4 ms·

The 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 natur

The 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 ago
10 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.)

4 ms·

The 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 natur

by Xophmeister 6y ago

thaeli 6y ago
10 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.)