Things that I have learned so far in my 1st year of (part time) VanLife!
– People are so jealous of us … most everyone I meet wants to go with.
– It can get lonesome sometimes
– Mornings/Sunrises are AWESOME …. night/dark can suck.
– The first few days, weeks etc are tough … easy to turn tail and run back.
– Get an Eagles or Moose membership! First thing I do when I get to a new town is visit my local club. You instantly have friends, local people that you can call if you are in trouble, most often a place with Wii-fi, bathroom that you can hang for awhile (I ask if I can work in a corner for a few days). MOST often they let me park overnight in their parking lot as well. I even had several members lining up to “host” me in their driveway right next to the club.
– You can talk to campgrounds about using just their pool and bathrooms and park elsewhere (this is good in Florida when everything is fun).
– Campgrounds don’t like vans …. “unless you have a bathroom, air-conditioning unit on top!”
– The drawers, boxes and everything you so carefully put in place until you take that next sharp left turn .. everything will fall out etc. If not right away …. when you move the van and forgot to close things up.
– Seeing the US .. meeting new people is a lot of fun!
– People will stare at you when you walk in somewhere .. don’t be afraid to go talk to people. Learn to ask questions .. people love to talk about themselves.
– Have some gifts ready when you meet fellow nomads. I have smaller woodcarvings around to share/trade/give to fellow travelers. (For those of you that would like to make your own woodcarving for the same reason check out my web site at …… ) .. HA shameless plug!
– I love Cracker Barrel … in most cases you can stay over night .. and they are well spaced around the country. Please don’t set up camp …. arrive late at night and leave early … and try to spend some money with them once in awhile. (I put a store bag or receipt in my front window). Their breakfasts are awesome … and a large bag of their salt water taffy on the passenger seat is the perfect travel snack.
– I am not a fan of rest stops … even tho I’ve stayed in many. The most shady people (not truckers) tend to hang out there. I’ll drive 30 miles to a cracker barrel no problem instead of a rest stop.
– I use a wireless, USB chargeable fan to keep cool for the most part .. simple but it works I guess.
– I’m still learning how to do the whole cooking thing … my diet sucks ..
More to come next time ……
** The above are my experiences and may not at all be the same for everyone. And they may all change my second year .. it’ll be fun to find out!
