Culture No Showers, No Sleep: Van Life Isn’t as Cool as Instagram Makes It Seem - With home prices so high, living on wheels seems a reasonable alternative. Many find it isn’t.

Robert Walker has been living in a van for about five years, but says he doesn’t want to do it forever.

By Kailyn Rhone | Photographs by Calla Kessler for The Wall Street Journal
March 30, 2024 5:30 am ET


Siena Juhlin bought a white Ford Transit in August and decided to make it her home. She needed a new place to live, and the idea of traveling full time in a big cargo van sounded like a fairy tale. Soon, she was off, decamping from her waitressing job in Missouri with plans to live off her savings while exploring the West Coast.

That lasted two months. In California, Juhlin’s transmission died. Ever since, she has been working three part-time jobs to regain the $5,000 she had to spend to get it fixed.

It wasn’t exactly the journey she expected—but she still prefers it to her old life as an apartment dweller. “Everything is 10 times harder,” said Juhlin, 23. “But everything is also amazingly beautiful and rewarding.”

The idea of #VanLife offers a range of promises: affordable housing, minimalist living, Instagrammable beach and mountain vistas. With rent prices high and the cost of buying a home even higher, living on wheels seems, to many, a reasonable route.


Siena Juhlin, who hit the road after a breakup, says living in a van is harder but also rewarding. PHOTO: SIENA JUHLIN

Oftentimes, it isn’t. The ups and downs of gas prices are hard to budget for, and return-to-office mandates have made roaming, for many, impossible. Finding a place to park each night is no picnic. Dating can be a stretch. And daily showers? Forget it.

John Cascarano, founder of real-estate investment and private-equity firm Blue Metric Group, said that young influencers have made the lifestyle seem more appealing than it is.

“You’re not at the Ritz-Carlton with a giant shower,” said Cascarano, whose company invests in RV parks. Most of its customers are baby boomers.

It is difficult to calculate exactly how many van lifers are traversing America’s highways and byways. Vanlife Trader, an online marketplace for buying and selling camper vans, said its revenue doubled in 2023. An app that helps travelers find places to park, iOverlander, said its number of monthly active users is up 15% from a year ago.

MBO Partners, which provides support services to self-employed workers, estimated that there were 2.9 million Americans living in their vans at least part of the time last year, down 6% from the year before. MBO based its calculations on an online survey; most respondents said they also lived in a house or apartment some of the time.


Caleb Smith parks his home in Brooklyn, N.Y. On the right, his kitchen setup.

Those who stick with this lifestyle say saving money is a big part of the appeal. Caleb Smith, 29, lives in the trendy Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y.—for $460 a month. He parks his home, an Isuzu Outback Express cargo van, in a driveway between two brownstones with 24-hour surveillance cameras.

Fueling the dream​

Smith is something of a van proselytizer. He used to be a homeowner in Kansas, planning a career as an engineer. Now he sleeps in his back seat and works as a systems specialist for a company in New York, Brooklyn Campervans, that sells camper vans and outfits other vans to make them suitable for living.

Last summer—Smith’s first living in a van—a record-breaking heat wave made it impossible to sleep at night. He spent $120 getting a window-unit AC so that the same thing won’t happen again this summer. An extension cord can plug into a nearby building.


Emilie Hofferber has lived out of her van for two years. PHOTO: ERIC KERR

“I love my spot right now,” Smith said, “so I’m gonna stay there as long as I can.”

Emilie Hofferber has been living out of her van for two years, rambling throughout the U.S., and has no plans to stop. But choosing each day how far to drive, when to get a hotel, and whether a particular truck stop feels safe for sleeping over can get exhausting.

“You’re just always having to make big choices and think about all the tiny things you need for survival,” said Hofferber, a 28-year-old freelance photographer.

Fortress on wheels​

Smith’s friend and colleague, Robert Walker, has been living in his Ram ProMaster van for about five years, a journey he started after a bout with colon cancer made him want to travel.

“Cancer for me was, like, ‘What if I died from this,’” said Walker, now 35 and working as a freelance contractor for Brooklyn Campervans. “I haven’t been anywhere, so the idea of having the van, even if it was just driving upstate to go see a waterfall…it was the best of both worlds.”

Walker recently sold the Ram ProMaster and bought a new Ford E-350 cargo van. He parks each night on the street in Williamsburg, but finding a space can be hard. And despite the recent upgrade, he would like to eventually own a home with a more permanent foundation.

“It’s not like I want to live in a van forever,” he said.


Robert Walker and Caleb Smith work on a van at Brooklyn Campervans.

Source (Archive)

 

[Cougar Pump]

The Van Life movement is like the Tiny House movement: The absolute embodiment of pure cope. Live in the tiny shack, goy. Own nothing, be nowhere. "I did it and look at meeeee my life is grrrrrrrrreeeeeeaaaaatttt, honestly!"
The people cultivating the positive image for these things are doing so because they need to make money online to survive, and this is their grift. It's like a pyramid scheme for the attention economy. Just gotta dress something up to look a bit better than the malaise-du-jour that is most of modern life, and you can sell the fantasy to people yearning for change who haven't realised the con.

You see a similar thing with homesteaders, although at those people have a house to sell at the end when they realize it's not at all like the depictions.

Always look into outcomes of people who live these lifestyles long term. If you can't find any, that tells you something in itself. When you do find them, take a look at the kind of people they are after a decade+ of doing the thing, and see if that's where you want to end up too.

 

[Man at Arms]

Lol tb

It's not that bad. I bathe every 7-10 days. People who need a shower daily or they die are insane. It's not healthy. There's little need of bathing if you live alone.

is is why you're single.

 

[Man at Arms]

The Van Life movement is like the Tiny House movement: The absolute embodiment of pure cope. Live in the tiny shack, goy. Own nothing, be nowhere. "I did it any my life is grrrrrrrrreeeeeeaaaaatttt, honestly!"
The people cultivating the positive image it are doing so because they need to make money online to survive, and this is their grift. It's like a pyramid scheme for the attention economy. Just gotta dress something up to look a bit better than the malaise-du-jour that is most of modern life, and you can sell the fantasy to people who haven't realised the con.

You see a similar thing with homesteaders, although at least there people have a house to sell at the end when they realize it's not at all like the depictions.

Always look into outcomes of people who live these lifestyles long term. If you can't find any, that tells you something in itself. When you do find them, take a look at the kind of people they are after a decade+ of doing the thing, and see if that's where you want to end up too.

Lol I ow. A tiny home. It's a 1 bedroom apartment pretty much that I don't pay rent for and is sitting on 3 acres of land.

What's the difference between my tiny home and your tiny apartment? Oh right, I own it.

You sound like a shill who wants people to live in apartments in 15 minute cities. Living in acar is nothing like a tin home or homesteading. Many of use don't need the government, you do tho

 

[glad vlad]

I too romanticize RV living. I can tell it’s an escapist stress fantasy because whenever I actually think about stuff like managing a black water tank I get very grossed out.

I do think it’s probably pretty fun to cruise around to national parks if you’re older and affluent though. (And just have a house somewhere to return to.)

 

[Troon Meet Noose]

I have a family member who has tried doing the live-in-your-vehicle with a Youtube channel thing. I don't know if try is the right word. More like they've had it thrust upon them. They're an absolute grifter and it warms my heart that they've failed miserably.

 

[Cougar Pump]

Lol I ow. A tiny home. It's a 1 bedroom apartment pretty much that I don't pay rent for and is sitting on 3 acres of land.

What's the difference between my tiny home and your tiny apartment? Oh right, I own it.

You sound like a shill who wants people to live in apartments in 15 minute cities. Living in acar is nothing like a tin home or homesteading. Many of use don't need the government, you do tho

You sound mad, and sadly none of that projection about me was accurate. Try again, or perhaps respond to the written points instead of dreaming up straw men as a comforting delusion.

That aside, good job if you own the land, at least you have an asset you can sell if you don't end up wasting away alone in your bumfuck shack. The cabin is pretty much worthless but the unimproved land is at least something someone else will be willing to buy off you one day to build an actual home. That's a lot better than what most of the van life and tiny home idiots are going to come out with when they give up.

 

[Molly White's Breast Milk]

The Van Life movement is like the Tiny House movement: The absolute embodiment of pure cope.

Not all tiny houses are for soyboys:

The McMansion and it's consequences have been a disaster for the human race.

 

[Cougar Pump]

Not all tiny houses are for soyboys:
View attachment 5864583
The McMansion and it's consequences have been a disaster for the human race.

Now, see, if this were the motivation for people moving innawoods, the world would be a better place.

 

[Chicken Neck Nelly]

French hands typed this.

Yes this is why I rated it Islamic Content

 

[potato in mah painus]

If you intend to live in a mobile cramped space why would you go with a converted van instead of a truck with a camper? Campers have showers and plumbing and water holding tanks and gas appliances and insulation and 12v power and usually a 120v inverter and are already pre built for living inside. A camper and a generator seems like it would be way better than a gay little van.

To answer your question honestly, and from an inside perspective. A huge number of places are hostile to campers and camper vans. Plenty of towns will ticket and/or tow you on the spot for parking one just about anywhere. So the solution was to take smaller vans and convert them to "stealth campers". Disguising themselves as contractors to get around the rules.

Because the cities can't shut the stealth campers down without hurting the contractors, they have no real way to combat that. So it became a really shitty lifestyle.

 

[Car Won't Crank]

Hopefully the social media trend and craze will die down. Rather funny it's a Ford that was Found on The Road Dead in this article.

 

[WhatInTheActualFuck]

Now, see, if this were the motivation for people moving innawoods, the world would be a better place.

Just remember to uh... "vote by mail" just like Uncle Ted.

 

[Agamemnon Busmalis]

French hands typed this.

Gauls - invented soap
Romans - built public baths

What the fuck went wrong?

 

[dick brain]

I've been homeless twice and both times lived in my car for a few months. This entire article is


Like nigger get a gym membership at a franchise gym, you can shower every day, and maybe stop being a fucking bugman in the process. And it's a fucking van, literally the only advantage it has over a proper RV/trailer is that you can park it anywhere. Literally just park at a strip mall. Nobody gives a shit.

"It's too hot to sleep" NIGGER YOUR CAR HAS AN AIR CONDITIONER.

Actual adult children.

 

[Constellationzero]

Or sucking dick for crack money?

Have you also considered:

Sucking dick for cock?
or
Sucking cock for dick?

 

[Moths]

Dating can be a stretch. And daily showers? Forget it.

I think these things may be related

John Cascarano, founder of real-estate investment and private-equity firm Blue Metric Group, said that young influencers have made the lifestyle seem more appealing than it is.

Influencers making something appear more interesting than it is for attention? Tell me it is not so mr Schlomo

I also, used to romanticize living in an RV, to avoid property taxes. But I realized even that has its hardships. For example, you need to know/find any water pumps if your RV has a built in shower/sink/toilet to refill. Also, you need to find a VERY private and isolated area while traveling to empty out the sewage tank, without getting fined.

Finally, has anyone ever drive an RV? Are they difficult to turn?

I know the cunts have fuckall squared acceleration and collectively do 20 km/hr under the speed limit at all times.

 

[robobobo]

Like people mentioned, the reason these idiots aren't using a purpose-built RV is that if you do that you're expected to act like an adult and follow laws and pay for your parking, electric hookups, waste disposal, etc. The people living in a sleeping bag in a box truck are doing so to park wherever and hoping nobody gives enough of a fuck to tow them; it's basically no different from the fentanyl addict living in a tent. They're squatting on other peoples' property. A person in a proper camper could live considerably better but would have to pay more for upkeep, and even RVs aren't meant to serve as a full-time home; they wear out in years rather than decades.

 

[booklover]

I watch some guy on youtube who lives in a van like SUV and he seems pretty cheerful. Granted, it doesnt really look like a great existence.

Is it Lamont At Large?

Gotta say, I loved the movie "Nomadland".

 

[King Vidiot]

The people cultivating the positive image for these things are doing so because they need to make money online to survive, and this is their grift. It's like a pyramid scheme for the attention economy. Just gotta dress something up to look a bit better than the malaise-du-jour that is most of modern life, and you can sell the fantasy to people yearning for change who haven't realised the con.

There was a wave of van life influencers pulling big numbers on YouTube a couple years ago. Many of the popular ones were people from rich families who staged everything and only did it for money & attention. Wandxrbus was a good example of this:

The Dave 2D Vlogs YouTube channel used to do funny roasts of van life influencers and how fake a lot of them are. It sucks that he took down all his videos.

I thought van life stopped being popular after Gabby Petito was murdered. That story should have been a wake up call to people who wanted to have an idealized view of living in a van.

 

[Procopius]

It's not that bad. I bathe every 7-10 days. People who need a shower daily or they die are insane. It's not healthy. There's little need of bathing if you live alone.

The lack of showers is, I suppose, manageable. But there's no way you can train yourself to shit once every 7-10 days. Who wants to crap in a plastic bag and then try to get rid of it in a bin without being spotted.