Dia duit agus fáilte – that’s Irish for hello and welcome – let’s talk about how to live in a van. Before we made the leap, we were not sure what life in a van would look or feel like and I figured you might be in the same predicament.
Over the past six months, we have met lots of great people, all of them curious about the van dwelling lifestyle in general. Many of them had very specific questions and concerns; they wanted to know:
- How do we go to the toilet, shower and cook meals when living inside a van
- How to live in a van with a dog
- How to plan for life in a van when you still have to work
- How to live in a van when you’re a van life couple
- How to live in a van and get mail
- How to look after your health as a van dweller.
Keep reading below for tips and suggestions for all the above concerns.
But first, I wanted to let first-time readers know about the other van life posts you might find interesting and helpful if you’re in the learning stages of life in a van – Still thinking about it? Read this. Can’t decide on your van design – this post is for you. Ready to DIY your campervan conversion? Click here.
Table of Contents
Toilet, showers & cooking meals when living inside a van
1: We have a composting toilet in the van and use public restrooms as often as possible. It is way simpler than I imagined it would be before we hit the road. Read this post for some of our bathroom mishaps.
2: Whenever someone asks how we shower in the van, I always respond with a deadpan face, We don’t. It’s funny to watch their confusion and maybe just a little judgment! I always put them out of their misery. We have a gym membership to Planet Fitness and when that doesn’t work, we have an Irish bath (use a flannel and soapy water to wash all your smelly bits, as Mum used to say.)
3: When we designed the van, one of our priorities was to continue cooking and eating well. This impacted our power needs as well as the final layout of the van. Our finished kitchen has more than 12ft of countertop, the largest DC fridge we could find (NovaKool 5810), a DuoCrisp InstaPot, two induction cooktops, a toaster, Nutri-Bullet blender and our favorite cast iron pans. Oh, and we have a kettle, coffee grinder and two French presses. Yes, it’s a lot and we love it.
In the DuoCrisp, we are able to pressure cook chili, pasta sauce and curries, we can air fry French fries, bake bread and sous vide fish. We also enjoy fried eggs on toast with a cuppa, berry smoothies and fried rice. Life in a van is delicious!
The biggest challenges we have cooking in the van is the power draw of the appliances and we have to rotate occasionally. (I cannot use the toaster, kettle and coffee grinder at the same time without shutting down the inverter.)
Tip for your life in a van: We all have different ways of cooking and eating; don’t expect yours to change just because you are moving into a tiny home on wheels.
How to live in a van with a dog
We are traveling with Maggie, a 70lb Old English Sheepdog, who is my service animal (seizure alert/assist and mobility assist.) She is very good at her job but she is also a little neurotic and it has taken quite a while for her to settle in to our new tiny home on wheels.
Tip #1 for how to live in a van with a dog: Let your dog participate in the conversion process if possible. Maggie was in and out of the van checking on our progress while we finished her new home.
Maggie has never been allowed on furniture so her dog bed sits under the passenger foot-well where she rides while we’re driving and sleeps. She also likes to sprawl in the galley which is only a pain when we’re cooking. Whether your dog sits in your lap, sleeps on your bed or needs a secluded safe space, it is essential to accommodate those needs as well as possible.
I love this idea from the great folks at To the Mountains and Back. Perfect for dogs who need their own space. Check out their instructions to build your own here. Thanks to Ceri, Will and Piglet for these great photos.
After napping, sleeping and traveling safely, every dog needs a consistent food routine. We designed and built our bench in order to fit both the airhead composting toilet and Maggie’s food container. It has worked remarkably well. Next, we purchased bowls with folding holders that hang on the garage wall. We try to keep a schedule with regards to food but that’s a little harder than it was in the house.
Tip #2 for how to live in a van with a dog: Always remember to lift the water bowl and place it inside your sink before driving – it leaves a terrible mess when it sloshes everywhere!
And a big concern – how to live in a van with a dog when the weather is wet and miserable? It’s not necessarily pretty or sweet-smelling but thus far, we have made it work. Maggie hates wearing her rain coat and snow boots but we put them on her when needed. And on the worst days, we have laughed about the awfulness of a wet dog!
Maggie has hair and that means regular haircuts. Finding a self-wash dog shop has been easy but it is very hard to find a good groomer when you’re constantly on the move. We recently bought our own set of clippers and grooming her was surprisingly easy; we find an out of the way spot and I set up my space outside.
Tip #3 for how to live in a van with a dog: If your dog needs grooming, consider how you will make that work while bouncing from place to place.
Life in a van when you still have to work
If you are planning to travel permanently, it is essential to have an income, whether from savings or a job. When we began our life in a van, Tom had been working from home for more than a decade and his job was pretty flexible. The two things he needed to continue his job were a solid internet connection and a space where he could work.
Both can prove difficult when you’re exploring the US in a tiny home on wheels!
Tip for life in a van when working: Install a WeBoost during your DIY van conversion. It requires advanced planning to run the wires and make a hole in the ceiling. We notice an improvement in our internet service but it can’t turn no-service into 5G so we still had to ensure we could get good internet for work days.
To create an office, we put in a swivel for the passenger seat and the Lagun table is mounted so it can be used as a desk from the seat. He used noise-canceling headphones and tried to talk quietly but there were times he still woke me. Can’t complain; he had a good job and we were following our dreams.
Tom has since retired and now I’m encouraging him to cook while I spend my time writing!
If you don’t already have a remote job, is it possible to turn your current position into a remote one? Will you need the same level of income once you move into the van? If not, is it possible to find a more interesting part-time remote job? Read Van Life Tips to see how much it costs to drive 1,000 miles.
We’ve met van life couples who take on seasonal/short-term work in order to fund their life in a van. Ideas include: campground hosts; work and park at a ski resort or surf shop; short-term remote contract positions. There are many creative ways to make money; this post from another van-lifer has some great ideas.
How to live in a van when you’re a van life couple
“I love my partner but how do you spend all your time together living inside a van?” This is a loaded question and every relationship is so different that there is no single answer.
All I can share is my own experience and hope it helps. Tom and I love being together and never seem to run out of things to chat about. We share several hobbies – hiking, working out and skiing and we love to wander through towns and cities as well as sit in a chair by the water and read.
We each also have our own hobbies that we do alone – I walk, yoga and meditate; Tom cycles and climbs walls and mountains. We are also hoping to take separate trips to follow our hobbies just as soon as we can travel internationally again.
As I write this, we are in the van on a sodden wet Maine day. Tom is reading a book, Maggie is snoozing and I am writing; we’re all perfectly content – together and alone. And I think that is probably the answer, right? To find things you enjoy doing together as well as making time to be apart.
Then there are the more practical and uncomfortable matters – in such a small space. What are you going to manage when…? 1: you’re going to pee (and maybe poo) in front of each other, 2: there will be times when you can’t shower for a couple of days and 3: what about when your beloved is driving you bonkers? The reality of van life and my advice: 1: oh well; we all have to pee (and poo). 2: When you both smell, it’s less noticeable! 3: That is what alone-hobbies and deep breathing are for.
Tip for how to live in a van together: Repeat to yourself: “I love my husband/wife/partner, I love my husband/wife/partner, I love my husband/wife/partner.”
It works wonders for us (and makes the other laugh when muttered aloud.)
How to live in a van & get mail
Thankfully, the logistics of living inside a van or RV have simplified over the past decade or two. There are very few things you cannot do online and most banks, insurance and memberships prefer to communicate electronically.
On the other hand, you still need a physical address for many of life’s essentials. Those same banks and insurance companies that allow you to do everything online still want you to have a mailing address and the IRS only sends snail mail. Therefore, you will need a permanent physical address even when you are wandering the country or the planet!
The easiest and cheapest option is to have your mail sent to a trusted family member or friend.
We have been using iPostal1 as our mail service for the past six months and are very happy with it. They receive and scan each envelope and we decide what to do with it; we discard much of it but we have also asked them to forward several pieces. On one occasion, they opened and scanned the mail so we could deal with it immediately. There are charges for most services on top of the annual fee.
There are other mail service companies that also offer state residency so it’s well worth exploring your options.
What about if you need to order something while on the road? We have visited our kids as we traversed the country and have used each of their addresses to receive Maggie’s food, our forwarded mail etc… Can you do the something similar?
It is also possible to have mail delivered ‘General Delivery’ to many post offices; be sure to check with the post office you want to use for instructions. Another simple option is to use a UPS or Fedex locker as long as you know the exact location. Finally, you can often use a local mail service facility; be sure to verify before something is sent. There will be a charge but it may be worth it.
How to look after your health as a van dweller.
This concern is a big one, especially if, like me, you have chronic health concerns. How do you get health care from doctors, dentists and others when you are living inside a van.
Our health and dental insurance cover us anywhere in the country so we have used Urgent Care facilities when we needed them and we found a great dentist when Tom needed significant dental work. I have been able to fill prescriptions easily and also got a referral to a specialist when needed.
Laws in the state of Washington do not allow my neurologist to see me via zoom unless I am also in WA so I had to postpone my yearly check-up till we go back at the end of the year.
Tip for how to live in a van and take care of your health: Verify with your insurance providers what coverage you will have while traveling and make a plan before you set off for how you will deal with both chronic and acute health concerns.
What about vet care for Maggie? We have a wonderful vet where we used to live and we have continued to use them for Maggie’s medication needs. When we needed to renew her rabies and DAPPL shots, we found a mobile vet clinic near where we were staying and they took care of her. There is an emergency vet in most towns if the need ever arose and we plan to bring her in for a full check-up at our vet when we’re back in WA later this year.
I have written a full post called Staying Healthy While Living in a Van which goes into much more detail about how to maintain great health habits, even when you have chronic illnesses like I do – rheumatoid arthritis, epilepsy and depression.
Final thoughts
Living full time as a van life couple is an amazing experience and we are thoroughly enjoying ourselves. But it has its challenges and some of those are logistical – the boring and mundane aspects of life that we all need to take care of.
We underestimated the amount of mail we would continue to receive (and therefore have to deal with) and we did not have a solid plan to find regular grooming for Maggie. That said, these are not emergencies and we navigated our way through them; funny how that always happens.
It is impossible to think of every scenario for a new lifestyle, no matter how many blog posts or YouTube videos you use for info. My hope is that this post has made you aware of some things you may not have considered and also offered suggestions and tips for how to live in a van with as few hassles as possible.
If you have tips and suggestions, please drop them in the comments.
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