Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home

As you may recall, before my recent road trip began I was really curious to see if I’d even enjoy living in a van. I had no idea how well I’d do long-term without a full kitchen, large bed, indoor shower and a flushing toilet—for all I knew it would be awful.

But, sure enough, I adapted quickly and had a very comfortable two and a half months on the road. 

Then, as I was heading home for a family reunion, I became curious to see how I’d feel returning to a traditional house. Would it feel like a much needed break from the van, or would I even notice a difference? 

It turns out that there actually weren’t many big differences for me between life in the van versus life in a house—I was pretty happy either way. Although there was one thing that was, hands down, most glorious to return home to: the ability to take a hot shower anytime I wanted, for as long as I wanted. What luxury! Sure, the flushing toilet was nice, and I wasn’t mad about the larger bed, kitchen and living space, but the hot shower took the cake. 

To be honest, I was a little surprised that I wasn’t more relieved to return to all of the traditional comforts and conveniences—they really didn’t have much of an impact on me one way or another. I didn’t miss them on the road and I didn’t worship them upon return. In fact, there were even a few things I prefer about living in a van. 

Believe it or not, I actually enjoy the small space. Sure, I had to be judicious with which items I brought with me, and developing a system to stay organized was paramount, but I love the simplicity of my little home on the road. Everything has its place and if it doesn’t fit it doesn’t go. 

Besides, cleaning the van is a breeze compared to cleaning the house. There’s far less surface area to wipe down, less floor to sweep and a smaller kitchen to tidy up—I basically just wipe down countertops and clean the sink, fridge, stove and floor as needed. Some vans have indoor showers and flush toilets, but because I have an outdoor shower and a dry toilet that I never use, there’s not even any big, mold prone areas to scrub down. 

There is, however, one definite mark against van living: dust. It’s constant and it’s everywhere. Between leaving the sliding door open at camp, rolling the windows down for fresh air, the roof fan pulling in outside air and me returning to the van after a hike, dust is a theme. It’s not unbearable, in fact it doesn’t even bother me, but it’s definitely a van chore.

I admit that two and a half months is a relatively short period of time and my opinion may absolutely change in the coming months and years, but comparing my current experience of living in a van versus in a house, two things have become clear to me: 

1. Many of the things we have in our homes are nice, but far from necessary. We can easily adapt without them. And perhaps we should (at least for a while). 
2. And, most importantly, I realized that what I really missed the most while living on the road was not the things, it was the friends, family and community that I left behind. They were easily the best part of taking a break from the road and returning home.

But, even though I had a lovely time catching up with everyone, I’m already back on the road and look forward to sharing more about my current adventure in the coming weeks. Thanks for sticking around!

“Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” – Lao Tzu