Starting VanLife

For over a year I have been in search of something different in my life...

I knew this "traditional" way of life was no longer what I wanted. Working the daily grind of 9-5, buy a house, raise the kids, have a happy little family. Don't get me wrong it is something I've wanted for 90% of my life but I just turned 40 and this lifestyle no longer satisfies my soul. I have a yearning desire for something more, something different.

I used to own a little SUV crossover, turned it into a small camper for my dog, Groot and myself. We did not live in it full time but we did go camping nearly every weekend to nearby BLM or National Forest Land. I have always been an avid camper and love the outdoors. This is truly where I was my happiest. I could not work for Friday's workday to end so we can hit the open road and see what adventures awaited us. But after a while, something was still missing...

My interest started with YouTube in early 2020 as I accidentally came across a van lifer with a beautifully decked out sprinter with a shower and kitchen. Yes, that is beautiful but not MY style. I have always been one to love the "beefy" look of things. I watched hours and hours of videos of different vans, different builds, how to videos. My life became nearly obsessed with van life. I had to do it, I had to try. I wanted something off road looking. I eventually came across an amazing YouTuber based in Canada with the exact build of what I wanted. It is was Ford E250 extended Cargo Van. Wow! She is a beauty. Now that I have found the idea of the type of van it was time to start searching.

It was decided that I was going to try to purchase something in or around March of 2021 so in January my entire search history was of nothing but vans for sale. I did not have a lot of money to even begin this journey in fact, I literally had about $20 in the bank at the time. So the thought was by March, I could have at least $1,000 saved up from my regular 9-5 plus some side hustles for a down payment. I knew I did not want my payments to be more than $300 per month because I also had to factor in the increased amount of insurance I needed for the van. With the fact that my rent at the time was $1500 per month plus utilities my estimated replacement "rent" would be lowered to about $500 monthly - minus utilities, which in my brain was factored in as fuel. So for the time being I would struggle and have to hustle even more with the side gigs but the idea was to purchase the van and build as I live in it.

I didn't find exactly what I wanted for the budget I had in mind but I did find something similar and my overwhelming sense of need made me make the decision to pull the trigger and make the purchase of a 2014 Ford E250 standard Cargo Van.

Here you will join me through my journey of starting and living van life. The trials & tribulations, the hopes & fears, the success and mistakes I made throughout the build, the decision process and the adventures. There are plenty of more experienced van lifers out there. Professional builds and people with much more carpentry & electrical experience than myself. So I thank you for stopping by and I hope one day to provide inspiration to someone else who decides this life is one they would like to try.