The mess
In such a small space, it’s easy to feel claustrophobic, cramped, or annoyed during vanlife. What we essentially have is a small “smart” New York studio. The bed is stored vertically, the shower is hidden underneath the floor and your kitchen is a pop up. When more than half of the apartments are 700 sq ft or under, and our van is ___ sq ft. Its easy to make this kind of comparison.
It’s hard to keep such a small place tidy and organised. With one draw that acts as our entire wardrobe for two people, we end up reorganising the whole thing after every wash load. A few things haven’t been put away? It’s a mess. The bed hasn’t been made? A diabolical disaster. It’s so easy for our van to look like a huge tip.
At the same time, it’s pretty quick to tidy up too. It doesn’t take long to put a couple of things away or make the bed. So I’d say as much as 50% of the time, it’s tidy and 50% of the time it’s messy. And when it’s clean, the bed is made, there’s nothing on the sofa, no washing up- boy is that a good feeling. We may be 25 and 28 living out of a van, but we must have some part of our lives put together if the duvet is tucked in?
The space
We’ve met a few people on the road now, and they all fit more or less in a few categories I’ve identified. There are the got the luxuries, the guy up on the hill who’s hanging out on his hammock that hangs from his car, blaring his tunes from his expensive sound system that probably has a working coffee machine and oven behind the sliding door.
You’ve got the families, with their huge buses that you know only live in the van when they’re on a family holiday. You’ve got the middle-aged, perhaps retired couples that have a pretty decent set up. They’re comfortable, they saved for this life, and you’re not quite sure how many days of the year they spend in their home on wheels.
Then you’ve got quite a drastic gap to those that live in their vans full time. These guys, tucked away in their toyota hiace, their feet visible through the backwindow as they nap in the bed that’s not quite a double but not a single is pushed against the back of the van. These guys are easy to spot. Their kitchen is outside, which is pulled out via shelves suspended by rope, or a long draw that doubles as a kitchen counter.
Which category do we fall? By description, we fit in the latter. Full-time vanlifers, working to stay on the road and see Australia. With no real sense of ‘home’ apart from each other. We seem to be on the luxury end of the toyota hiace guys. We spent over double the dollar on our house on wheels than most of the people we meet living in toyotas. Having a queen-sized bed, a living room with a slide away table and a kitchen area, all of which resides INSIDE the van. The walls aren’t cluttered, and the area has a clean and fresh vibe with the white paint and wooden ceiling and floor.
In terms of space. We’re good. We’re so good. If you’d asked me 3 months ago how I might be feeling at this point in time, it wouldn’t have been as optimistic. Honestly, space-wise. It’s a breeze being in our van.
The repairs
This is the tough bit I’d say! The bit I don’t like so much. I don’t like the stress and I don’t like the cost. If something goes wrong, it feels like a big deal. Not only is our transport, it’s our home, and it’s holding all our belongings. If the air vent is leaking; thats our kitchen, that’s our ceiling, it’s water damage in the roof. We close it, then we have zero air flow at night, in a van, in Australia.
The central locking not working; It’s our safety in the van while we sleep, as well as the security of everything we currently own when we’re away. If a door breaks or a window needs replacing, yeah it’s fixable, but it is urgent.
The weather
I want to include the weather in this post because, it really affects how much I want to be in a home with walls rather than one with wheels. When it’s raining and our washing has only partially dried, it’s a pain. There’s nowhere to hang wet washing, and it makes it humid, and damp feeling and smelling, considering we can’t open the doors when it’s raining either. When it’s raining and I’m cold, and I just want warm shower. I want a fireplace. I want a cosy corner to read with a blanket and a cup of tea. When it’s raining and we have no plans, we visit a cafe to enjoy a coffee, then it’s back in the van. Going to the toilet is an ordeal as you have to run out in the rain every time.
When it’s sunny, there’s no issue at all. But boy, does the rain depress me here like it did in England? Yeah, it kinda does. There’s been too much of it for my liking. It’s actually raining as I type.
Overall- it’s a pretty good time.
Overall, when the sun is shining, the duvet covers have been tucked in, and everything is working, it’s pretty breezing living in a van for 3 months. I’m not itching to get out any time soon and I love not having to pay rent or bills. Only diesel, which is half the price over here compared to the UK. We do guzzle a lot, but heck, we’re driving around our 4 tonne home!
Vanlife Australia is pretty easy breezy.
