Behind the scenes of life in a camper. “We don't bathe that often anymore.”

Do you ever plan to move into a house or apartment?

— Oh! So you don't have a house yet, said someone I recently met when she asked where we lived, and I replied that our home was a van.

The truth is, we used to own our own house – but we sold it to finance our van rebuild in 2023.

For many people, this seems like going against the grain. As U.S. real estate prices become increasingly unaffordable for our generation, I understand the assumption that living in a van full time is just a stop on the way to the “true American dream.”

However, life while traveling gives us freedom of time and space that we did not have when we lived permanently in one place — and at the same time it involves lower monthly costs. Therefore, we intend to continue this lifestyle for the foreseeable future.

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Don't you miss more space?

I won't pretend it's easy to fit all our stuff into the van.

Literally I can't buy new clothes unless I get rid of something else first. After restocking the dog food, the overflowing cupboard can throw a bag of food at my feet every time I open the door. Sometimes, especially when cooking, our kitchen “corridor” turns into a bottleneck.

Still, having to think carefully about each thing we keep has made me appreciate the things we own more. and I became even more convinced that we don't need more. Plus, everything is always at hand – losing anything is almost impossible.

Apart from problems with storing things, we don't mind being so close to each other. After all, me, my spouse, and our dog spent most of our time within talking and laughing distance even when we lived in a four-bedroom house.

How do you even stay clean?

Although we have a shower in the van, limited access to places to refill water makes it difficult we don't bathe as often as we did before we started living on the road. Of course, the floor of the van quickly becomes covered with mud as two people and a dog constantly enter and exit.

Still, we found ways to stay clean. We use washcloths and wet wipes. We enter and exit only through the side door, next to which there is a doormat to stop dirt, and we often also place a rug outside.

Opening the rear door quickly airs the interior and removes any accumulated odors, and the ceiling fan also helps.

Even though we don't have a washing machine or dryer at home, finding a laundromat every few weeks is never a problem (although sometimes it's hard to find enough space to hang clothes that can't be machine dried).

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I admit that sometimes it feels weird to brush your teeth in the kitchen sink – which in our case is the only sink – but it's also a great motivation to wash the dishes on a regular basis.

We also began to question the belief that “healthy” had to mean “sterile scrubbed”. My skin is in better condition today than before moving into the van, and my hair has gotten used to shampooing less often.

Ultimately, van life is different for everyone

Of course, life on the road can take many forms, and my answers to these questions may not be the same as others.

Different van dwellers have different priorities. Not every van has a full bathroom, for example (For me, not having one would be unacceptable).

But I love our version of van life – with less frequent showers, piles of laundry spread out on the dashboard, and endless consideration of which things will actually fit in our home on wheels.

The above text is a translation from American edition of Business Insider