Living in a van suits me very well for the most part. Like every option we have, there are pros and cons. The pros far outweigh the cons. I fully expect that to never change. I’m 62 years old and not in the best health, so I may not have a lot of years left for change to develop in. I dislike fixed, square living spaces so much that I will literally die before being forced to live in one again. So ya, I’m a lifer. The exception would be maybe a sailboat. Maybe. Or if I could have a flower and moss cottage in the woods with the faeries. But that wouldn’t be in this dimension so probably doesn’t count lol.
I do best when I’m outside, in minimally disturbed or populated areas; places I refer to as semi-wilderness. That’s the biggest chunk of the story. Conventional housing always messes that up for me. Living in a van gets me to these wilder places so vital to my existence.
There are the obvious pros like the freedom of the open road. When I have free time, that is. I only work part time and am cutting back even more, so I’m looking forward to being out and about again. I had a number of years in my 40’s and 50’s when I got to travel a lot, even full time for several years. I am incredibly fortunate to have had those opportunities. They profoundly improved the quality of my life over and over again. My funds are spent so my opportunities are different now, but just as precious.
Mobility is crucial to me. I am madly in love with this planet and want to see everything, be everywhere, smell all the flowers, sing with the mountains, sparkle with the light on water, pet trees and foxes and cats, skip down forest paths, expand in the desert. I am bonded with volcanoes. I don’t have one favorite place. My heart and spirit ignite in many places around the world. I need to visit the ones I can, like family (the good kind.) I am polyamorous that way. Honestly, as much as I love my people, the land and waters and forests and Fae have an irresistible call. I suffer and fade when I’m gone too long. Magic comes alive when I show up.
There are practical reasons too. I have to be mindful of the weather and get out of cold places because of my health. I spent years trying to find a warm spot to settle in and it always backfired. So now I can just follow the weather! Or run from it! For another thing, I will not tolerate being trapped with shitty people again, and you can’t choose your neighbors. Or it’s the noise and chemicals and smells I am sensitive to that make me crazy. In a van, I can just move on. Problem solved.
Not only is my cost of living WAY lower than mainstream lifestyle, my environmental impact is much lower. Yes even given that I’m driving a gasoline vehicle. People living in houses and apartments and also driving a vehicle have double jeopardy. Housing uses far far more energy and water, and generates much more waste and pollution. No I have not analyzed the data for this claim, but I experience it. Rent, electricity usage, gallons of water per week, volume of trash per week — all a small fraction of what I use in a conventional home.
Lower cost of living means lower income needs. Lower income means less paid in taxes. Lower taxes means less contribution to the U.S. war machine killing people on a regular basis and generating the most pollution on the planet. I like that. What if we all dropped our economics this low? How many fewer bombs would be dropped?