And hey, special shout-out to those reading this right now (yup, that means you). Thank you for taking the time to check out what I have to say. I am loving my new found writing hobby, and hope that the blog has been good to you as well. If any of this resonates with you, please leave a comment and/or feel free to ask more questions!
Why do you live in a van?
Where do you shower?
Where do you get your mail?
How do you get WiFi?
How do you make money on the road?
How do you maintain comfortable temps in the van?
Aren’t you scared? How do you stay safe?
How do you travel with your dog?
What do you use to charge your electronics?
How do you live without all your stuff?
Where have been your favorite places?
What’s the hardest part?
Why do you live in a van?
Short answer: Before our road trip, my boyfriend and I were living in San Francisco. My life there was really fun, but I knew it couldn’t be permanent due to the high cost of living. Plus, I’m super keen on travel and nomadic living at the moment. My thirst for adventure and exploration is at an all-time high. I want to see as much of the world as possible, and who knows when the perfect time is. Might as well be now.
Long answer: For more on my thoughts on this subject, check out my very first blog post “Why do you live in a van?”.
Where do you shower?
Campgrounds, Planet Fitness, truck stops, public pools and recreation centers. Rivers and lakes are ideal dipping spots, but just for rinses since soap shouldn’t be used in natural bodies of water (not even biodegradable soap, it’s harmful to aquatic animals.) I covered a lot more on this topic; read more on how I keep clean living in a van.
Where do you get your mail?
This can be a tough one sometimes and depends a lot on what state we’re in and what kinda mail we’re talking about. For pretty much all of my mail that would be important, like messages from my healthcare provider or bank, I’m signed up for e-document delivery, so the hard mail I get is infrequent. But I do still need a permanent mailing address, like what I use for banking and voting (important!), so we use my mom’s address. I know I'm lucky to have this option; if I get something that looks important, she will open it up and let me know what it’s about.
For needing mail or packages delivered to us on the road, we use friends’ addresses who we are planning on visiting anyways. Again, another lucky and opportunistic option.
However, for those times when we have no friends close-by and need something soon, we have to get creative. Sometimes there’s a public mail center (i.e., a place where mail and other packages are shipped or sent out from) like the Post Office, UPS, FedEx, and Amazon lockers that we can use. But this must be done in a special way to specify the right address. Here are the basics:
- Sending via USPS to a Post Office: It needs to be sent to a general delivery address, so it should be formatted as:
General Delivery
Attn: [ Your Name ]
Post Office Address
City, State, Zip Code
Attn: [ Your Name ]
Post Office Address
City, State, Zip Code
- FedEx and UPS: Call the location that you want to use to make sure that they offer these services, then if so, confirm with an employee that they will receive and hold on to your package for you until pickup. FedEx holds for 7 days and UPS holds for 5.
- Amazon locker: If we absolutely must buy something online, there are thousands of Amazon locker locations across the US. However, we try to buy local as much as possible to reduce our environmental impact.
One more thought on getting mail: I recently heard that there are mail services that check it for you, so there is that option if you’re willing to pay for it and feel comfortable having essentially a stranger read your mail. I’ve heard good things about the company “iPostal1” but have not used it myself.
- Amazon locker: If we absolutely must buy something online, there are thousands of Amazon locker locations across the US. However, we try to buy local as much as possible to reduce our environmental impact.
One more thought on getting mail: I recently heard that there are mail services that check it for you, so there is that option if you’re willing to pay for it and feel comfortable having essentially a stranger read your mail. I’ve heard good things about the company “iPostal1” but have not used it myself.
How do you get WiFi?
One quick option is to use your phone as a hot-spot. Just check with your cell phone provider to make sure it’s in your plan to avoid crazy expensive charges. It can be used in a pinch if you need it for not too long.
Most of the time though we use the Verizon Jetpack WiFi hotspot. Verizon’s service has proved well for us so far; we’ve only had a few random small towns where we didn’t have service.
Of course there’s also public WiFi hotspots like cafes and libraries, so we take advantage of that as much as we can, especially if we need to download files or videos.
How do you make money on the road?
For me, I had to quit my job in San Francisco to go on this adventure, and while I don’t regret it, I sure do miss the stable income. However, I have managed to make a little bit of money doing dog walking and dog/house sitting while we’ve been on the road. When I was in SF, I worked for Rover and Wag and managed to set up my profile quite well with lots of reviews and photos of dog clients. I have to change my location a lot on the apps, but surprisingly I’ve picked up quite a few jobs. It’s especially great when it’s a house-sitting gig since it gives us a break from the van for a few nights. Of course I always make sure first that the client is comfortable with my boyfriend and dog tagging along- so far it hasn’t been a problem.
I’m currently looking for more work out there, ideally in my career field (environmental communications). My dream remote job would be to manage an environmental non-profit organization’s social media presence, so if you know of anyone looking, let me know!
As for Theo, he works remotely for the company that he’s been with for over 7 years. They are based in the Bay Area, so he was planning on quitting when we moved into the van, but instead of accepting his resignation, his boss offered him the opportunity to work remotely. He cut back on his hours just a tad, but so far it has worked out great for him, and us. We do have to make stops throughout the work week for him to get hours in, but it’s really not too bad. And considering that it allows us to live it up on the road, eat out and drink local craft beer, we have it pretty good I’d say.
Most of the time though we use the Verizon Jetpack WiFi hotspot. Verizon’s service has proved well for us so far; we’ve only had a few random small towns where we didn’t have service.
Of course there’s also public WiFi hotspots like cafes and libraries, so we take advantage of that as much as we can, especially if we need to download files or videos.
 |
| Enjoying hot coffee while we download movies on our iPad 😆 |
How do you make money on the road?
For me, I had to quit my job in San Francisco to go on this adventure, and while I don’t regret it, I sure do miss the stable income. However, I have managed to make a little bit of money doing dog walking and dog/house sitting while we’ve been on the road. When I was in SF, I worked for Rover and Wag and managed to set up my profile quite well with lots of reviews and photos of dog clients. I have to change my location a lot on the apps, but surprisingly I’ve picked up quite a few jobs. It’s especially great when it’s a house-sitting gig since it gives us a break from the van for a few nights. Of course I always make sure first that the client is comfortable with my boyfriend and dog tagging along- so far it hasn’t been a problem.
I’m currently looking for more work out there, ideally in my career field (environmental communications). My dream remote job would be to manage an environmental non-profit organization’s social media presence, so if you know of anyone looking, let me know!
As for Theo, he works remotely for the company that he’s been with for over 7 years. They are based in the Bay Area, so he was planning on quitting when we moved into the van, but instead of accepting his resignation, his boss offered him the opportunity to work remotely. He cut back on his hours just a tad, but so far it has worked out great for him, and us. We do have to make stops throughout the work week for him to get hours in, but it’s really not too bad. And considering that it allows us to live it up on the road, eat out and drink local craft beer, we have it pretty good I’d say.
 |
| One of our many campsites turned office workspace. |
How do you maintain comfortable temps in the van?
In the summer, we use battery or USB-powered fans to keep air circulation going, and even bought a mini air-conditioning unit for our summer spent on the east coast (it was so hot, I complained every day 😝). But the AC unit required us to get electrical hook-ups so that was an added cost. For the pup, I bought him a Ruffwear cooling vest. This summer we spent a lot of it with Theo's family and mine, so we were able to beat the heat and go inside when needed. It honestly would have been too hot for us otherwise (unless we parked ourselves at an RV site to run our air conditioner 24/7, but we didn't want to do that). And when I say "us" I actually mean my dog Noah. Us humans can withstand the heat and humidity of an east coast summer, but my long-haired Rottweiler can not. We also got a hotel room a few times when the heat was unsafe for Noah.
Last summer was spent on the Oregon coast and it was always the perfect temperature, so if we do van life for another year, I think I will pick a cool spot to spend the summer months in.
For the winter, we've only done one season so far and spent it wherever the snow was good. We love to ski and it was so fun to chase the pow-pow. We installed a Propex heater that uses propane and is externally-ventilated, and also had a Mr. Buddy small electrical heater if we needed more heat and could get an electrical AC hook-up. Theo does a lot of research on the best equipment to buy, so I would take his word for it 😉. I've added some links to the products I'm mentioning. And PLEASE be careful when using propane or electric heaters. Follow the directions, crack a bit of window, install a carbon monoxide detector, and survive. Ours is externally-ventilated, so we don't have to crack windows, the carbon monoxide stays out so it's safer than other heaters.
We also used these insulated blankets that Theo made, meaning he used a sewing machine and everything 🙌. The blankets cover nearly every inch of wall inside the van, and blocked off the front seating area. They have magnets on the corners so we would set these up every night before bed and the temps stayed super cozy for us all night long.
Of course, wearing layers and having the best warm clothing helps too! I love SmartWool clothing, non-itchy wool that doesn't smell no matter how much I may sweat (well, I haven't actually tested the limit on that..).
Aren't you scared? How do you stay safe?
Considering that I am traveling with my boyfriend and giant dog, I personally feel very safe and am so lucky to have them with me. Even so, I seem to be missing that scared feeling when it comes to sleeping in cars or camping alone. A few years back when I lived and traveled in a minivan, I was often alone at night, sometimes needing to search for a couple hours to find a spot to sleep for the night and while I was anxious about breaking the law and getting a ticket, I wasn't scared to be alone. I actually get scared the most when I'm in a house by myself. It's so large and there are so many places a monster could be hiding! The van makes me feel safe. I guess I prefer to be out in the open if a killer is going to come get me, rather than being trapped in a house. But that's just how my mind weirdly works!
But to be on the safe side, more so with wild animals than bad people, we carry bear spray with us at all times in the van; it's on a little holster on the wall so we can reach it fast. And of course we don't go looking for "bad" areas of town and we also skip big cities where crime is higher. We stick to campgrounds and public land, and sometimes a brightly-lit Walmart parking lot, so in general we stay pretty safe to avoid any altercations.
How do you travel with your dog?
For me, the idea of not bringing my dog on the roadtrip was just not an option, so even though we have to make a lot of adjustments and sometimes be flexible with our plans, it's worth it to hang out with my pup 24/7 and show him the world. One of the biggest issues is going to places where dogs aren't allowed, like certain hiking trails and of course restaurants and bars that we want to go check out. We are super careful when it comes to leaving Noah in the van. At least it's spacious though so he has plenty of room to lay around, and we have ways to bring air circulation in. We also planned our roadtrip stops based on the weather and what would be most comfortable for the dog. In early summer we were driving through the South, making our way up to Massachusetts, and we ended up taking a longer route so we could stick to the coast where the air was cooler.
I wrote a full blog post talking about traveling with my dog, so if you want to know more, check it out here: Traveling in Vans with Dogs.
What do you use to charge your electronics?
It's better to charge straight from the car's lithium battery, so we bought 12 volt DC specific chargers for all of our electronics (phone, laptop, kindle, fans, camera chargers, etc.) so that it can plug into the car's lithium battery. So these are special chargers that are different from the typical household 120 volt that runs on AC. It wastes a lot of energy going from AC to DC.
The car's battery is then charged by a combination of solar from our panels on the roof, from the engine's alternator, or plugging into shore power which supplies our van with AC current.
Finding shore power can be difficult or expensive, often requiring a campsite reservation with an RV site. But between our solar panels and engine charging the battery, we don't often need to seek power out.
How do you live without all your stuff?
I tend to err on the simpler way of living, and don't like to buy too much stuff, so it was not very hard for me to part with a lot of my belongings that I wasn't going to need or couldn't fit in the van. Of course my clothes had to be reduced a lot, but I did pack enough that I keep some in our storage container up top- stuff that I don't need every day like extra shoes, nicer garments, etc.
Van life is very similar to going camping, and since I had a lot of experience with that throughout my life, it wasn't too hard to figure out what sort of items we were going to need, and what we wouldn't need.
I'd say in general it feels great to be living more simply with less stuff. We don't have as much to look after, so that means more time spent outdoors and doing fun stuff.
Where have been your favorite places?
We've been to 26 states and 2 Canadian provinces thus far on our road trip. We plan to hit up a few more as we take on the next leg of our journey. There have been soooo many amazing places! It was hard to narrow it down, but I tried: (I wrote more about these places in a previous blog found here.)
Favorite national park: Yellowstone, Wyoming
Favorite campground: Devils Garden, Arches National Park, Utah
Favorite public lands campground: North side Snake River, Twin Falls, Idaho
Favorite drive: Oregon Coast
Favorite detour: National Bison Range Scenic Byway, Montana
Favorite small town: Jackson, Wyoming
What’s the hardest part?
Definitely the loneliness. Luckily I'm not truly lonely since my partner and dog are always around, but I have a deep friend network and miss seeing them on a regular basis. A good amount of our friends and my immediate family live in California, so it was hard leaving that state.
But what makes up for that is all the new places we're seeing and the friends we've been able to finally visit. It's an awesome feeling rolling up to your friends' house in your sweet van! One spot in particular was my grandmother's home in Tennessee, a place I've always flown to, but this time I got to drive right up.
Unfortunately our route doesn't always allow us to visit friends so we do spend a lot of time by ourselves. However, that was part of the adventure I knew was going to happen, and it ain't so bad. There is definitely a lot of time for self-reflection, and when will my life ever be this peaceful?
That's all folks! Who has more questions for me to answer??
 |
| It was a frigid day in Tahoe. But inside was warm and cozy! |
Considering that I am traveling with my boyfriend and giant dog, I personally feel very safe and am so lucky to have them with me. Even so, I seem to be missing that scared feeling when it comes to sleeping in cars or camping alone. A few years back when I lived and traveled in a minivan, I was often alone at night, sometimes needing to search for a couple hours to find a spot to sleep for the night and while I was anxious about breaking the law and getting a ticket, I wasn't scared to be alone. I actually get scared the most when I'm in a house by myself. It's so large and there are so many places a monster could be hiding! The van makes me feel safe. I guess I prefer to be out in the open if a killer is going to come get me, rather than being trapped in a house. But that's just how my mind weirdly works!
But to be on the safe side, more so with wild animals than bad people, we carry bear spray with us at all times in the van; it's on a little holster on the wall so we can reach it fast. And of course we don't go looking for "bad" areas of town and we also skip big cities where crime is higher. We stick to campgrounds and public land, and sometimes a brightly-lit Walmart parking lot, so in general we stay pretty safe to avoid any altercations.
 |
| I've got a great protector by my side. 💓 |
How do you travel with your dog?
For me, the idea of not bringing my dog on the roadtrip was just not an option, so even though we have to make a lot of adjustments and sometimes be flexible with our plans, it's worth it to hang out with my pup 24/7 and show him the world. One of the biggest issues is going to places where dogs aren't allowed, like certain hiking trails and of course restaurants and bars that we want to go check out. We are super careful when it comes to leaving Noah in the van. At least it's spacious though so he has plenty of room to lay around, and we have ways to bring air circulation in. We also planned our roadtrip stops based on the weather and what would be most comfortable for the dog. In early summer we were driving through the South, making our way up to Massachusetts, and we ended up taking a longer route so we could stick to the coast where the air was cooler.
I wrote a full blog post talking about traveling with my dog, so if you want to know more, check it out here: Traveling in Vans with Dogs.
 |
| Noah is a travel pro! |
What do you use to charge your electronics?
It's better to charge straight from the car's lithium battery, so we bought 12 volt DC specific chargers for all of our electronics (phone, laptop, kindle, fans, camera chargers, etc.) so that it can plug into the car's lithium battery. So these are special chargers that are different from the typical household 120 volt that runs on AC. It wastes a lot of energy going from AC to DC.
The car's battery is then charged by a combination of solar from our panels on the roof, from the engine's alternator, or plugging into shore power which supplies our van with AC current.
Finding shore power can be difficult or expensive, often requiring a campsite reservation with an RV site. But between our solar panels and engine charging the battery, we don't often need to seek power out.
How do you live without all your stuff?
I tend to err on the simpler way of living, and don't like to buy too much stuff, so it was not very hard for me to part with a lot of my belongings that I wasn't going to need or couldn't fit in the van. Of course my clothes had to be reduced a lot, but I did pack enough that I keep some in our storage container up top- stuff that I don't need every day like extra shoes, nicer garments, etc.
Van life is very similar to going camping, and since I had a lot of experience with that throughout my life, it wasn't too hard to figure out what sort of items we were going to need, and what we wouldn't need.
I'd say in general it feels great to be living more simply with less stuff. We don't have as much to look after, so that means more time spent outdoors and doing fun stuff.
 |
| Living that simple life 😊 |
Where have been your favorite places?
We've been to 26 states and 2 Canadian provinces thus far on our road trip. We plan to hit up a few more as we take on the next leg of our journey. There have been soooo many amazing places! It was hard to narrow it down, but I tried: (I wrote more about these places in a previous blog found here.)
Favorite national park: Yellowstone, Wyoming
Favorite campground: Devils Garden, Arches National Park, Utah
Favorite public lands campground: North side Snake River, Twin Falls, Idaho
Favorite drive: Oregon Coast
Favorite detour: National Bison Range Scenic Byway, Montana
Favorite small town: Jackson, Wyoming
 |
| Savannah, GA was also one of my favorite cities. |
What’s the hardest part?
Definitely the loneliness. Luckily I'm not truly lonely since my partner and dog are always around, but I have a deep friend network and miss seeing them on a regular basis. A good amount of our friends and my immediate family live in California, so it was hard leaving that state.
But what makes up for that is all the new places we're seeing and the friends we've been able to finally visit. It's an awesome feeling rolling up to your friends' house in your sweet van! One spot in particular was my grandmother's home in Tennessee, a place I've always flown to, but this time I got to drive right up.
Unfortunately our route doesn't always allow us to visit friends so we do spend a lot of time by ourselves. However, that was part of the adventure I knew was going to happen, and it ain't so bad. There is definitely a lot of time for self-reflection, and when will my life ever be this peaceful?
 |
| Visiting my grandmother in Tennessee. It was so neat to drive the van up to her house, a house I grew up in. |
That's all folks! Who has more questions for me to answer??
@alisaninthevan
Makes me want to trade my truck for a van! Guess I could always sleep in the bed under my #rightline truck tent!! Keep on trucking:)
ReplyDeleteTyped in Remove environmental communications and found this! https://www.google.com/search?q=remote+jobs+environmental+communications&oq=remote+jobs+enviromental+communcia&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j33l3.7593j1j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&ibp=htl;jobs&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwib9qz2yv7kAhUyGDQIHVgXBsgQp4wCMAB6BAgIEAE#htidocid=-e58VwjafK_KJihSAAAAAA%3D%3D&sxsrf=ACYBGNTWyZ4LDb1SwSwSyNHLdseyWdgrLg:1570053997418
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