Traveling by van has never been as popular as it is now. This is all thanks to the hashtag #vanlife on social media, where you see the most creative self-build campers and vans in the most idyllic destinations. Traveling in a van is the perfect way to travel for those who love road trips and enjoy discovering new places, but also want the comfort of their own home. But of course it’s not always as idyllic as vanlife looks on social media. That is why I share my personal experience with vanlife in this blog and list all the pros and cons for you so that you can determine whether vanlife is something for you.
Pros of Vanlife
Freedom
Perhaps the biggest advantage of vanlife is the freedom you have. With a camper you always have your own transport and house on wheels, so you are free to go wherever and whenever you want. After all, you are not tied to booking dates for plane tickets or accommodations. Moreover, you can continue your journey if bad weather is forecast or if you just want to look somewhere else.
Always bring your own house
Vanlife cannot be compared to a real house, but with a little creativity, even the smaller camper vans can be equipped with a seating area, bed, kitchen and a toilet. Besides a shower, most vanlifers have almost everything you need in their house on wheels, but only slightly more compact. This makes traveling a lot more comfortable.
A large suitcase
While you normally have to look for sets of clothes to see what fits in the suitcase and what doesn’t, you don’t have to worry about that so much with a camper. In principle, everything you need can be taken with you + many extras. From clothing and the laptop to camping chairs and bicycles on the back door. Many people still manage to take so much stuff with them that their camper is overloaded, but if you only look at what you actually need and will use, you can usually take almost everything you want with you. In short, no stress of choice while packing.
Relatively cheap
Traveling with a van is relatively cheap when you consider the amounts you would otherwise spend on a house (if you live fulltime in a van) or on accommodations if you were traveling by car or plane. A spot at the campsite is simply cheaper than a hotel or Airbnb and you can also regularly spend the night at free camper pitches. You also have the option to cook your own food, which saves on cost for diner at a restaurant.
Sustainable
Although many campers still drive on diesel, vanlife is still a relatively sustainable way to travel. After all, you do not travel by plane and most vanlifers have a significantly lower footprint due to the economical consumption of clean drinking water (because you do not have unlimited access to it) and electricity (which is also limited with you) which is often sustainably generated using solar panels on the roof.
Cons of Vanlife
Many people only look at the romanticized vanlife pictures on social media, but it must be said that this is a bit disappointing in practice. Not that vanlife isn’t fun, but it’s often just not as idyllic as some people make it out to be. Vanlife is also primitive and often less flexible than you might have initially thought.
Search for a place to stay overnight
Wild camping with a van is prohibited in many countries in Europe. However, there are sometimes options to camp free in nature or spend the night for free at specific camper pitches. However, there are a number of rules attached to this. You are often allowed to stay somewhere for a maximum of 24 to 72 hours. This means that you sometimes have to look for a new place to stay every day. This may not be so bad if you’re just doing vanlife during the holiday, but if that is your daily life because you live in a van, it quickly becomes less fun. Driving every day can sometimes be quite tiring, just like having to keep looking for a place to stay overnight. Especially during the high season, the intended location may already be full and you will therefore have to travel further.
Living in a small space
A camper simply cannot be compared to an ordinary house. The space is small and that of course also has its disadvantages. For example, a camper quickly becomes a mess if you don’t give things a permanent place and it feels very confined if you have to sit inside a lot because the weather is bad. Moreover, you will also have to deal with other challenges. Consider condensation and little privacy if you travel with more people. A camper suddenly becomes very primitive.
Limited water and electricity
Also primitive is that as a vanlifer you have to be economical with your energy consumption. After all, you don’t have unlimited water and electricity. For example, I have a 60 liter clean water tank and it lasts about a week. For comparison: at home, the Dutch use an average of about 129 liters of clean drinking water per day. If you were to do the same in the camper, you would have to refill your water tank every day or even several times a day. No one does that, but it does mean being frugal.
Influence of outside temperature
Another disadvantage of vanlife is the influence of the outside temperature. In autumn and winter it gets cold quite quickly and you have to turn on a heater much sooner to keep it pleasantly warm inside. And that heater (even if it is a diesel heater) costs a lot of electricity if you leave the heater on all day. The same applies the other way around. Due to the sun and rising temperatures in spring and summer, the inside of the camper quickly warms up. You can sit outside and open the doors, but in really hot weather it is difficult to get the heat out of the camper. Sleeping is then more difficult and if you also have pets it is even more difficult because you can’t just leave them inside.
A camper breaks down
Finally, a camper also breaks down at some point and that never happens when it suits you. I’ve experienced it myself several times, even three times on one trip. First the axle shaft broke and I had to wait three weeks for parts. Although the Lofoten has lovely summer weather at that time (your van could break down in a worse place), but due to the high season there was no alternative transport available. So I got a rental car to explore the area and slept in the camper in the parking lot of the garage. Back home, the starter motor broke on the border between Denmark and Germany on a Friday. So I had to spend the night in the parking lot at the garage again for the entire weekend. That following Monday things went wrong on the border between Germany and the Netherlands. These turned out to be the injectors, after which the camper was picked up and I got a rental car to drive home.
This was of course a lot of bad luck in a short time, but it does indicate that a camper sometimes breaks down (even if you maintain it properly) and you are sometimes faced with difficult situations. From having to wait a long time for parts and expensive bills to even repatriating the camper. And what if you can’t wait that long? The bill is much more expensive than you hoped and you may not even be able to pay? Do you have pets that you need to take care of? Or do you have to temporarily find another accommodation because your camper is in the garage for the time being? These are doomsday scenarios that you sometimes shouldn’t think about for too long, but it is part of vanlife and a little preparation is recommended. Consider having sufficient savings, knowing how your travel insurance policy deals with pets if the camper breaks down, etc.
Conclusion
I love traveling in a van and do so several months a year. However, I am also very aware of the disadvantages and I therefore enjoy being able to go to a permanent home base every now and then. This could be a permanent home, but also a holiday home or a seasonal pitch at the campsite. I think you will find more peace that way (at least I do). It’s in many ways more comfortable (a permanent place where you can stay for a longer period of time, better access to water and electricity, no high fuel costs, etc.) and for me that is the best of both worlds.
