Vanlife Is Here To Stay

21st Century Reimagined

I remember like it was yesterday. It was a Tuesday night, and I was hunkered down for the day at a Loves gas station in Michigan about to fall asleep. I couldn’t quite sleep because I kept hearing the opening and closing of a vehicle door right next to me. Naturally, I was curious to see what was going on. I peeked out my cab window and to be honest I don’t know why I did as if someone could see me through my 5% tint. I guess it was a force of habit from my days of living in a house and being that nosy neighbor always looking out the window every time I heard something.

I’m laughing at the thought of it right now. Nonetheless, I peeked and what I saw broke my heart. I saw what appeared to be a young Caucasian male who looked to be in his late 20’s to early 30’s sitting in the front seat of his car preparing to eat his dinner. I watched as he took a can of Lysol and sprayed a napkin until it was dripping wet then proceeded to clean his hands and fingernails that were covered in dirt. He scrubbed his hands so hard that it appeared to me that cleaning his hands weren’t the only thing he was trying to do, it seemed as if he was trying to scrub his problems away.

At this point, I knew I should have looked away, that would have been the respectable thing to do, but I couldn’t.

He wasn’t done with that can of Lysol. Once his hands were cleaned to his liking, he took that same can of Lysol and sprayed the top of his fast-food medium drink lid for about 5 seconds (that was new to me). Thereafter, he ate his meal which consisted of a burger, curly fries and cheese sticks from the fast-food chain, Hardees. He ate like this was his first meal in days. The thought never crossed my mind that he lived in his car. I just figured he got off work and was too hungry to make it home to eat. Afterall, he looked like he was wearing work type clothing.

Thinking nothing of it and after being the nosy neighbor for 15 minutes, I finally went to sleep.

21st Century Reimagined

The next morning, I woke up to him parked next to me sleeping in his car. At that moment I realized that car was more then a means of transportation. He lived in it. It was his home.

Over the last year Vanlife has been trending and sensationalized on social media. Popular social media platforms like Instagram and to an extent YouTube don’t show the reality of Vanlife. On those platforms you’ll mainly see Vanlifers laying on their bed with the their back doors open with an epic view of a mountain, cliff or ocean. That’s good and all, but that’s not reality, not anymore. That’s not how a lot of the next generation of vanlifers and even carlifers are living today.

It’s a sad and unfortunate reality that it’s no longer affordable to live in America. According to an article written by the Chamber of Commerce Team, “the top 3 cities in America: New York, Miami and San Francisco’s median rent for a one bedroom range from $3,000 to $3,495”(Chamber of Commerce Team, 2023, p.1). Can you guess which city has the highest cost to rent a one bedroom apartment? If you guessed New York, you would be correct.

I only listed the top 3 cities in America, but the people in those cities aren’t the only ones suffering from these atrocious rent hikes. It’s happening all over America. There is so much more to the equation of not being able to afford the basic necessities such as shelter then the high cost of rent. You have the wage gap, inflation, and addiction being the number one cause.

With the high cost of living and inflation on the rise, people are opting to live in a vehicle instead of a house or apartment. I’ve been living in my van for over a year now, and I’ve seen so many people living in vehicles and not for the purpose of traveling to see epic mountaintops and beaches. I can only assume it’s to combat the unreasonable, unaffordable cost of living. Don’t get me wrong, you got your content creators that do it because it’s trending and if you do it right, it’s a good source of income, but I’m not one of them.

I am a content creator who lives in a van and films my life, but I didn’t do it because it’s trending. Honestly, when I started vanlife a little over a year ago it wasn’t as big as it is now. I mean everyone is doing it now. I moved into a van because I was not content with my life even though I had a job making six figures a year and that’s pretty good for a single person. I didn’t want to live in a house anymore, and I certainly didn’t want to continue working 80 hours plus a week. I wanted to live a more nomadic minimalistic lifestyle.

I moved into a van because I was in search of contentment.

Since living in a van I’ve been to some epic places. I’m grateful to God for the life that he’s allowing me to live. I found contentment and still working on me. Living in a van has been the best decision I could have ever made. I save more money, have less bills, traveled to some epic places, live where I want, strengthened my relationship with God and built an awesome community on YouTube. I couldn’t ask for a better life!

Shark Fin Cove, Davenport, CA (photo by Nomadic Introvert)

Vanlife is the new reality in America and more Americans are starting to accept it. It’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Living in a van or a car is more affordable and becoming more desirable to a lot of Americans as the cost of living continues to rise. I’ve lived in a van for a little over a year, and I’m see more and more people living in their vehicles making it work without paying astronomical rent prices or mortgages. Vanlife is here to stay.

-Nomadic Introvert