Van Life Vanguard

When COVID pandemic precautions led people to hunker down indoors, the hashtag #VanLife became a fixture on social media. Videos of people traveling the country or settling in new communities while living in vans, RVs or repurposed school buses were emblematic of the unconventional spirit of the times.

A number of these "Van Lifers" became YouTube or Instagram celebrities in the early 2020s and continue to cultivate large followings. Some are instructional while others were intended primarily to entertain.

Many of the best known Van Lifers are in their 20s and 30s, work remotely thanks to the global broadband coverage provided by the satellite telecom service Starlink and have built out their vans with sleek furnishings. Many install solar panels on their roofs to generate power for their living space.

The Census Bureau estimates that, as of 2019, the latest complete data available, roughly 140,000 Americans lived in vans — some of whom were "nomads" who travelled from place to place and some of whom stayed in a particular community. That number clearly increased considerably during the pandemic, but there are no clear figures on the number of Van Lifers.

Facebook has Van Life groups with active memberships numbering in the tens of thousands, many of whom are aged 50 or over. Some live paycheck to paycheck while others have the cash to install creature comforts in their vehicles. They come from across the country and have a range of life experiences. Many seem to be drawn to the Southwestern U.S. and its warm climate. Some remain in their hometown but simply reside in a van.

Van Life offers a versatility not found in the often cumbersome day-to-day chores that come with living in a recreational vehicle, or RV, but it has its pros and cons like any other lifestyle choice.

"With one person, a van is ideal. You have everything you need with you all the time," said Chuck Jacobs, a part-time van dweller. "In a van, you can change your plans on the fly. The van makes for a more efficient use of space."

Jacobs, 75, moved to Arizona as a kid and has worked for many years as a firefighter, among other vocations. He operates a popular and eclectic YouTube channel where he documents his adventures, gives advice to travelers and shares his main passion, the pursuit of Sasquatch. His videos are conversational and his experience as a community college teacher come through in his thoughtful yet casual presentation of ideas.

Jacobs has been exploring the West in vans, RVs, campers and Jeeps for his entire adult life. In 1968, he bought his first van, a 1953 International Metro Star, while serving in the Army in Oklahoma. Currently, he travels in a 1991 Ford E-250 Club Wagon.

Jacobs lives in a small town in Arizona's central mountains. His outings are rarely more than a week long. He prefers boondocking, or camping off the grid on public lands. When he goes alone, he drives his van. When he travels with his wife, they take a truck and a 30-foot trailer.

When looking for a van, he recommends getting it checked out to see if it's mechanically sound, has a toilet, and a secure space in which to sleep.

"In a van, if you get in a situation where you feel uncomfortable about your surroundings, you can get to the driver's seat without going outside, which is really important, especially for older folks," Jacobs said. He notes the difficulty of staying clean in a van. Truck stops typically charge around $12 for a shower.

For Van Lifers who generate solar power on their roofs, Jacobs notes that refrigeration and air conditioning are power hogs. He encourages travelers to think carefully about how they choose to use energy in their vehicles.

Do not dither over details. "Start sooner rather than later. There's a lot out there to see and do," Jacobs said. "Take a van out for a weekend and see if it suits your lifestyle. A van can get pretty small if it's pouring rain all day. They're hard to heat, hard to cool."

Many van dwellers are forever "chasing 70 degrees," he said. In Arizona, they head to the mountains when it gets warm and head down from the mountains when it gets colder.

Beth Anderson, 64, became a nomad during the pandemic. She's originally from the Upper Midwest and lived in rural Wisconsin at the time she sold her home and bought a 1995 RoadTrek Versatile van. Like many nomads, she works remotely. She is a self-employed website developer and travels the roads on her own.

Anderson's Versatile has four seats up front, a kitchen and bathroom in the middle section and a bedroom. She works on a forward table behind the front seat.

"Take a good attitude with you," Anderson advises. "Things are not going to go as you expect them to. You just need to learn to roll with it."

She encourages people to compile everything they think they need and to cut that in half. Her RoadTrek has been dependable and had relatively few maintenance issues. She advises prospective Van Lifers to ask around to find a trustworthy mechanic to help you maintain your vehicle.

"Frankly, the most complicated part of this is figuring out where you're going next," Anderson said. She spent the last two winters in Florida and Arizona, respectively, and has made use of a Facebook group of women that let other women park in their driveways while traveling.

She has spent significant amounts of time in the West, on public property administered by the Bureau of Land Management, which allows camping for up to 14 days, free of charge.

Anderson has also spent nights in Walmart and Cracker Barrel parking lots. Both companies allow overnight parking, though Jacobs notes that sometimes Walmarts and Cracker Barrels lease their parking lots from another company, meaning that travelers are subject to the policies of another entity. Moreover, some municipalities restrict overnight parking, so it is best to look into this before expecting to stay at a specific location.

"You meet the most fun people, because we're all kind of on the edges," Anderson said. Her favorite experiences were visiting Moab, Utah, and being in Mexican Hat, Arizona, last fall during the partial eclipse.

She notes that having worked for 45 years in the tech sector has made the transition much easier. For example, her technical know-how enabled her to install solar power for the living spaces of her vehicle.

Dana Kissenberger, aged 57, is not a traveler. She lives in her hometown of Asheville, North Carolina, and has worked in the restaurant industry there for more than 30 years. Three years ago, her landlord substantially raised her rent. She found that rents had skyrocketed across the country.

"Instead, I took the money and put it down on the van; I call it my retirement plan," Kissenberger said. Dana and her two dogs live in a 2021 extended-wheelbase Ram ProMaster. She rents a yard in the daytime so her dogs can be outside getting exercise.

She describes her first year in the van as "very rough and very cold and very wet."

Being in her hometown, she has access to friends and lots of supportive facilities, which she uses for showering and restroom. She said access to the internet has made her learning curve significantly smaller. She watches instructional videos which help her make improvements to her van, saving her time and money. Kissenberger now keeps her van in a permanent parking spot.

"Before I had a permanent parking spot, I found it exhausting. The hardest part is just finding a place to be," she said.

In the back of her van, she has a bed, a table, a cabinet, insulation, and lots of yarn for crocheting. She has a propane stove and a rice cooker. She avoids cooking inside the van unless it is absolutely necessary. She recommends Habitat for Humanity Restores as a great place to pick up furnishings for one's van.

"It's my own little cocoon. If I don't like where I'm at, I can get up and leave," Kissenberger said. She encourages people to have a financial safety net before they start van dwelling and to always be aware of their surroundings.

"I didn't realize how resistant I was to accepting help from people my whole life but I've really had to learn to do that," she said. Kissenberger has found friends and strangers alike encouraging and curious about van dwelling.

"Live in your van as long as you can without doing major building in it. You'll figure out what you need and what you want and where you want it," Kissenberger advises others considering the lifestyle.

Fritz Martin, a recent retiree from Vermont, speaks with the experience of more than four decades of extensive van travel. He began traversing the West in the early 1980s in a 1969 Volkswagen van. At the time, he worked as a river guide in California and Idaho. Many guides were van dwellers in that era. Their vehicles of choice were VW or Chevrolet vans. Others chose trucks with cabs on the back.

He calls his VW van his "freedom mobile," an affordable and flexible alternative to the massive, gas-guzzling, road-hogging Winnebagos that were ubiquitous on the nation's roadways during the 1980s.

"You weren't distracted. You had a van and you had a bed. I had a little Coleman stove. You used picnic tables. All I needed was a bed that could fold into a seat so I could hang out," Martin said. "I was young, limber, and crouching in a van. Sleeping outside, dealing with bugs and other inconveniences wasn't a big deal."

Looking back, he describes his old VW van as a "death trap" with bad brakes and a lack of power. He rebuilt the vehicle's engine on several occasions.

Currently, he has a Ford E-Transit which he has built out modestly. He emphasizes the importance of being able to stand in the back of your van and the importance of installing screens for comfort.

"Screens are one of the biggest overlooked items. Nice screens we can take on and off with Velcro easily and magnetic catches. You put screens everywhere and it makes camping hugely pleasant. You can camp anywhere," Martin said.

Martin and his wife belong to Harvest Hosts, a consortium of farms, breweries and wineries that allow van and RV dwellers to camp overnight in their lots. They stay in national parks and travel frequently to Vermont's extensive network of state parks.

"My biggest advice is start using the van right away. Don't get wrapped up in the websites that show these beautiful build outs. You really only need a mattress to throw on the floor, you need screens, and you need curtains," Martin said.

After speaking with several 50+ Van Lifers, it becomes clear that this lifestyle is not for everyone but it offers simultaneous joys and challenges to those who give it a shot. They all agree that having a support system in place makes Van Life much easier — many older adults who live in vans travel in pods, which offers a sense of mutual security and oftentimes brings people together with common interests.

Unlike other fads of the pandemic era, Van Life seems to be developing into a larger, more permanent, and highly visible subculture. Whether the phenomena flourishes or fades, it offers a varied path that 50+ Americans can take as they pursue unique life experiences.