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geekhack Community => Off Topic => Topic started by: tp4tissue on Wed, 17 September 2025, 22:38:01

Title: Vanlife
Post by: tp4tissue on Wed, 17 September 2025, 22:38:01
Where would you go?

What kind of van build would you do?
Title: Re: Vanlife
Post by: azhdar on Thu, 18 September 2025, 02:59:08
I guess i would build a van to spy on your house tp
Title: Re: Vanlife
Post by: tp4tissue on Thu, 18 September 2025, 06:19:43
I guess i would build a van to spy on your house tp

Perfect..

Tp4 will supply veggie pizzas.
Title: Re: Vanlife
Post by: Sniping on Thu, 18 September 2025, 15:53:26
I haven't given vanlife a shot before but I've certainly considered since I like mountain biking. toyota sienna is probably the underrated pick. otherwise a promaster seems like it'd be fine. I'd just go to a bunch of mountain bike trail systems haha.
Title: Re: Vanlife
Post by: noisyturtle on Thu, 18 September 2025, 16:03:48
No. I have zero desire to live like a homeless person who has to struggle to locate essential daily amenities.
The want for people with stable living and work to live like this is 100% manufactured through social media vanlife brainrot.
Title: Re: Vanlife
Post by: tp4tissue on Thu, 18 September 2025, 16:26:43
 :'(
Title: Re: Vanlife
Post by: Findecanor on Thu, 18 September 2025, 16:44:03
I've seen lots of camper vans in south of Sweden in the summers. Parking lots around sights even have separate parking spaces for camper vans and regular cars.

People who do apparently find it liberating. While I can understand that, personally, I preferred having a hotel room with a proper bathroom, even before the ostomy.
Title: Re: Vanlife
Post by: noisyturtle on Thu, 18 September 2025, 16:59:37
I do have a fantasy of a energy self-sufficient cabin in the Rockies filled with all sorts of comfort tech amenities. Far away from other people, but close enough to a town and hospital I can still do shopping and not die alone.
Title: Re: Vanlife
Post by: fohat.digs on Thu, 18 September 2025, 17:03:45
Don't want to live in it, but I have had 2 Honda Odysseys that served me dependably and comfortably for many years and for well over 200K miles each.
 
Title: Re: Vanlife
Post by: Leslieann on Tue, 23 September 2025, 22:32:07
I looked into it for a while and quite a few say the same thing, it's not really cheaper than a house (compared to a mortgage).

There's always something needing repair, you're limited on food storage, loads of gas/diesel, laundry, etc... Just tons of things you can't really do cheaply because of limited space and it all adds up very fast.  For example you can't really keep a lot of clothes so you need to do laundry more often, that means driving to a laundromat. Less food storage so you go to a store more often. Power... Generating power costs more than just plugging something it. You also end up often paying parking fees or constantly looking for another spot.

It's not as cheap or nice as it's portrayed, it's kind of like living on a boat but with even more cons and only slightly cheaper.
Title: Re: Vanlife
Post by: noisyturtle on Tue, 23 September 2025, 23:04:08
Now a moveable tiny house would be interesting.
I feel like that would be very expensive to customize a vehicle to be able to haul one around to be conveniently set up and packed up.

I'm visualizing something that would be a double-length flatbed folded in half, with all the 'house parts' jigsawed inside so when it unfolds it creates a tiny home like a pop up book.
Title: Re: Vanlife
Post by: tp4tissue on Tue, 23 September 2025, 23:43:15
I looked into it for a while and quite a few say the same thing, it's not really cheaper than a house (compared to a mortgage).

There's always something needing repair, you're limited on food storage, loads of gas/diesel, laundry, etc... Just tons of things you can't really do cheaply because of limited space and it all adds up very fast.  For example you can't really keep a lot of clothes so you need to do laundry more often, that means driving to a laundromat. Less food storage so you go to a store more often. Power... Generating power costs more than just plugging something it. You also end up often paying parking fees or constantly looking for another spot.

It's not as cheap or nice as it's portrayed, it's kind of like living on a boat but with even more cons and only slightly cheaper.


I wonder if this is because the vehicles are mostly retrofits rather than designed from the grounds up for Van life.

Getting the weight down probably makes the biggest difference if we're going to move.