Hi Everyone!
I am a total newbie, but I am super eager to make the lifestyle change to living in a van! I am still in the very early planning stages and I still have not purchased a vehicle yet, but I was wondering if any of you had suggestions regarding how I could go from 0 to living in a van in the fastest way possible (other than just straight up buying a converted van). I don’t own a lot of stuff, and I figured that I would build out something that was just livable enough and then improve it a lot over time. Currently I don’t live anywhere permanently (by choice). I am living the nomadic life and staying at air bnbs or with friends/family while I travel around the country. This has been going on for the past couple of years and I thought that I would eventually settle down in one place, but it seems I still have at least a few years of wanderlust left in me.
I have been trying to come up with a plan for the past month or so, and I have no idea at what point it is actually responsible to buy something. I have watched a bunch of videos and practiced sketching up a few builds that I would be happy with. I know that I am comfortable with the amount of space that a cargo van would provide. But I am not sure at what point I would have planned enough. How much do you actually have figured out before I should get started? My instincts tell me to jump the gun a little and buy a cargo van with a higher roof or something like that vaguely follow the plan I have so far so that I don’t get caught up in analysis paralysis… but maybe I am just being impatient (I know that a month isn’t a long amount of planning). I am a little bit in a rush to start doing this because I think that I will likely have other projects that will also take up my time later in the spring/summer. I also want something that is a little more sustainable compared to just paying for an air bnb as frequently as I do.
Here is some more info about my situation →
Things have going for me:
- I am currently employed full-time as a software engineer and I can work remotely. so I have a steady income stream
- I also have some cash saved up, so I won’t necessarily run into major money constraints any time soon
- Pretty young still (mid twenties) and eager to learn how to do the plumbing and electric wiring for my new home, so there is a lot of room to make mistakes and learn from them
- I feel like I am a quick study, so I don’t find these things too intimidating
- I have two engineering degrees, so I have some minor experience in electrical work and working with plumbing.
Potential roadblocks:
- I don’t currently live anywhere, so it might be hard to find a place to build and park the van
- I will be working fulltime while performing the conversion
- I am still testing the waters with this lifestyle, so I might not be overly eager to overinvest in more expensive solutions until I am thoroughly convinced this lifestyle is for me.
I think the minimum viable product for me would be something that would allow me to not have to pay for air bnbs anymore. So a place where I can sleep and work. It doesn’t have to be comfortable straight away. Just one day, eventually.
Thanks in advance for your responses!