AIBU to think we could happily live in a van?

[spiritofadventure]

My OH and I have been talking recently about buying a van and converting it into a self contained home to live in full time.

It started off as a joke when we had to change flats, yet again, as our landlord was selling up, but it is now something we are seriously considering.

We are in our early 30's, both work full time 50 hours a week and are still nowhere near close to saving a deposit to be able to buy in this area.

We've done the maths and think we could do this for less than £12k, including the van.

The van we would buy is a LWB Mercedes Sprinter, which would give us a living space of approx. 4.3m x 1.8m. Inside, we would have a double bed, small dining area, kitchen and a small shower/toilet room.

It would be cosy, for sure, but it would have everything we need.

We live in an area that has lots of places suitable to park up for the night so that wouldn't be an issue.

Monthly costs we think would be in the region of £3-400 excluding food costs

Obviously this wouldn't be a forever home, but we were thinking 2 or 3 years so we could build up our savings.

Are we crazy, or could this really work?

Need to empty toilet every day

Blimey, what do you guys eat? We empty ours every 4-5 days or so. And I drink vast amounts of tea, so it gets a lot of use.

Ah lovely sneery mumsnet when it comes to anything not quite the norm. I don’t know why people are so personally offended by these kind of considerations!

I know some people who’ve done this, converting a small lorry rather than a van. He was a super handy type who did the conversion himself. He lived in it on and off for years, whilst working on friends houses. It’s all workable.

Having said that.... I think in your circumstances you’d be mad to do it! It’s a lifestyle that takes time. Like narrowboats, you have to put in a bit more time to everyday living. This is fine except if you’re working 50 hour weeks, do you really want to deal with life admin of finding a site, getting van warm, laundry, sourcing plumbing facilities etc. There’s a reason these adventures come with a lifestyle change. If you want to do it, you need to consider everything else too.

Personally I lived in a caravan/ part built house for 8 months. I have absolutely no desire to repeat the experience. Trying to do 9-5 and school whilst also dealing with caravan life is a pain in the arse. A van sounds more adventurous but it’s basically serving the same function as a caravan. You could get a motorhome for the price of buying a van. The downsides are the same - would it still appeal if you said ‘caravan’ or mobile home rather than van?

It's funny because I have just become addicted to watching these YouTube videos from Bob Wells at CheapRVliving m.youtube.com/watch?v=6gJ-KJsP5q0

i was a crusty in the 90s and lived in a lorry. we had a wood burner and it was properly toasty.

but...i would make sure you have washing and laundry sorted out.

and tacking down to drive anywhere is tedious. so, what would then be your daily mode of transport? if you need to get to work or doctor or anything, you are going to need to have your living space tidied away by, say, 8am and that is going to drive you mental.

where will you sit when you’re not ready for bed? if you have your bed low enough to use as seating during the day, you lose storage space underneath it.

and. security. parking in random places is fine but you may be targeted by opportunistic thieves. we were broken into by a heroin addict and lost a load of stuff. a big dog is recommended!

it can be done - i know people who have been doing this for years and i’m thinking about doing it again but you need to be prepared as it’s hard work.

Actually hardly anyone has been ‘sneery’ and no-one ‘offended’.

Plenty of people have mentioned practical considerations, including good and challenging and often from experience. Presumably the OP wants to work through all the practical and financial considerations otherwise her money-saving plan will be unsuccessfull.

I have lived 8 months in a wooden cabin off-grid, and several months in a good tent.

Gym membership for showers etc? Gym membership is £50 pcm per person where I live, and in a 50 hour working week I wouldn’t find it easy to be travelling to the gym for showers.

OP, this may or may not be a consideration for you but IME places you can park / camp can often be places with no phone signal / wi-fi.

We have a 7 berth 7.5m long Motorhome and you would be able to able to live in it quite comfortably! I think a sprinter is the same size or maybe a toot longer - it really makes you realise how much crap we have that we don't need at home, you learn to adapt quite quickly. One thing though an air conditioning unit is quite good if you are there full time removing the old breath smells, dampness, condensation while still keeping you cool in the summer cause they still get very hot in the summer even while well insulated. If you could look into getting an onboard gas generator you would be completely independent of electric. They are marvellous! We love really good strong paper plates! Clearing up after dinner is a cinch! Little things like that make all the difference. Good luck and keep us up to date! There's also a fab little fridge - like a large ice box - around £380 ish by waeco which can also be used as a freezer - goes down to -22. DH brought it in the house in August and it complements our fridge freezer perfectly. We met a man who converted a yellow LA school bus last year. It was fabulous!

Plus you can always jump into a travel lodge every so often for a change and a bath!

I don’t see how 12k isn’t enough to put a deposit down unless you live somewhere really posh

Would a static caravan be a more viable option? It's affordable and it would cover your plumbing and laundry needs. I know people who live on caravan sites and are quite happy there.

www.wildcamping.co.uk/

There are lots of people who do this full-time. Join this site and access loads of info on places to park, taps and toilet emptying. There’s also information on doing a van conversion.

One thing I learned from watching these videos is most people do this lifestyle to gain the freedom to travel, not to save for a house. As he says in one video the difference between a homeless person living in his car and a nomad or traveller is that one hates living in the car and dreams of a house while the other puts up with any discomfort because they love the freedom to travel and mostly enjoys the lifestyle. Even those who work some of the year in this lifestyle only do enough to allow them to travel the rest of the year. If you are just camping in your van to save for a house you lose a lot of the comfort of a house but don't really gain a lot of freedom in exchange.

You're insane and i say that as someone who has spent lengthy periods of time in a vw campervan.

A caravan is a better set up, more space, better facilities. You can find a long term pitch. It is cheaper to buy and maintain.

Your problems in a van will be space, they are cold even with a propex heater but also electricity. With a leisure battery you need to be plugged into ehu for the plug sockets to work. So fridge will work on gas but no tv or ability to charge your mobile or use a hairdryer. I did try a electrical converter thingy which you plug into the 12v and it gives you a socket but it drains the battery in an hour. Where will you empty the toilet, which will need doing every day.

I think go for it but don't spend 12 k .
I had friends who dropped out of uni and became new age travellers in the 90s and the vans and old ambulances they lived in were really nice and cosy.
One friend lived in a coach it was amazing and no one had a lot of money to spend on their home.
They would have a relaxing bath and watch TV when they visited me as that's what they missed most.I would have gorgeous food cooked on the woodburner when I visited them.
I have an idealised idea of living in a caravan or narrow boat etc but like my home comforts so not for me.
It did seem a lot of work day to day living but was magical to sit in a cosy van with the door open looking at the stars with someone playing the guitar and lots of friendly people and dogs about.

If I had £12k and no property, I wouldn't be spending my savings on something that depreciates as soon as you drive it off the lot. You say if you hate it, you'll sell, but you'll never get back what you spent on it.

In the middle of winter, when it's been pissing it down for days and it's howling winds, you'll be miserable as hell. It'll be cold, expensive to heat and pretty grim to come home to after a long day at work.

If you have £12k why on earth don't you put it towards a house deposit?!

I had a merc sprinter lwb 5 berth camper van. They're great for holidays but living in permanently not so much. You will also need electricity hookups as the leisure battery won't last and diesel heater is noisy and smelly

A caravan has to be on a site, which costs. There are also rules about staying permanently, basically if you want to live there you can’t.

You don’t need that much electricity, as everything can run on gas or diesel. You can have 12v points, which take very little power from a decent battery. You can have a solar panel on the roof and use LED lights. Some people run a small generator.

Something you need to look at is an address for banking and insurance and for the doctors.

Also if there's two of you the toilet wouldn't need emptied every day, use the little blue teabags which you drop into the cassette toilet and which digest your waste. We have 7 in ours so after owes we use a squirty water bottle to rinse the toilet - uses less water than would be used flushing after every pee saving space. The teabags elimate all smells and liquefy solids - yum yum!! 24 hr superstores are good places to park but obviously not every night.

It's not going to be for everyone but there is only one way to find out and plenty of people live full time van life, some are in much smaller vans and a LWB Sprinter is plenty big enough if you use the space well.

Some caravan sites are residential, ie you can live there year round. Others are nonresidential and you have to be off them for two months, I think, before coming back. It's like a narrowboat. You can pay for a permanent mooring or you can travel around, but staying in one place with facilities will cost something.

There are some jobs and access to benefits that would make this life very hard.

Having no postal address can cause tremendous problems with banks, electoral roll, lots of jobs.

Don't forget a carbon monoxide detector. And that people are dicks and will bang on your van when they're pissed

Have you seen the the weather?! I’m cold in my house! I think you could manage in the summer but not now. I’d also be concerned about where you’d park.

How are you "just" going to move back into a flat if you have sold all your furniture?

Stupid stupid idea.

What about a “Tiny House”, it’s an American movement of smaller homes which is starting to come to to the uk.

Maybe team up with a few different couples insimilar circumstances, by a plot of land and put a few Tiny Houses on it.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions!

With regards to electricity etc, we would have solar panels on the roof of the van and 2 or 3 leisure batteries.

We already live quite a minimal life anyway, so do the have too much to store. We wouldn't keep any furniture so the storage space would be just for a couple of boxes of sentimental things and sports equipment.

We already have gym memberships and actually both shower at the gym 3-4 times a week anyway, so the shower in the van wouldn't need to be used daily.

I love the idea of having a small wood burner! I need to look into that.

Theres a few facebook pages for self conversions, join them for advice.
They can give hints on heating , what type of cooker to use, leisure batteries etc. Ive seen some people use solar panels.

Id be wary of using a generator due to noise etc.

Also as has been mention look for wild camping websites, they will have info on where to park, where to source water, grey waste emptying, shower facilities, laundrettes etc.
They will probably have advice on what provider to use for data for internet.

Theres also a facebook page for sites to park at £10 and under a night.
No chat on the site Ive linked Its purely for info but there are other groups.
www.facebook.com/groups/424445484557782/?fref=ts

Scotland has lots of wild camping spots. ( right to roam etc)
www.facebook.com/groups/246972858789245/?fref=ts

Someone mentioned static caravans. You have to look for sites that are residential rather than holiday parks. Ground rent is payable to site owners. Council tax is usually cheapest band. The cheapest Ive seen for a sited static on residentail site near Edinburgh was £50k recently.