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A new chapter – full-time working from a van in a forest
- Xavdidtheshadow 6y agoI did a similar thing (full time van living while doing full time software development, but in the US) for ~ 6 months until the pandemic cut the trip short. Depending on the build of your van, you will have differing levels of reliance on public resources. Unfortunately, our van was built around urban living - showering in gyms, working in coffee shops, etc. In normal life, I think that's a much _simpler_ approach than being out in the forest. We were never far from a water source or a hardware store in case of emergency, which came in handy more than once. I hope it continues to work out for them!
- harlanji 6y agoI’m on day 1,002 in my Civic, the last stop before a tent. With showers and the library and people not afraid of each other it was pretty good and I questioned why I paid $1,850/mo for 350sqft for so long. I camp 10 blocks from there. Hope it’s normal soon. Going on a year without a shower. Nobody I know will put me in a hotel and decreasing few will talk to me. I need to get my shit together, apparently. I was waking up at 3am to sponge bath myself when I worked retail—was not enough. “At least we’re not in Africa” -a diverse boss from my Engineering days.
- forgotmypw17 6y agoHang in there. You're a good person, and you are enough just the way you are. You don't need anyone's approval to exist. If you are in East Coast U.S., I may be able to find you a shower.
- m_kos 6y agoDo you know how much a monthly gym membership near you costs? If money is an issue, I could chip in via paypal or venmo. (Just a grad student with kids here, so don't expect too much, please.)
- mym1990 6y agoSecond this and also willing to chip in. I'm not sure where you are but I know in the US it is fairly common for gas station truck stops to have shower facilities as well!
- SommaRaikkonen 6y agoGlad to hear it's working out for you on the work front Geoffrey. Do you have any concerns about long-term plans living in the van? Also, any cool stories to tell about power maintenance? I see you have giant solar panels but wonder if they're enough for your daily workload - do you have enough power at night? Sorry if you've answered these questions before, I'm new to your blog!
- mkingston 6y agoNot OP. The van in the article appears to have ~800W of solar on the roof. Depending on preference, lighting requirements can be ~5-30W, laptop requirements ~20-150W. If heating and cooking needs are met with natural gas (the most common solution- and I can see a gas pizza oven in the article). Making some assumptions: * the solar panels deliver average ~200W for 8hrs per day, 1.6kWh total * OP has average 50W power draw while working, 8hrs per day, 0.4kWh total * OP has lighting requirements of ~20W, 4hrs per day, ~0.1kWh I guess he's probably fairly comfortably net positive for electrical power. In my experience the solar panel estimate is reasonably conservative, although I've experienced some extended periods of very bad weather where my panels produce less than 5% of their rated maximum (in the UK- not Aus!).
- codesternews 6y agoWhy do you love vanlife? Why you are living like this? Sorry just curious want to know your point of view
- b0tzzzzzzman 6y agoCan you add perspective to how you live or why this seems out of scope from how we 'live'.
- mkingston 6y agoI don't understand what you mean by out of scope. I basically travel from activity to activity. Right now I'm skiing. As the snow recedes, I intend to take some time learning to paraglide. Then climbing season will begin. Circumstances permitting, I'm hoping to spend time in Scotland and Norway (in particular) over the spring and summer months, perhaps Greece/Corsica/Sardinia/Spain/Italy (unsure) before winter, then likely the Alps somewhere.
- latchkey 6y agoMy primary home is a campervan (Promaster 2500). I travel to places and then I rent a house or apartment for a few months to bring some stability to my life. Then I move onto the next place. It is lovely. I can't think of any other way to live.
- mym1990 6y agoHow long have you been doing this?
- latchkey 6y agoAbout 6 months now. I got stuck in the US, so I decided to do something different instead of just couch surfing at friends houses. Bought a campervan that was already mostly fitted out, did the rest myself. Prior to that, I spent 2 years on a motorbike living out of hotels and rentals all over Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. I am lucky to have a job and a life that was already remote.
- monkmartinez 6y agoGreat story! My wife and I recently sold our home and are now renting. My stress level has decreased 10 fold in the last 4 months since selling. There is always that little nag in the back of your mind regarding a house: "I would love to go on that trip and we have the money, but our <A/C || roof || plumbing || appliance> is going to need to be replaced in the next year or so." I don't think I am cut out for a permanent #vanlife, but it sure sounds like a cool arrangement if you have the proclivity to handle all that it entails. My wife and I plan to do slow travel when our kids go to college. Move every year or so with a light load while learning different cultures. Would love to hear more about the financial aspects of #vanlife... from my perspective, I reckon you save a bundle.... but I could be wrong.
- EdwardDiego 6y agoHow is your security of tenure renting where you are? Sadly in my country, our rental laws are still firmly stuck in the "quarter-acre" dream of the 1960s, where renting was only something you did at university before shortly buying your first house with a tiny deposit and a Government backed home loan. These days as house prices rocket, only now are changes being made to tenancy laws to give tenants some more security. Back in my renting days, I had to move 4 times in 5 years because the landlord wanted to move in, or they sold it, or the farm my cottage was on had been sold and the new owner wanted it for workers, etc. So here, at least, owning removed a significant amount of stress for me - I know I'll still be living here in 5 years, I haven't been able to say that until now.
- tomerbd 6y agoWhat about a nag in the head that something would happen to the bank account that has the money that you got from selling the house or by money deprecation with relation to housing prices (or stock market crash if in stocks)?
- johanvts 6y agoBuy some real estate that someone else lives in, maybe through a REIT.
- 6y ago
- hmhhcycbtsc557 6y agoI'd love to know what these nomadic folks do for friends and socialisation. I think I'd find it exceedingly lonely to uproot myself from urban civilisation (that includes the case of living in a new city every few month).
- JKCalhoun 6y agoThere are certainly areas you can go where lots of other nomads go (and then hang out with them). Quartzite, Arizona in the U.S. is the obvious example. I understand that, from there, you can caravan off with a group of like-minded nomads to the next destination.
- unnouinceput 6y agoSecond picture from his camping trip should fully answer "what these nomadic folks do".
- johndoe42377 6y agoWhy do difficult? $500/mo buys you a room, wi-fi and home made food almost everywhere in developing countries. Working from home is a long sought boost for everyone. Places like Sikkim, or Ladakh, unspoiled parts of Nepal and Sri Lanka are ideal for remote work. The problem is that there is no demand.
- geocrasher 6y agoDemand isn't the main problem- it's that if you live in such a place, most employers will want to pay you according to local wages. The idea of taking a job in the US overseas and the exploiting the economic difference sounds good on paper, but I've seen companies attempt to adjust income accordingly.
- robjan 6y agoMost companies don't allow fully remote or remote in different time zones. If they did, they could just outsource all the work to nationals of lower cost of living countries.
- akudha 6y agoOne thing westerners don't realize when they move to places like SriLanka is that they end up increasing the local prices. This happens in the US too, when Californians move to Texas and start paying more for properties (or rent). It is hard enough for people in developing countries to compete without foreigners moving in - with them, it becomes impossible.
- scrappyjoe 6y agoOne thing I’ve struggled to get right is building the right workspace inside a van. At the moment I just sit on the bench seat with my laptop on my lap, but it’s slowly taking its toll on my posture. Any advice?
- JKCalhoun 6y agoAre you able to stand in the van? If not, that's going to be problematic, I think.
- fy20 6y agoGetting a monitor would probably help, at least you won't be bending your neck down all the time to see the screen. I've seen some vans that have swivel mounts, but you could also hook it up when in use, and take it down afterwards.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- mkingston 6y agoOthers have mentioned an external screen. I have two ThinkVision M14 monitors (selected for USB C power + data on a single cable, and high brightness) and some tablet holders that mount on a range of different 1/4in tripod mounting hardware. Look for tripod clamp stands, gooseneck arms, swivel heads. There's a lot out there, you'll figure out something that works for you. If you want a larger monitor, a VESA mount is what you want. There's various mounting hardware available for this also. In the interim, try to put a pillow on your lap, and your laptop on the pillow. Try to tense your core a little in general, and especially if you feel discomfort in your back. You'll probably need to maintain the tension for a little while. I find this avoids or alleviates my discomfort- but is probably not a _good_ solution.
- meowster 6y ago> laptop on the pillow This is terrible for the thermals. You should never put a laptop on a surface that restricts airflow between the surface and the laptop.
- bigmattystyles 6y agoGlad the person landed on their feet. Can’t help but think this could have been titled ‘from a van down by the river’ https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv2VIEY9-A8 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv2VIEY9-A8
- tonyedgecombe 6y agoGlad the person landed on their feet. I'm not sure they did, their situation looks precarious to me.
- xXReadmeXx 6y agoRight? That blog took a really weird turn- and so do these comments.
- forgotmypw17 6y agoI can guess which video it is, and perhaps there is some truth to it, but it's quite one-dimensional, and taking it at face value is like buying into the stereotypes overweight nerd with Cheetos stains image of sysadmin or inept socially challenged software developer. This lifestyle is incredible and life-changing, and shouldn't be discounted by anyone who's looking for a change.
- gexla 6y agoRight, why can't I just delete my comment then? [ETA: Removed content of unpopular comment]
- bpodgursky 6y agoThen you should post those articles, and comment on them, instead of complaining about this one.
- seibelj 6y agoThis thought experiment is turtles all the way down. When you read about someone running a marathon, do you not think from the perspective of a paraplegic? How dare someone writes about something as trivial as running super long distances, when we could be reading about people who struggle to walk one step? Yes, the world is full of problems, but we don't need to stop living our best lives and writing about them just because someone, somewhere is living worse.
- toomuchtodo 6y agoOnce replied to, a comment can’t be deleted, but still edited for two hours from creation.
- b0tzzzzzzman 6y agoGlad I can comment.. But today I tried to make an Ask HN postbecause I wanted to talk to tbis community ... and I guess I have too little 'karma' or idk.. Can't post on most sub/R. Without using my main long standing account..Twitter deletes any account I make just to follow people, FB.. Well just no. Disenfranchisement is real on HN. Wish I had the old account I made on my Last Android..
- wombatmobile 6y agoI've been thinking about working from a van. The main thing I'm undecided about is whether satellite internet would work out? I've read mixed reviews on whirlpool and other forums. I understand minimum latency is 650ms. What's that like for videoconferencing? Presumably I'd need an articulated dish so I can recalibrate every time I stop. Anyone had any experience with those? They cost about $2000. Can they be secured, or are they likely to be ripped off from time to time?
- yurishimo 6y agoYou might look into the new Space X satellite internet. Right now they’re geo fenced to an area but if you move once every few months, it might be feasible to change your service address.
- zlsa 6y agoStarlink[0] is made for you. It's a constellation in low-earth orbit, so latency is far lower than 650ms (current users are getting around of 30-60ms.) The current iteration must stay within the "cell" it's assigned to, which is only a few miles wide. But in the future, there will be a version available that'll work almost anywhere in the world. [0]: https://www.starlink.com/ https://www.starlink.com/
- brudgers 6y agoTry tethering a cell phone first. It’s the simplest thing that might work. You will always be solving problems as they come up. And they won’t be what you thought was critical before you left.
- TaylorAlexander 6y agoCertainly the thing to use in the near future would be starlink. 50-150 mbps and <100ms ping. Right now they're only advertising their service for fixed locations, but if you park the van in one place for a while it might work out just fine. We use Viasat at our farm and it's acceptable but kind of slow and has a long ping. I'm really itching to get starlink which they've projected will be available at our place later this year.
- forgotmypw17 6y agoAccessibility link for noJSers who still want to see the images: https://archive.is/Xx1WB https://archive.is/Xx1WB I lived out of a minivan and then a larger fan for 2.5 years while writing software and loved it. It was one of the most freeing and enriching experiences of my life, and was so much better than living in a stationary building. I traveled all around the country and was still able to remain productive. In fact, I was more productive and motivated, because my life was actually interesting and different day-to-day. It was sometimes uncomfortable, especially in the beginning when I learned the ropes, but nothing too bad. (This is in the U.S., where it's safe to do in majority of places.) In my gradual cutting of monthly upkeep expenditures I had to give it up in favor of more detached living, but it was great, and I would do it again if I didn't have to do paid work to accomplish it.
- SamuelAdams 6y agoSo, something that always seems to be missing from these blog posts: what do you do about showering / bathroom? What happens when it gets into cold wintery weather?
- forgotmypw17 6y agofor bathrooms, i can usually find one. for showering, i used to find them too... but more recently showers are just something i gave up. i live indoors atm and i have access to a shower pretty much 24/7, and i,m just not interested. i don,t think it is missing, it is one of the most frequently asked questions, and also one of the most frequently answered.
- ghuntley 6y agoI'll blog about this next. Add yourself to the newsletter at https://ghuntley.com/signup https://ghuntley.com/signup to get it in your inbox.
- forgotmypw17 6y agoi signed up for your newsletter and look forward to your post eagerly.
- ChuckMcM 6y agoI have been prototyping a portable working setup so that I can write code while camping. Rather than a van I've got a smallish travel trailer (24') in part because I like having the tow vehicle available when I don't want to batten down the hatches to go into town, but we are set up for 100% off road dry camping which gives us access to a LOT of BLM land. Now if I could get mobile Starlink service ... that would be stellar. But not happening any time soon AFAICT.
- whymauri 6y agoHow are you dealing with internet connectivity? Also car/van dwelling here (dipping my toes in for a few weeks) while taking a break from employment. I'm starting to get attached to the nomadic life style, lol.
- chrisrickard 6y agoI envy you Geoff (as you know!), and my plan is to do the same later this year. I'm not sure how my wife and I will go long term, but living in campervan has always been a dream - so only one way to find out! :)
- BruceBlacklaws 6y agoWhat happens if you have an accident? I can imagine this going really wrong
- TheSmiddy 6y agoWhat happens if a nearby tree falls on your stationary house?
- BruceBlacklaws 6y agoReally?
- villasv 6y agoLocal firefighters and an ambulance will come and arrive quickly? I think that’s exactly the point of the question.
- BruceBlacklaws 6y agoI'm sure they will but that won't help much and it's even worse considering your entire office had an accident too
- simonbarker87 6y agoI lived in a van for a winter a couple of years back outside the company I then owned while weekly-ish commuting to my new home a couple of hundred miles away. While I didn’t have the isolation that OP can have (we ran a small factory and staff) it was freeing to be unshackled from a stationary home and to move about freely, looking back I’m bit sure I took full advantage of that period but I did enjoy it. Perhaps I will try it again in a few years with my wife this time.
- codesternews 6y agoHow did you take bath and clean your self. Where did you go for piss etc?
- simonbarker87 6y agoGym membership at a hotel gym round the corner, showered after my evening gym session, camping loo in the van if no alternative
- knocte 6y agoVan-life with no bed in the van? or it's not clear from the pics...
- b0tzzzzzzman 6y agoOften statment, articles, glanced over reads are dismissed. I have seen several similar things today which are heavily commented on and shills repeate the mantra .. Poor millennial forced to live in van, or tiny house. This was a nice change from that.
- akudha 6y agoI expect more and more people are going to live in vans, buy tiny houses etc. Housing prices across the world are insane, rental prices are even worse (though Covid has put a temporary brake on rents/prices, it will go back up soon enough). And wages aren't rising, and rental companies buying up properties every chance they get. Something needs to change. Why screw oneself with a 30 year mortgage, plus property taxes, plus constant maintenance headaches? And deal with shitty HOA too, in some places. Maybe this is a good way to silently protest and force progressive housing policy changes.
- mym1990 6y agoWhile I see some of your point, it goes without saying that vanlife or smaller dwellings will still have maintenance and overhead. You can trade the HOA for gas costs and campground fees(across the US at least unless you're on public land). The vehicle will breakdown, the vehicle will get broken into, etc, etc... With a more remote workforce now on the long term horizon, why not just move to a cheaper city rather completely jumping off the proverbial cliff? (This comment is coming from someone who is considering van life and I have also spent some extended periods of time working and living out of my vehicle).
- akudha 6y agoYeah, true. But there is a big difference between maintaining a three bedroom house (or apartment) and a tiny house. Van life is probably much harder (just guessing, I haven't done it), so it will probably not be as widespread as tiny houses. Remote work might not be possible for everyone. Personally, moving to a cheaper city would be my first choice, followed by tiny house. All of these have pros and cons. But for many people in their 20s/30s, buying a house might never be an option at all, simply because they can't afford it. Unless progressive policies are implemented, we can expect major housing crisis soon. People want their home's value to continuously increase, they see their home as an investment first - instead of seeing it as a place to live, first. I dunno what the solution is, but I don't think this situation can continue.
- dredmorbius 6y agoA cheap home base + a van seems like a flexible option. You've got low overhead but the option to hit the road for on-location gigs or when the wanderlust kicks in. A co-housing arrangement might make the base more tractable.
- dis-sys 6y agoThanks to the pandemic and the hot money dumped into the market under the name of helping the economy, Sydney property prices is going up again. For me, it is simply criminal to drive the property prices further up after 8 years nonstop growth.
- jspash 6y agoIf this sort of thing interests you, watch Nomadland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomadland_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomadland_(film) It's about people in American with similar situations who decide to go off grid. And like the OP are a bit older, not necessarily the hippie type. The movie is quite stark and realistic. A mix of documentary and drama. And it starts Frances McDormand from Three Billboards, who is excellent in it. That said, this lifestyle has absolutely no appeal to me. What do you do when you get older? I mean much older? Is a 70 year going to be lugging propane tanks around and doing odd jobs for food? There needs to be some sort of plan, doesn't there?
- wombatmobile 6y ago> Is a 70 year going to be lugging propane tanks around and doing odd jobs for food? Good question. That’s a thing. People have this grey nomad ideal and when they reach that age they sell up everything and buy a big rig, only to find that at age 70, it’s difficult to drive such a thing. Particularly if they’ve never reversed a trailer before. This is why you can buy second hand rigs that are 12 months old that are hardly used, cheap.
- cma 6y agoThere are systems in trucks now that can basically reverse a trailer for you.
- zemvpferreira 6y agoWhile I don't think you're wrong on average about the physical abilities of senior people these days, consider that anyone who is forced to do a reasonable amount of manual labor as they age will age a lot a slower than if they were sedentary. My dad has been 100% sedentary since his 60s. He's now 71 with the mobility of a 90 year old. His father was a military man who kept a strict exercise routine till his 80s. He looked (and performed like) 55 at 75. Designing a lifestyle that forces you to move and lift heavy things is a really good idea.
- Veen 6y ago
- CodeGlitch 6y agoI've never understood using vans over caravans. With a van if it breaks down you are pretty stuffed as all of your kit is in it. Plus if you have to make trips into a city/town you are wasting fuel carting all that stuff around, and the risk of theft would make me nervous. Caravans don't have any of those downsides, but I guess people make it work?
- sammyq 6y agoWhere do you leave your caravan when traveling into town, wouldn’t leaving it make it more susceptible to theft?
- knocte 6y agoExactly. On top of that, you have to find specific places where it's allowed to park them. However, you can park a van anywhere.
- CodeGlitch 6y agoI would say the risk of theft is far lower out in the country side.
- betwixthewires 6y agoAs someone who lives how you say OP should, caravans do have downsides. They're not usually made very well and if you're traveling a lot they're not well suited to it. If you're moving to a new place every few months or something they're alright. If you're moving every 2 weeks or few days, a van is where it's at. There are different ways to live a nomadic type of life and vans are more suited to a more extreme nomadic life than caravans.
- riekus 6y agoI have lived in Sydney (manly) in 2020, it is a beautiful city, but indeed crazy expensive. I have left to the outback to save money and kickstart the nomadic life. I really hope I will be able to return to australia when I am older to do exactly this. There is a big community of (mostly older and retired) people roaming australia with camper/caravan. To me, it would be the ultimate life. To the OP, please come and visit Hopetoun VIC, free camping at the lake, you would love it here
- villasv 6y agoCompletely off-topic, but I find it weird when someone is making a comment on the warmth of a community says things like “Love was free and it was custom to hug everyone”. So it was normal, then? It probably has something to do with being born in Brazil/RJ, where hugging everyone is the norm.
- ulucs 6y agoI think frowning upon physical contact is a British custom that spread far because of all the imperialism. It's really weird how people avoid close contact, something a human body needs.
- Wildgoose 6y agoWe traditionally shake hands when we greet - that's physical contact. Whereas East Asians typically bow and make no physical contact at all. So your comment simply isn't true and doesn't really make much sense. (I haven't downvoted you by the way).
- varispeed 6y agoThe problem is that big corporations are raking in the billions whilst at the same time paying unrealistic salaries. Plus, in many western countries employees pay enormous taxes on top of that. The system is rigged towards the rich - their companies don't pay the same taxes an average Joe company pays and they can afford creative accounting to keep much more of what they make than me and you. This has to change! I am sick and tired when next politician claims they'll rise the tax for the rich, and then it turns out me and you have to pay even more whereas your CEO laughs and buys another Bentley.
- fakedang 6y agoI always roll my eyes whenever another hard-left politician such as AOC or Corbyn comes over and does the whole big talk about how corporations ought to be taxed fairly and all. And later, when they are in power, they call for actions such as (favorable) censorship and what not, while doing zero about big corporations because it's easier to control (and pander to) one big entity than multiple single entities. As long as corporate entities are allowed to donate to political parties, and as long as fundraising remains some kind of race in the eyes of the media, expect this nonsense to continue. Politicians don't care about taxing corporations that they like. You'll see them do the whole dance against Big Oil or Walmart or whatever, but when it comes to Big Tech, boy do they love their Apple toys and Google Internet.
- postit 6y agoI don't understand the reason why but it seems a constant that the majority of tech workers are the sole income for the house. Maybe I'm more exposed to H1B workers in US, but that holds even in other places.
- michaelt 6y agoIt's common enough in other professions that make six figure salaries. And if you're in tech, you probably know more people in tech than you know accountants/doctors/lawyers/chemical engineers/business owners.
- blunte 6y agoThere’s so much value in this post that it’s worth reading a few times.
- max_ 6y agoCould someone explain to me why/how divorce ends up delivering such fate? Do these citizens in these countries think these laws around divorce are fair?
- nvahalik 6y agoThis is a complicated topic. Marriages dissolve for many reasons. In general, though, western society has embraced a view of marriage that combining view with a coupling view. No longer are married people “as one” but rather a couple mutually supporting each other. While this doesn’t seem like a difference, it has major implications in pretty much all aspects of life.
- kleinsch 6y agoFrom the article: "the cost of housing in Sydney, Australia and sole-income was a leading factor in the dissolution of the relationship" Whatever opinions you have about divorce law aside, it's a simple fact that if housing was already a difficult expense, it gets much harder when one family becomes two.
- agumonkey 6y agoSame as people owning a property .. messy split up, probably selling the previous 'house' and having to find a safe spot somewhere. The van part doesn't seem the main factor.
- lucaspanjaard 6y agoCan you tell us more about the combination of van life and raising children?
- moocowtruck 6y agoThank you for writing this I really enjoyed it, read the whole damn thing! I am happy for you and it helps put things in perspective for me. I look forward to reading more in the future from you
- saint_angels 6y agoseems people upgrade their vans significantly(additional batteries, solar panels etc) before living and remotely working from it. Is it because there is no good ready-made options, or vans like that are too expensive?
- michaelt 6y agoI think the DIY aspect is the brand differentiation between "vanlife" and living in an RV in the wal-mart parking lot. There's plenty of ready-made options, they're just not using the "vanlife" brand on their blog posts.
- jstanley 6y ago> every two years that goes by at a company you don't like (or unemployed) is wasting 2% of your working life. Can someone explain this? Is OP suggesting that the typical working life is 100 years?
- knuthsat 6y agoDepends on how much time (in hours) you spend working. 2 years is maybe 1 year of working time.
- godDLL 6y ago1/50 is 2% math
- atleta 6y agoNot too many people work for 50 years. Also, the post said every two years: "every two years that goes by at a company you don't like".
- atleta 6y agoIt was ambiguous, but he compared the wasted time (time wasted at work while working for a bad company) to the total time you have in your working life. He says you spend 21%-35% of your time at work, so during that 2 years you'd spend .42-0.7 years working. And if you calculate with 40 years of work life, then it comes to about 2% of that time.
- rdiddly 6y agoThat might be what happened. The reason it's unsound is, the numerator is in actual time spent at work and the denominator is in total elapsed time including non-work.
- rdiddly 6y agoYeah, it's wrong. 2 years out of let's say 40 would be 5%. 2/50 is 4%. Also 8 hrs is closer to half one's waking hours so that's either another math error, or a mistaken inclusion of the word "waking" (actually he used "awake"), or he works part-time.
- SeeManDo 6y agoIt all comes down to having a decent place to eat, use the restroom and sleep. After that the only necessity is electricity and internet.
- SeeManDo 6y agoEverything else (marriage, kids) are luxury items.
- idlewords 6y agoMatt Foley was a prophet.
- agumonkey 6y agoI see a lot of people, a lot, spending time in their cars. Adults between duties sit in theirs on parking spots. Teens spending nights watching movies. With wireless coms, weird real estate fluctuations.. new vehicle designs too it might become a new form of nomadism.. are we becoming snails ?
- Xophmeister 6y agoThe idea of living in a converted van has certainly appealed to me many times. However, vehicles need maintenance and consumables, to the point that their natural life is quite short compared to a building (which also needs maintenance and consumables). Is the “freedom” that the mobility buys you worth it over, say, 10 years; at which point, your van is nearing the end of its life? A middle ground might be a boat, but I am aware of the adage: “The two happiest days of a boat owner’s life are the day he buys a boat and the day he sells it!”
- thaeli 6y ago10 years is far from end of life for a vanlife conversion. Many conversions start with something older than that. Boats are in water, so they have a lot more wear and tear. If you stay out of the road salt states, it's normal to see 40 year old camper vans still in daily use. The real limiting factor is when the furnishings, flooring, cabinets, appliances, all that stuff wears out. Manufactured housing in general has this 20 to 40 year depreciation, because we don't pretend as a society that they're an appreciating asset. Its ridiculous that we treat stick built houses (as opposed to the land they are built on) that way; houses have major maintenance costs over time as well. It's just easier with manufactured housing of any type to, instead of: new roof, new HVAC, a kitchen renovation, new flooring, etc etc, just.. defer maintenance on those items as practical and then replace the whole thing or do a major midlife overhaul. (The latter does require a "home base", so doing vanlife long term does require finding places to settle down occasionally - this lifestyle is much easier for people who have families and/or friends with single family detached homes in suburban or rural areas they can crash with sometimes.)
- holografix 6y agoSomething needs to be done about housing affordability in Australia’s capital cities. It’s ABSURD how much money you need to pay for a 2 bedroom apartment. Anywhere 1.5 hour drive north or south of Sydney and still within 20 minute drive from the ocean is minimum $AUD800K. If you want to buy in Sydney proper it’s $AUD1M minimum unless looking at something in need of serious renovations. The government does nothing to stop the bubble. Rivers of dubious Chinese money flooding in and lax lending practices combined with reduction after reduction in the interest rates. The current government in Australia is hijacking the next gen’s future with bad environmental policy, foreign dependency of the education sector and a housing bubble that never ends.
- Yaggo 6y agoI often work in my Tesla Model 3, e.g. when travelling or waiting for kids from their hobbies. You can't compare it to a van of course, but I'm able to find relatively comfortable seating position for few hours with laptop on my lap (!). You'll get air conditioning and nice audio. No need to run the engine, of course. I know that many people even sleep in their Teslas occasionally, replacing a tent.