I am not a hippy. I’m not a crusty. I’m not a gypsy. I work for a living. I pay my taxes and I am a responsible citizen. I believe in recycling. I do not litter. But I want a simple life and so with my husband I’m moving into a van. Maybe we will hate it. Or maybe this is the beginning of a new life.

In search of another life

"They danced down the streets like dingledodies, and I shambled after as I've been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones that never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn..."

Jack Kerouac

Wednesday, 14 July 2010

How Others Do It

I have just found a site called cheapliving.com which runs through some important points for van dwellers to consider.

Jason Ebacher writes an interesting page titled How to Convert a Van for Van Dwelling.

He is mostly interested in stealth and I can see why. If you plan to live in a van simply to save money, having one that absolutely no one would suspect is a great idea. With his tiny van, he can park on any old residential street and no one would guess there was a man living in there.

I couldn’t do it though. You can’t stand up in his van and that makes a major difference to your happiness…at least, it does mine. He says he wants to avoid confrontation with those who just don’t understand van dwellers and if that’s your goal you should check out his site. He has perfected the tiny living space.

One thing that reminds me of the Lady in the Van is his toileting ideas: he recommends using cat litter and doing your business in a bin liner. I’m not saying it’s a bad idea or anything but I’d be interested to hear from anyone who has done it!

There is also a fascinating page on how to stay clean which makes me realize we are not hardcore van dwellers at all…
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3 comments:

  1. Anonymous16 July 2010 at 07:57

    Hi Laura
    Just wanted to offer my support to you both as I can fully understand your mindset and desire to live more freely..we did a similar thing a few years ago in a Sherpa and travelled around France, Spain & Portgal and funnily enough ended up in Brighton! We eventually came back to Wales & sold the van tho we soon wished we still had it - our current dream is to live in a yurt and the desire to live outdoors more is always there. It's not easy living in a van but going to the gym sounds a good idea to keep some of those 'home comforts' like a decent shower!
    Good luck,Hayley

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  2. Vagrantia17 July 2010 at 04:07

    Thank you Hayley,

    Yous adventure sounds great and I bet you have itchy feet now! You are right, it is the outdoor life that calls us. Do you have plans to make your dream a reality? I would love to hear about your experiences if you did...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Vagrantia17 July 2010 at 04:14

    How would you go about living in a yurt? Do you own land?

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