Lessons I learned from the van life.
So you want to live in a van?
After graduating in 2022, I was fortunate enough to own a beautiful 2003 Dodge Ram 1500 Van. I’d been dreaming about the van life since early high school and felt entirely grateful that I would be able to finally send it.
No rent, pure freedom, and no soul-sucking corporate job straight out of school. Amazing.
Except I had torn my ACL 2 weeks before leaving, so that sucked. I didn’t know it was torn since doc told me it was just a bad sprain… turns out some docs suck and I didn’t know any better at the time.
Fuck it we ball.
For the next year it was pretty full on. I backpacked all the National Parks I always wanted to, I found the types of adventures and experiences I desired, and lived a unique yet incredible life.
I started in San Luis Obispo, knocked out some epic trips in Kings Canyon and Yosemite, then proceeded to break down in Mammoth Lakes, CA for 3 weeks.
That was my first frustrating experience of realizing that when your van breaks down, so does your ability to live normally. I lived outside of my mechanic’s shop while I awaited a part to be shipped there, and proceeded to work off my laptop at coffee shops, bike everywhere, workout with the kettlebells I packed into my van, play disc golf, get hammered with locals, and sneak into music festivals.
This is also when I first felt some twinges of loneliness and sadness. I felt pretty helpless not having a working van since I was essentially stuck. So I tried staying busy enough to keep my mind off that until the part came in.
But once it did, OOOOWWWWWEEE did it feel good to be back on the road. That experience really helped me appreciate when my van did work.
So, Van Lesson #1: Buy something mechanically reliable! Nothing worse than being broken down for extended periods of time with no way to remedy the situation. Yes, the 1972 Vanagon is dope but you’re better off with a 2010 Promaster that’ll keep you on the road.
Next was Washington! Which is arguably my favorite state as long as its summertime. Pure stoke being able to play in the mountains with friends who were nice enough to come live in the van and explore for a week.
Then came British Columbia. Ho Lee Sheit. Some of the best roadtripping you could possibly ask for.
Found some friends in an awesome town called Revelstoke, BC (would live there). Ate lots of sandwiches with good views. Played disc golf with Infinity Solstice the Wizard (Yes that’s his name) who just so happens to be best friends with ManWoman - who is worth looking up. Long story short, ManWoman was a pretty normal dude until God spoke to him in a dream telling him to reclaim the innocence of the swastika, and proceeded to tattoo himself head to toe with swastikas. Infinity’s barn is littered with ManWoman’s gentitalia and swastika inspired paintings. They’re really really good.
Infinity’s property was incredible. 10 acres of beautiful land in Golden, BC with a 54 hole custom made disc golf course, beautiful home, barn, tennis court, farm, and garden. Loved it there.
Van Lesson #2: Go collect good stories. Meet weird people. Get a beer or disc golf with a stranger. Make friends on the road that you’ll never see again. Have fun and get out of the safety of your van. Growth is on the opposite side of your comfort zone.
Leaving BC felt like leaving paradise but Alberta is just as incredible. Yoho, Jasper, and Banff NP all lined up back to back to back. Amazing adventures full of peaks, one of my best friends flying out to go backpack with me, and lots of alpine cold plunges.
Van Lesson #3: Plan ways for your friends to come see you on the road. You have the free place to stay and plenty of adventure to offer, they just need to buy the ticket.
And then I took my ass on back to the land of apple pie, freedom, and the red white and blue!
Montana and Wyoming were incredible. I fell in love with Glacier National Park. That place is where my favorite quote rings the most true: ‘Nature is God, and God is Love’.
At this point van life felt awesome. I was doing all the things I wanted. Mountains, disc golf, new friends, adventures with my best friends, learning new skills, and getting out of my comfort zone.
Van Lesson #4: Find hobbies that make the van life amazing. Hiking, climbing, biking, running, painting, lifting. Whatever - just stay active and healthy. Its also the best way to make meaningful connections on the road.
This was also the time when I started feeling a little home sick. Or at least missing my friends a lot.
I went from max socialization in college, living with 4 of my best friends, to solo traveling for what was now about 4 months straight. It was a lot of solitude which I’m cool with, but I definitely missed the homies. The times when my friends would fly out and visit me were easily my favorite, so I started planning my next move.
The plan was to link up with my brother Zack in Colorado, and drive back together to California stopping in all the Utah National Parks along the way. Then I would move to San Diego for the winter where I had a solid group of college friends waiting for me.
So Zack drove his truck, I drove the van, and we spent a month together having some amazing adventures and trying our best not to kill each other when we got on each others nerves. This part of the journey was one of my favorites since I got to spend a ton of time with my brother, Southern Utah is INSANELY BEAUTIFUL, and traveling with a companion makes the experience a little sweeter.
Van Lesson #5: The memories you make van lifing by your self are great. But the ones you’ll cherish forever are the ones you shared.
Spent some time in San Luis Obispo goofing around, went home for a bit, then moved to San Diego ready for some connection, a fresh start, and some sunshine.
That 6 months in San Diego was fantastic. I dedicated myself to working and getting debt free, jiu jitsu, climbing, and hanging out with my friends. I made some amazing new connections, got good at my hobbies, and started letting San Diego feel like home.
Van Lesson #6: Document your experience thoroughly. You’ll be thankful you did.
Van Lifing in San Diego changed what living in the van felt like, though. For the previous 6 months I was adventuring and camping in a new spot each night. My room was my van and my property was whatever National Park I was in at the time. Sure, I had plenty of nights in a Walmart parking lot or a random neighborhood, but I was on the road!
Soon, I was living in a van while living in a city. Not downtown SD - Ocean Beach and Pacific Beach mainly, but it just felt different. I was going back to the same parking lot most nights and it started feeling a little closer to homelessness than van life.
It was great not paying rent and being able to wake up next to the ocean, but gradually I lost my affection for the van. I started noticing the limitations - no bathroom, no shower, couldn’t stand in my room, limited privacy, lots of solitude, couldn’t invite friends over.
Van Lesson #7: Don’t be the gross van person. Clean up consistently. Air it out constantly. Light a candle. Have a spot for dirty laundry. However you go potty - be sanitary. Having a couple gym memberships is the way to go.
I didn’t really realize it until later but my social skills took a pretty big hit at that time too.
I started noticing that I was anxious a lot. Social situations had me feeling weird which I hadn’t felt really since high school and early college. By the end of college I really felt like I had come into my own, but after 6 months on the road and a lot of that time being by myself, I noticed a pretty significant change in my confidence. Didn’t love that.
Van Lesson #8: Social skills are a muscle. Use them or lose them. Social anxiety is a nasty negative feedback loop. Avoid it.
Luckily life gave me lemons and within 24 hours I was making lemonade.
I was in San Luis Obispo again when my friend Tyler Schiller posted on his IG that he had a room available in Hawaii. Half joking I DM’d him thinking it would have already been taken, but we talked and he said to let him know within 24 hours and it might work out. I went on a hike and thought about the last year in the van.
6 months of that time was on the road.
6 months was in San Diego.
Both were extremely fun, but I felt like I had reached the natural conclusion to the van life. I was ready for a new adventure, a roof over my head, and lots of social connection. So I made the leap.
Van Lesson #9: Have a plan but don’t be married to it. Leave an abundance of room for spontaneity and new paths.
Van Life feels like a beautiful chapter of my life. I learned so much about myself through all that time of solitude, it gave me a much better appreciation for friendship, connection, a roof over my head, and the amenities we take for granted living in a home.
I wouldn’t do it again alone, but with a partner - hell yeah. And now I have a much better perspective on how to do it properly so I can maximize enjoyment of the road and feel fulfilled socially.
