How to make #VanLife a reality
So many people see van-life posts and pictures and don't think that they could ever do it. When I started to share my plan with others on my idea to live full time in a van, I heard things such as, "Oh I wish I could do that", "You're crazy, I just could never live in a van", and "I just don't have the money or time right now, but I would totally do it if I could". The thing is... anyone can do it if they want to.
The biggest barriers I hear people say are money and time.
On money; money comes and goes but it's up to you what you prioritize and do with it. I saved up for about a year for 8 months of traveling. During this year I had a job that essentially paid $5.30 an hour and also had to pay off my student loan monthly. I lived a very strict and boring lifestyle for that year. I made sure to budget every month, set aside money as much as I could, and rarely splurged on anything. I only would go out to eat max 1 time every 2 weeks and only bought drinks on special occasions.
Money saving tips I followed and that made van-life a reality:
On time; I've always lived with the philosophy of why wait for something good? Just go ahead and do it. Would you rather spend years and years wasting your life doing something you don't want to do in hopes that you'll live long enough to retire and travel as much as you want. I certainly want to do things while I'm young and in good health. Who knows if I'll have the mobility to get around a city or a national park when I'm older. Even more so, life is fleeting and there it absolutely no excuse not to live the way you want to because spoiler alert no one cares what you're doing.
- Log how much you need for necessities separately in a journal
- Use the Mint app to track your spending
- Rent
- Bills
- Loan payments
- Gas
- Groceries
- Check your spending weekly and log it in your journal
- Log how much you put away into savings at every paycheck
- Remind yourself that if you don't go out to eat in your home town that you can use that money on your travels to go out to eat in your dream city. For example think about how much cooler it would be to eat Taco Bell on the beach than at home
- If you have a travel partner, keep each other accountable and be real with each-other about money
Tips of the right timing for van-life:
- Make the time!
- There's never going to be the perfect time
- Think about how you really want to live your life and what you actually want to be doing with your time
If you are even a little bit considering van-life or if you just think it's not feasible for any and everyone to do, I would be happy to talk with you and answer any questions. I know of people who saved up, put school on hold, quit jobs, or work on the road that are making it happen! There's really nothing to hold you back.
