Do you think you could become a vanlifer ? Where you live in a camper van

[LovelyYellowLabrador]

The ideal of an alternative lifestyle really appeals to be

spending life traveling around
started following some of these van lifers on you tube
seems such a nice laugh

Hell no.

I love the idea of it with maybe only DH.

We rented a caravan a couple of years ago. I cannot emphasise how awful it was and how very cold it was at night, and that was in summer in a hotter country.

Nomadland is a brilliant film & shows the lifestyle of Americans who travel around the US like nomads (unsurprisingly enough!). Actual travellers were involved in the making of & starring in the film.
At times there are places with facilities - certainly Frances McDormand's character does seasonal work at Amazon on specially set up camps for nomadic workers.
Other times, in her tiny camper van, she showers at rest stops & uses a bucket...

The nomadic lifestyle seems to work in the US but not so much in the UK.

I enjoyed that film too and it was a film that really stuck with me. So many of the travellers were loners who just didn't fit into or want the confines of 'normal' society. Many of them were alone but some of them were lonely too.

We have a VW campervan and it's got a big community. Our own festivals etc. I love the van but love coming home too. Vanlifers in this country strike me as quite different from the 'Instagram vanlifers' who are young, tanned and beautiful. Here they seem to be divorced, no money, no house, and judging from their Facebook page most seem pretty down on their luck and just about getting by!

Watch the incredible movie Nomadland to see the reality for some of life in a van. One of the most powerful films I’ve seen for several years.

Anyone interested, watch Urban Vanlife, Will's Whereabouts or Pack The Van & Go, they are all on YouTube or Instagram.

Who remembers the film Meet The Fockers ?lol
Now that was a Camper Van.

I’ve only ever stayed in a caravan for a weekend at a Caravan park here in the Uk so it was static didn’t move and to be honest with you all I hated it.😶
Maybe I need to rent my own Camper Van .

My question is , do really luxurious ones exist like in the film and if they do are they ridiculously expensive or can you get deals on them?

Sorry to go of post a bit .🤣

I’m thinking this might be a typo and pP meant TCK which is a Third Culture Kid, generally children who grow up in a family from one culture (e.g British) but in a different country (e.g Saudi).

i would love to, and plan on doing it when DS is 18 but only with my DP who knows how to fix things that go wrong. I'm not handy enough to learn to fix things myself and they WILL go wrong. It's not a cute Instagram opportunity fun time, it is challenging!

That's a Winnebago type RV and yes they do but they are ££££££

@CloseYourEyesAndSee
Thanks for replying.
I’ve never seen one here in the UK as the insurance alone must cost a fortune and no doubt they are not rentals.

I have done this in the UK for a few years pre kids, but with DH. Not in a van though, in a motorhome with full kitchen and bathroom. It was such an adventure- we both loved it. It did fit in with our work at the time (partly why we did it)

We've just bought our second motorhome and are planning lots of adventures with the kids, but definitely won't be living in it!

I met a retired couple on a train. They had a house and a canal boat. In summer they lived on the boat and occasionally got the train 'home' to check post and have a bath.

That seemed like an ideal retirement.

Yeah I see your points. I guess in someways it could actually be quite a stressful way to life

I love the idea of it ,but I want a big luxurious motor home ,the reality is though it would be very cramped.

No, even a short break in a van isn't at all appealing to me. I'd find it claustrophobic and too much like hard work.

I've done a driving tour of Europe, but stopping in comfortable accommodation (not fancy, but I didn't need to manually dispose of my own effluence).

My husband is setting off on Sunday for a month long holiday in ours and I'm flying to Bilbao in a week to meet him. Can't wait.

Two weeks is my maximum in the van. I will need my space after that!

I would love to, but honestly only on my own. I'm not sure I could share a space that small with anyone.

My Mum owns a narrowboat and I have occasional fantasies about moving onto it when she decides she's too old to manage the steps/lack of shower etc. She's 72 though and showing no signs of slowing down yet!

Told my husband I'd live on the boat, he could live in the house and we'll have dinner every couple of weeks :-)

My husband watches some us vanlifers on YouTube. He finds them fascinating but more because of way they pack their space and adapt the van.

I love the idea of a narrow boat.

The reality is I couldn't cope with the loo situation. And I'm too messy to manage well in a very small space. And dh is 6 ft 4 and I couldn't share that small a save with him.

3 nights is my absolute top limit for staying in a camper so it would be a no from me!

We've got a motorhome and I we've managed 6 weeks, but it comes with central heating, loo, shower, kitchen etc. But sod doing it in a converted van. Even the 60k VW campers are so small with no loo or shower (or if they do they are outside attachments.

It's all fine and dandy whilst the weather is dry. When it starts raining it can be hell.

My grandmother tried this in her seventies. She was a restless soul and loved to travel, so properly sold up and off she went. It didn't bring her the happiness she hoped for, but tbh nothing did.

I could do a little fixed van in this country provided you had a patch of land for composting toilet and pretty much lived outdoors as others have said. As the owner of a rickety old cottage with a patch of land which I love dearly and refuse to sell, I sometimes think I'm on my way to the residential version of this anyway.

I live in my campervan and I’m in the UK. I’m not funded by parents (I’m mid 40’s) I gave up a static job of 14 years and sold my house because I thought there just has to be more to life than this. I think I’ve found it too.. yes the days when it’s chucking it down can be bad but when you’ve got the heating on and the blinds closed you could be anywhere - fairy lights, fresh coffee and a film or a book are nights spent just as I would in a house. I have a toilet and very small shower so get by perfectly well. I’ve spent this heatwave parked by a river, swimming or paddling and popping into the local pub.. I’ve just started my own business too, working from my van.. you make it want you want it to be.. I like it

The fulltimers has a hard time in covid, especially if they were far away as the borders closed. Lots of driving to get back and then nowhere to park.

Greg Virgoe has a good channel for detail.

It's getting very common for people to stay in vans around here. It's not very wild when people are all parked nose-to-tail with no toilet facilities.