Van Life Archives - Page 2 of 2

What do you do in van life? Here are 10 things that actual van lifers do with their time. Table of Contents Save MoneyRock ClimbTake Professional Pictures and VideoSurfSnowboard and SkiWriteMountain BikeScuba DiveHikePaintYour Story Save Money L.J. lived in a campervan she purchased for $500.00 for three years while working a full-time job. This allowed her to travel on the weekends while saving a significant amount of money. It also gave her the freedom that she was always looking for. Freedom to park where she pleased, freedom from housework and home maintenance, as well as freedom from all of the expenses that come from owning a home. She still lives in her van but has saved up enough money to resign from her job. This has given her the ability to spend her time traveling rather than working. You can see her full story below. Rock Climb Van lifers Conrad and Jule are full-time van lifers who use their van to go to all of the top climbing spots. The low cost of living that their van offers them gives them the opportunity to completely fund themselves through their social media channels. Conrad says he was dreaming of van life before he even met Jule. After they'd been together for a while he asked her to join him on his van life adventure and here they are today, living their dream of being able to spend all of their days' rock climbing in some of the most scenic areas of the world. Of course, rock climbing isn't all they do. This couple also spends the winter months snowboarding and the warmer days exploring nearby cities on their bikes. One of the most interesting features of their campervan is the rock climbing fitness equipment that they built into it. They have a miniature wooden rock climbing wall as well as hooks for hanging training holes built right into their vehicle. You can see their story in the video below. Take Professional Pictures and Video Christian Schaffer is a travel photographer who has been living on the road for over two years while traveling and working full time. She started out her journey in an SUV and eventually upgraded to a full-size van. Her van serves as a mobile office as well as a beautiful place to live. To make it feel more like a home, she used the same finishes that her previous apartment featured. The apartment she lived in previously must have been nice as her van build looks beautiful! Solar panels make it possible for her to charge all of her equipment while on the road and in far-off places so she doesn't have to stop off anywhere before completing her work. Another advantage of van life for Christian is the fact that she doesn't have to worry about maintaining a home while she travels. As a travel photographer, she's often sent to far-off places and she finds it's much easier to leave a van behind for a few weeks rather than an apartment or house. Check out Christian's van below! Surf Surfers were taking advantage of van life long before social media ever existed. In the old days, it was mostly people living out of VW Vanagons and mini-busses. These days, many surfers are living out of vans that almost rival small apartments. Here is the story of an electrician who built out his own off-grid van so that he could surf the world. Johnny is a New Zealand native who says he got into van life because he was tired of paying rent. He saw others living the van life online and decided it was something he should do too. The van that Johnny lives in these days was completely converted by himself. As an electrician, adding the electricity to the van was easy, but the rest he had to figure out. Now that Johnny's van is complete, he's able to spend more time traveling around to different beaches. He also saves more money each month, which has given him the freedom to travel to more foreign beaches as well. Check out the video below for Johnny's story. Snowboard and Ski Professional snowboarders and skiers, Kimmy Fasani and Chris Benchetler use their 4x4 Mercedes Sprinter van to travel to all of the best snow spots in the country. Chris says that they built the van out with extreme temperatures in mind. For this reason, the van features marine-grade wood and more insulation than you would see in a typical camper van. Building the van out like this has kept the van from taking on moisture damage and has kept Chris, Kimmy, and even their 8-month-old son nice and warm inside. The couple says that the van isn't just used for snowboarding and skiing either. Surfing, rock climbing, and a whole host of other outdoor activities are launched from their camper van. While you might think a rugged van like this would look rough inside, it's quite the opposite. Inside features, custom art and fine wood that is accentuated by premium hardware and new electronic panels. The van's kitchen and heating system is powered by propane and the electric system is powered by a battery bank. This battery bank is charged by the solar panels on the roof. The only downside to all of this is that the couple do need to climb up on the van to push the snow off the panels from time to time. Want to see the van? Check out the video below? Write According to professional writer Jordan Tarver, a van parked in a beautiful but quiet setting can be the perfect place to write. His daily mission statement is to, "wake up to live a creative and adventurous life and to encourage others to be the best versions of themselves". He genuinely feels that van life helps him accomplish this. Jordan's van is a low-top campervan that he converted from a work van. He tore out the metal wall as well as the metal shelves and turned it into a dry van that features a storage area up front and a sitting area at the rear. The sitting area converts to a bed for sleeping. When Jordan's not using the van to write inside of, he's using it to surf and skateboard out of. You can learn more about Jordan by following him on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/jordantarver/ Take a look at the video below to see his van build. Mountain Bike Mike, the mountain bike shop owner, uses his self-built Sprinter van to take him to all of the best mountain bike places. When he's not working or mountain biking, he's living inside of his van full-time. Mike says that he got into full-time living almost by accident. Essentially, his lease ran out on his apartment, and rather than look for another apartment, he just decided to move into his van instead. In Mike's words, "I realized I was never really at my house, except for a couple of times a week to sleep and shower". For this reason, it was only natural for him to just move into his van full-time. The first van Mike lived in was a hastily converted low-top van. While he says he really enjoyed living in his first van, he's since upgraded and moved into a nice 158" wheel-base Sprinter with a high top. Mike's latest build has a mobile office built into it that he uses to film and edit his videos in comfort. In addition to the office, the van features a large kitchen and a fixed bed. These were both priorities for Mike as he likes to cook as much as possible and he doesn't like the idea of having to flip furniture around just to get his bed ready each night. The fixed bed has also allowed for a storage area to be built into the rear of the van. This storage area is used to house mountain bikes as well as all of the tools that might be needed to do repairs on the bikes. On the outside, additional clearance and all-terrain tires make it easier for the van to get down old logging roads and into other areas that are perfect for mountain biking. This is what helps make this van the ultimate van build for mountain bikers. You can see Mike's van in the video below. Scuba Dive Brian and Paulina moved into a van just over a year ago. They're avid scuba divers and living full time in a van allows them to do more scuba diving. The couple's van build is a complete DIY project. They had to learn about carpentry, solar power, and plumbing just to finish it, but they're glad they did. Inside the van, you'll find a large kitchen with a 3 burner stove, a refrigerator, and a sink. Alongside this kitchen area is a couch, which also serves as additional storage. Behind all of this is a fixed bed. Brian and Paulina store all of their scuba gear below their fixed bed. On top of the van sits four 100-watt solar panels and two vent fans. The vents allow for plenty of air to flow through the van and the solar panels make sure all of their camera gear is always fully charged. You can learn more about Brian and Paulina's van by watching the video below. Subscribe to their channel and you'll also get to go on all of their scuba adventures with them. Hike Jupiter is a long-distance hiker who decided that living in just one place was limiting his hiking opportunities. Naturally, the best way for him to get around this was to buy a van. The van Jupiter chose to use as his home is a 2008 Ford E-150. This van is a low-top van, which makes it easier for him to get down tight roads and onto trailheads. Jupiter's van build is a rustic build that serves more as a home base to camp in rather than a place to eat, sleep, and work in. For this reason, it does not feature a large kitchen or even a refrigerator. However, this doesn't mean it isn't a comfortable van to sleep in. The van has a stand-alone bed for comfortable sleeping and a roof fan for climate control so it's a comfortable place to bed down for the night. Living in a van has given Jupiter more time to hike and more time to really get to know the areas that he hikes in. In his own words, "when I hike across these states, I feel like it's such a travesty to not know the area I'm hiking through". For this reason, Jupiter uses his spare time between hikes to read books on the wildlife and the plant life that live and grow in the areas he hikes through. You can see Jupiter's campervan below. Paint Lyn the artist travels the United States in her DIY high-top Ford E-350 van build. She creates art on her computer inside the van and creates art with her paintbrush outside of the van. Want your van painted? Lyn also offers van painting services as well. Lyn's van is a simple van build with a fixed bed at the rear and a kitchen and storage area at the front. This gives her plenty of open space to store artwork and painting supplies. Under the bed offers even more storage for paints and canvasses as well as Lyn's rock climbing gear and skateboards. You can see Lyn's E-350 van build below. Your Story As you can see, people get into van life for many different reasons and do many different things while living life from their vans. Are you thinking about building out a van for full-time or even part-time living? What are your motivations for doing so? Email me with your story and I'll add it here!