I’m going to break down #VanLife and give you some tips / advice along the way. These are from personal experiences while traveling Australia for 2 years.
Buying your van.
Shopping for our van was hard. We arrived in Australia, looking for a job and a van at the same time so we had a budget that we wanted to stick to. We jumped online and began the hunt for our tiny home on wheels. There’s lots, and most were slightly out of our price range. We were looking for something that had a different arrangement in the back than the norm, this seemed to make them more expensive. Eventually we saw a van online that wasn’t to far away and decided to check it out straight away as other viewings had been booked! It was within price and seemed to be mechanically sound! We brought it!
TIP: Before you buy the van take it for an independent inspection, it costs a small amount of money but worth it in the long run. You will get a full breakdown of the work that needs to be done to make it ready for your travels. Make sure you take it for a good test drive, get the engine up to running temperature and check it’s not overheating.
Preparing.
Once we got the van home it was time to make it ours, it needed to be gutted out and cleaned, one of the windows had it’s own eco system going on! We took everything that wasn’t bolted down, out and cleaned it from top to bottom. This included repainting the wheels black and getting rid of the rust on things like the bull bars and also painting them black. It made it look so much nicer! We then decided to take the van to a carpenter to have some units ripped out the back and replaced. We wanted the configuration to suit our needs better. It was inexpensive in terms of the value it added to our travels.
We then took a trip to K Mart and kitted it out with everything we needed. Cutlery, bedding, camping chairs and table, outside floor mats, fairy lights, we got the lot, way more than we actually needed but hey ho!
TIPS: Treat your van as a van and not a house, we brought far to many things that we didn’t use. Sit down and make a list of what you know you will need. If there’s 2 of you travelling then you don’t need more than 2 knives etc etc. Get some wet wipes, they wash your face and can clean your plates ;) Keep it organised, it keeps a small space from feeling smaller.
On The Road.
The journey began, we got a job over in WA, we were currently in Geelong near Melbourne. That meant we had 2099miles or 3378km to cover. Adding to that we had to drive across the Nullabor, we hadn’t even slept in the van yet! Adding to that, we had 7 days to do it! Fingers were crossed that the van was a good buy and it would make it! We had it serviced and went for it. All was good and she ran like a dream. We done it 5 days. The days consisted of driving mostly, parking up, eating and then snuggling in to watch a movie before bed.
TIP: Make sure you have enough fuel, if a sign says “NO FUEL FOR 750KM” then it means exactly what it says! Get some jerry cans, we brought 2 20L cans to take on the road with us, we did use them but not that often. Take regular breaks if your on a long drive like this one!
Living Small!
Living in a such a small space can be hard, especially if you add another person to the mix. Me and Claire were quite literally side by side for VERY long periods of time. We actually found it pretty easy to be honest. When your days are filled with awesome things to do together you both have a lot to talk about. By the time we had got to where we were ending the day, we set up camp, had dinner and a good chat then into bed for a movie.
Tips: You don’t need what you think you need! When we were getting our tiny home on wheels prepared and ready for the road, we bought a ridiculous amount of things that we actually didn’t need, for example. We only needed 2 forks, 2 knives, 2 spoons and something to stir out soup with. We most definitely did not need enough cutlery to deck out a kitchen in a 3 bedroom house!
Keep things organised, put them back where they belong when your done. This will keep the other half happy, trust me!
Have a routine for setting up camp, we both had things we done on our own and jobs we done together. Setting up camp was quick and we never forgot to do anything, like tie the awning down when it was windy.
Buy what you eat, it’s easy to go overboard and end up with surplus food that ends up in the bin. Plan out your food for the week and don’t buy again what you threw out before!
Make sure you both have have your own space. Even in such a small place it’s important.