Sleeping

Now past the 2 year mark since transitioning into the van, we find ourselves rethinking our bed.  It has been extremely convenient to simply turn the middle seat around making a common living space and each take a bench for sleeping, but it’s reached a point of separation anxiety in our marriage.  No matter how comforting it is to slip into our minimal vandwelling lifestyle, our marriage has to take precedence.  

Simply living in close quarters with another person can bring tension to any kind of relationship.  Since we are a couple who slept in the same bed for years and enjoyed the simple touch of the other person while drifting into dream state, we split ourselves apart in the attempt to be minimal.  It was a successful attempt, but with a side affect.  It seems to have added distance to the tense situations.   Read more

You pull into a nice quiet and dark parking lot. There are only a few cars around and one semi truck. The business looks closed and it seems like a fine place to hunker down for the night. You climb into the back, get your comfy clothes on and whip out the sleeping bag. Memories of the day and excitement for tomorrow’s adventures float through your head as you drift off to sleep. Just as Mr. Sandman begins to guide you through tonight’s dream journey, a Maglite taps the glass. You jerk up and your heart skips a beat. Adrenaline. Short breaths. You attempt to gather your thoughts as you wipe the fog from the glass. On the other side is a man in uniform and he wants to talk to you much more than you want to talk to him.

No self-respecting van dweller wants to find themselves in this type of situation, but unfortunately, it’s an unavoidable fact of van life... OR IS IT? If you’re thinking about living and/or traveling in your vehicle (or if you just want to know what it’s like for us), this post is for you...   Read more

Before we leave our van behind and head to Costa Rica, we wanted to answer some of the most common questions we get while living and traveling in our van.  How do we do it?  What does our van look like inside? Where do we keep all our stuff?  It only looks like you have enough for a long vacation... don't you have anything else?  We've mentioned in previous posts that we are minimalists.  Hopefully this video will give you a better idea of what we mean.  We'll show you just how little you really need to survive a life of van dwelling adventures.  So come along with us for the tour...   Read more