so it avoids private roads. You can see trail conditions, you can also see weather conditions and we were able to easily get to White Pocket after that. So we actually joked afterwards and said that should have been the app that we pulled up from the beginning. One of the things I'm excited about this summer is I'm going to be traveling through the PNW and there's a few of the filters on this app that I plan to use. One of those is I can find good cell phone coverage and another one is their wildfire coverage. I can actually see if there are active fires in the area or if there's wildfire smoke. Now we haven't had a lot of rain recently and there's already a fire ban in effect so I know that those are filters I'll be using. So if you're headed out for any adventures this summer then I recommend that you download the Onyx app. Right now they have a seven day free trial and if you enter the code tiny20 that's down in the description you can get 20% off your elite or premium membership. When I get back from exploring the first thing that I do is I'll set up my camera with my laptop right here and I will download all of my cards and read those and then it's time to prep dinner. So I will usually pull out my toaster oven from my storage bench, get everything set to go and that is something that I really like about both of these bench seats is that I have really good storage space. So not only do I keep my extra camera gear but I keep my toaster oven, I have my espresso maker down there and then on this side I keep all of Apollo's gear like his food, his litter. So it really is nice and convenient because it's a hidden spot with maximized storage capacity there. So when I decided to move into my van full-time that meant that I had to make some major life changes when it came to my career and benefits and finances and something that was really important to me was supporting myself and sustainability on the road and I didn't want to have to rely on my savings. So a question I get asked a lot about is my income and how do I create income for my social media accounts. I actually started building some content on Instagram just to share that with family and friends and over time that really grew and so it took about two and a half years to build that to a position where I could financially step away from my full-time job, sell my house, give up all my benefits and move full-time into a van and it sounds crazy because it in reality it was and I would not recommend that but it really has worked out well for me. The first three months I would say were the hardest because I left everything behind my community, my friends, my family and I was feeling you know just very alone, very solo but I did start putting myself out there and saying yes to a lot more groups and meetups and I've built a really cool community on the road now so I do feel like I have family and friends all over the United States and as I travel it's been really fun to connect with other people that love this lifestyle as well and it's been a fun way for me to share my adventures and I think that that's something that was really important is that it started from a passion of mine and it wasn't because I was trying to make income at it but it just naturally over time just started to progress and build income and so I am really fortunate and now that is sustainability for me and it allows me this freedom to travel and to share that with everybody but at the same time it's something that I've had to work really hard towards but I never want to lose sight of why I started doing it and even though it is a job and it is a full-time job I am really thankful that I still get to pursue my passions which is being outdoors and exploring. My van is paid off and I know that might make a difference if you're you know getting a van and you're going to have a loan on that or anything but for me I purchased my van back in COVID so I did get a pretty darn good deal on it compared to what they cost nowadays. So when I owned my house I had a lot of utility bills that just goes without saying but what I really love with the van my only bills for utilities are going to be my cell phone and my starlink for my wi-fi. I'm able to get free energy from all of my solar panels. I find places to fill up with free potable water so I'm not having to pay that bill and everything in here is electric so I don't have a propane expense. My biggest expense would definitely be gas and that really depends on where I'm traveling or how often I'm driving and my other biggest expense is food. So food and gas are really my two big ones but what I found by simplifying my life to where it's everything that's in this van I actually was able to cut my expenses by more than half of what I was paying living in my house and working a nine to five job paycheck to paycheck and even putting money in savings. So it was really important to me just to create a lifestyle that could sustain myself on the road to where I'm actually the money I'm earning is covering my expenses as well and I'm not having to use savings for anything else. I really love my bedroom area. I have a nice big bed and the height is perfect because I wanted a lot of storage underneath and I'll show you guys that here in a minute but I have all of my wardrobe and clothing in these two big cabinets and in these two little ones and those are all the clothes that I own so if they are not going to fit in here and I don't own them I actually have a rule if I get something new I have to give something away otherwise you're just going to collect things and they take too much space but again I have the nice rounded cabinets so I can store a lot of clothing inside of them. I also really like that I have this window here at the foot of my bed because I will prop that open in the evenings and turn on my max air fan and it just draws nice cool air in all night. It also gives me beautiful views of the lake outside that I have this morning and then I also have my two windows behind me so in the mornings I just prop up my pillows and I'll sit here and I'll have my coffee and I can see the views from my feet and then also from the back as well so it just makes for a cozy little tree fort is what I kind of call this area. So one thing that I would do differently if I were going to do a future build is I would not put a window behind my head and the reason for that is just for safety since I travel by myself I don't want to have access to anything that I can't see and just having a window there's just something that I don't even use or ever keep open so what I would do is just do a little pop out and then have no window that way I could have more space for length especially because this is an east to west bed and that is something that was really hard when I kind of debated the question north south bed east west and I do like this it fits me really well but I'm 5'6 and my toes just barely hit so if I were any taller or had anybody else taller in my bed I think a north to south would be the better option. Most of the time I use my max air fan but when it's really hot and especially with traveling with a cat I really needed a good 12 volt ac system so I installed the velet system a year ago and I really like that because it runs off my battery it lasts a really long time and with my solar panels I'm able to recharge it very quickly and especially when I'm in very hot areas I feel like having the ac now allows me to be places I want to be that I normally couldn't go in the hot months so something everybody asks me okay if this is all my kitchen and dining space and this is my bedroom then where is my bathroom and the reality is my bathroom is all kept in the garage under my bed so down here is where I keep my dry flush and then in the very back of my garage space I have an outdoor shower as well I really wanted to have a good access space for my garage because I'm grabbing things constantly and also traveling by myself just safety wise I didn't want to always have to get out of my garage to go grab something so it was really important that I had a cabinet door here to reach things so I have my toilet space here but I also get asked with traveling with a cat what about Apollo's toilet space I actually keep his litter box up in the passenger floorboard of the front seat just because I am traveling solo and I don't have anybody riding with me I just found that that's an easy spot to keep it where he can use it at all times and it's easy for me to clean as well back there is the access door that I was showing you guys that leads to my garage space and this is where I keep everything else that I own I have all of my outdoor gear like my paddle board all my hiking backpacks and extra shoes hanging here and then I keep my water filtration system behind my paddle board I actually have a folding out cabinet with more storage that's all down there and at the very front of this is going to be my water heater and on this side behind all my hiking backpacks is where I keep my Victron system with all of my Battleborn batteries I also have everything for my Starlink which I keep that mounted up top on the top of my roof and on this is my outdoor shower so I have this nice little spigot here that I use all my stuff like my shampoo and everything I have a little bamboo mat that I lay down so I can keep my feet out of the dirt when I'm showering and then my towels and I use these to actually hang up across from the back of my doors just to create like a privacy shower curtain and right here is where I have my fresh water tank that I fill up with down under here I actually can carry 40 gallons of fresh water which is really nice so that allows me to stay off grid for about two weeks before I need to fill that back up and then I have 400 watts of solar panels which allows me to be off grid virtually all the time I think I plug in once every few months honestly just because I try to stay in places where I'm getting good solar and can recharge my batteries very quickly I also really love my awning that I have on my van because it gives really great shade especially for summer days and those afternoons where I want to have the doors open but I also don't want the sun coming in and reflecting off of my kitchen so that's been a great upgrade that I've had as well and then I put a ladder on the back of the van to not only hold some extra fuel but my trash bag but it allows me access to get up and down so you might be sitting there all comfortable inside your house and wondering how the heck did I go from living into a house to ending up here and I'm not saying that van life is for everybody but what I really try to do is just inspire other people to get outdoors and to experience nature for themselves to take road trips and to travel because you never know where that's going to lead you when I started doing this four and a half years ago the last thing I ever thought is that I would be living in here full-time but really this lifestyle has transformed my life in such a cool and meaningful way I have met so many people with that I've just connected with I have gone to so many cool places and I feel like I've just scratched the surface of all that there is out there to see I think one thing I would want to share and that I tell a lot of women that I talk to is don't be afraid to do something but also don't be afraid to do it alone if you want to do something don't not go because nobody else is going to go with you still go and build those memories and you're going to find people along the way that want to have those travels with you too thank you guys so much for coming along for the tour of my tiny home on four wheels if you would like to know more about my adventures follow my youtube channel best midlife adventure you can also find more on instagram at midlife adventure and all of the items in my van are actually linked on both of those social media platforms under my link tree so until the next time I hope to see you over on my channel