A Guide to Living in Your Van: 5 Benefits You Need To Know

June 05, 2021

You’ve seen it everywhere. Van life has become a popular choice for people craving a new adventure, coupled with flexibility and mobility. It offers an inexpensive and nomad lifestyle that is perfect for anyone who doesn't want to be tied down in one place. But how do you live in your van? What are the basics of this lifestyle? Ditching your house in exchange for the open road. This is what living in a campervan means, and it’s more common than you think. With so many people opting to live with less these days, this lifestyle choice has been on the rise. We’ve created this guide to help give you all of the information that you need to make one of these vans your home. This blog post will discuss our top 5 benefits you need to know about living your best van life, from exploring self-development to trying new things!

View out of the back of a campervan of mountains

The van life movement has grown tremendously in the past few years, with more people than ever now choosing to live and travel full-time. However, while Instagram feeds may show a glamorous lifestyle free of responsibility or worry for many Van Lifers are struggling with day to day living on wheels. Van life is a way of living that has become increasingly popular in the past few years. For some, it's an escapist fantasy; for others, freedom and adventure await; but to those who are actually doing van life day-to-day with their family or friends, it just represents good old fashioned livin’ in harmony with oneself.

It’s worth noting that van living can be as simple as driving around until you find somewhere safe enough to park up for the night (or even less than 24 hours). It isn’t just about the vehicle you travel in, or where it takes you. It has nothing to do with how much time and money was invested into building your rig out. Van life is about making a change that will lead to living life on your own terms by taking control of what makes you feel alive - no matter whether this means travelling all over or staying around one area, full-time van dwelling for years at a stretch, part-time weekend trips through remote parts of our country (or even other continents!), meeting strangers from everywhere who are different than us but share commonalities we haven’t yet found in ourselves.

Van life is an adventure. You have to be open-minded and adventurous because there are no rules when living on wheels, you just need some creativity! It can also feel like a ton of fun if you allow yourself to go with the moment and learn how to make do without all your belongings. Some people only live this way part-time or temporarily for their travels but others have sold off all of their things in order to commit themselves to the lifestyle full-time.

So you're thinking of van life? Here are just some reasons why it might be right for you:

Reason #1: Get Saving!

Let’s be honest, embracing a lifestyle that allows you to travel, work and live simultaneously sounds like a dream. This is probably why van life has been picking up popularity in recent years among millennials who want more freedom for less money. With owning your van, there are no rent or mortgage payments. Guess what? This means people can save their hard-earned dollars towards other goals like travelling around the world or start that business venture they’ve been considering without having to worry about homeownership costs getting too high. Some people choose not only as a matter of preference but also out of necessity; many professionals find themselves craving a new experience away from the traditional 9-5 workload or fantasize about exciting weekend getaways. Enter: "Vanlife."

Reason #2: Stop, Adventure, Explore

What does it feel like to be free of the shackles of a house and an apartment? To have your entire life in one place, with all you need at hand. It's amazing! You know where everything is when you're on the open road - there are no mysteries left that could hinder your adventure or get underfoot while living outside society's norms. Your days are significantly more flexible; if something comes up unexpectedly, well then enjoy this time for as long as it lasts because these moments don't come around often enough anymore… Living in a van allows you to change your plans at the drop of a hat. Maybe you want to stay longer in an area that really fascinates and interests you, but if not then there is always something new waiting for discovery on the horizon. Travelling becomes more about spontaneity than it does money or time constraints as travelling with just what will fit into your home can make life so much less stressful!

Campervan parked next to lake at dusk

Reason #3: Step Towards Unknown Possibilities

One day you might wake up in luscious green bushland in Sydney, and another you’ll be overlooking white Queensland beaches. You find yourself exploring new cultures with people from all over the world for days or weeks at a time before settling into one place to make some roots of your own. It can be terrifying not knowing what's going to happen tomorrow but that also means there are endless possibilities waiting out there when you take steps towards uncertainty!

Reason #4: Van Life = Self-development!

Van life can be a huge challenge, but it's also so rewarding! You spend most of your time with yourself and learn to live day by day. Your own happiness becomes more important than any materialistic items that you don't need anymore. While it takes an enormous amount of self-discipline for many people who are used to having everything at their fingertips, but the reward is worth every second spent in discomfort or uncertainty.

Reason #5: Enjoy Focusing on What You Love

The van life movement allows you to make your favourite hobbies a more central part of the way that you live. Whether it is surfing all day, bushwalking or exploring for hours on end, spending time writing or working on your own business - whatever your interests are there's space in this lifestyle for them! If you live in a van and want to have free time, consider this. You'll need to spend lots of your precious minutes doing things like finding places to sleep, restocking your supplies and setting up camp - even though they're all important tasks that require attention too! Keep it in mind when deciding whether or not living out of a van is for you.

We hope this blog post has given you some insight into how living in your van can be an epic adventure. Whether it’s getting out of your comfort zone or focusing on what you love there is something for everyone to enjoy about embracing the fantasy of nomadic living.