Van Life Mistakes

When I first bought a van and decided to to make life more worth living, partially converted, I realized there was more then meets the eye. I’m going to be straight forward on the subject and get straight to the point for those of you considering the van life or buying a van or already knowing you can relate to what I’m about to write here.

#1 Buying Your First Van

Test drive different vans. I did some research before I decided to buy my Chevy high top gladiator. I’m 5’2, and I can stand up perfectly fine in my van and it was more then enough space for just me and my chihuahua at the time. Thinking that I was thinking ahead, wasn’t thinking as far ahead as I should have. Life changed, circumstances changed. My chihuahua got too old so she stays with my mother. I needed another travel companion and doing my deep research for my perfect match I rescued ‘dude‘, my dalmatian, then me and my ex got back together and decided to by kayaks, then later came along, my other dalmatian, delilah. Do you see where I’m getting at here? Space became conflicting and frustrating. With a full size bed, two medium size dogs, another person over 5’9 and a small bamboo dresser and small but decent amount of floor space really gets frustrating after a few weeks, especially when it comes to sleeping. For people, with low anxiety and more patience, this might work for you, but i cant deal sometimes. Which is why i would recommend a Sprinter for people with pets and an insignificant other. Also, my roof is fiber glass and I have no ladder. Everyone knows when it comes to fiberglass, drilling for things such as solar panels or whatever is just asking for problems. however, i never planned on getting solar panels, but I can’t put my kayak on the roof either, or the boyfriend, haha. After 2 1/2 years of traveling, when i got my dalmatians and buying a mobile home in my hometown, it came down to van life one week a month or 2-3 weeks every couple of months. I didn’t want a Sprinter mainly because when your living or traveling in a van constantly you want your seats to be comfy and sprinter seats in my experience of a month in one are SO UNCOMFORTABLE. I absolutely hated the seats. My seats are leather, comfy thick, and recline back so far. I didn’t want an RV for so many reasons I’m not going to list them here, I’ll do it in another blog. Just do your research, test drive, get insurance quotes, get other peoples opinions on their personal experiences and find your perfect fit.

#2 Less Windows

Most of us love natural lighting and being able to see our beautiful sceneries but remember privacy and keeping things concealed and guarded is very important. There are so many people who get their windows smashed open from burglaries. Sometimes people are just nosy and want to peep and see what you have or if anyone is in there. If you’ve seen ‘my van build’ page, you’ll see my two main back windows that are on each side of the van and my back door windows. The window on my back drivers side with all the stickers, where I lay my head, I spray painted black, put up Reflectix (mainly because i had a lot extra and got creative and the sun bounces off) to fit to put up at night time for privacy. The sliding window where I lay my feet is only not covered when my dogs are with me because that’s where they lay their heads and they go down in history as guard dogs for a reason.

#3 Dont Overspend

Fast Food, souvenirs, campgrounds, Gas, STARBUCKS (my weakness), parking, and whatever else comes to mind. Limit yourself. DO you want it or do you need it? Like, Do I need my liquid crack in the morning or do I want starbucks in the morning? (maybe both haha).

WANTING AND NEEDING ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS.

Pack sadwiches, get tuna packets, PBJ, hard boiled eggs, granola bars, salads, check pinterest for ideas i found some great stuff on there easy camp foods. Souvenirs; Not needed, it will end up at the salvatian army or in your garage in 10 years. Grab a flower or beautiful leaf and close it in your travel journal or get a polaroid and take a picture and date it. Starbucks; I cant say anything about that. LoL.. just grab a Get a national parks pass. You can see more of that on my other blog post “where to legally sleep in a van”, or just browse through your app store.

#4 Your bed

Everyone builds their bed for their own personal comfort. Mine, for example is full/queen. There are hinges down the middle so I am able to life each side up to access back and front storage or also have seats facing both front and also looking out the back of the van. However, when it comes to the mattress situation, I’ve seen everyone buying mattresses off Amazon, meanwhile I bought a $60 futon mattress off Facebook marketplace and it was so much easier to put in and easy to get out it’s super comfy. I don’t regret it!

#5 Storage

Don’t waste your time with the vacuum bags. Just don’t. Pinterest has so many ideas for you to choose from for your liking. As you can see, I have simple target baskets under my bed. My bamboo dresser has my clothes, all my camping and tools are in the back of the van. Pretty self explanatory.

hope you enjoyed my advice and this short blog! Leave me a comment if you have any questions!