How to Choose What Kind of Van You Want
“Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road” -Jack Kerouac. Have you often dreamt of vanlife but don’t know how to get started? Do you crave adventure and freedom? Does the open road to far off places thrill and excite you? You may be wondering how a person like myself could help, it’s not like I sell RVs… I remember being in the exact same position and it can be very overwhelming with so many options to choose from, but I’m gonna help you break it down into actionable steps and you will be on your way to living a life of adventure. There are many ways to do vanlife, but knowing how to identify your priorities and your needs will save you a lot of time and frustration. And what I mean by this is: 1. are you a person that lives inside their van or 2. are you a person that lives outside your van. Let’s get started and I’ll help shed some light on this subject for you.
First, I’m going to go over my first main point which is are you a person that wants to live primarily inside of your van? What this means is are you going to spend the bulk of your time inside the van or outside the van? If you’re a person that wants to spend most of their time inside their van, there are some things that you should consider: like layout or best use of the overall space. Are you going to want to have a toilet or a shower? (some vanlifers want to save all of that space for their gear. Personally, I can’t imagine vanlife without a toilet!), the orientation of the bed (depending on your height, this can determine how much space is left for everything else.), space saving features, like hiding the toilet under the couch or chairspace, swivel captain’s chairs for additional seating and living room like feel, and overall design or aesthetic vibe. Personally, I am an inside my van kind of gal, so the overall design and aesthetics are important to me. I don’t want to feel like I am in some industrial vehicle or motorhome. I want my van to feel like my home away from home. With that being said, maybe you’re not that kind of person. Let’s explore my next point.
People that live outside their vans, what does this look like? Well, people that live outside their vans are generally the kind of people that are more interested in the experience and location. For example, mountain bikers like to go to Moab Utah to go mountain biking. These people tend to be more concerned with utilitarian concepts. They are less likely to be concerned with design aesthetic’s and more concerned with things like garage storage for their toys and bikes, and roof rack and ladder systems to hold boards and other miscellaneous outdoor adventure gear. In fact, most of these folks don’t even want a toilet inside their van, they’d rather have storage! Additionally, these types of people are going to heavily consider whether or not they need a four-wheel-drive and a beefier suspension, along with aggressively treaded tires. You can go nuts outfitting the exterior of the van with Nerf guards and winches and fog light systems etc. And not only are they going to be concerned with the exterior components of the van, but they are going to heavily consider the interior components as well. They are going to be interested in lightweight materials that don’t shift and crack when they’re driving down roughly terrained roads in the middle of nowhere, which is usually where outside vanlifers tend to go. Is this sounding more like you?
The truth of the matter is that if you just think in terms of these two concepts: living inside your van, or living outside your van, that is truly all you need to understand your priorities and your needs. From there you can decide your budget, which type of van you want, and then of course your time frame and other details of your lifestyle, like if you are going to be a part-time or full-time van dweller. Thank you for reading, I truly hope this helps you streamline your vanlife journey and get you on the road sooner than later!
