10 Reasons NOT to start Van Life | The downsides of living in a van
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- čas přidán 22. 07. 2024
- #Vanlife #Vanlifeuk #Van-life
As its a rainstorm here in Scotland and we have lost internet we thought we'd have a sit down discussion about the downsides of van life and living in a DIY Camper Van!
About us:
We're Jodie and Joe and after years of searching for a new home, we realised that London can't offer us the lifestyle we dream of.
We've quit our jobs and sold our home, and are no longer tied to London, or even the UK.
So we bought our 2018 Peugeot Boxer and began our renovation to turn it into our perfect little home on wheels.
As we travel and explore each new place, we will be creating a list of 'must haves' to help us find the perfect place to call home.
Join us on our adventure as we build our campervan and navigate the highs and lows of vanlife in Europe and more!
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:26 Money
01:40 Hygiene
02:07 Navigation
02:48 Down sizing
03:52 Isolation
04:52 Legality
06:04 Health
06:56 Space
08:37 Work
09:02 Over hyped
10:11 Conclusion
Hot water in a van is relatively easy. An Italian company called Quick makes stainless steel boilers from 15L upto 60L I believe which are heated using heat from the engine cooling system and an electric heating element (which is rather large - 800W - but can be toned down using a power dimmer) I have this voltage sensitive relay installed which switches the heater element on if the battery is nearly fully charged so any excess solar power is diverted into the boiler.
Like you I have this sprayer setup in the galley but I also have this anti leak tray which has been converted into a shower pan which I place on top of a floor drain so I can use the shower pan as needed. The pan has a shower curtain and a standard curtain rail (with 4 ready made bend pieces in it to form a rounded square) which I hang from the ceiling.
My van is tall but not tall enough to use an overhead shower head so I have this stool with water proof upholstery so I can sit down and do a Furo style shower (using a bucket warm water and a small plastic cup) and I also am able to use the sprayer from the galley if need be.... I do not have a build in waste water tank but I do have a 25L tank on a trolley which I place underneath the van to catch any waste water from both the galley sink and the floor drain which the waste water from the shower pan flows into...
A central throne is very common... In fact my van can be considered a bed box with an en suite on wheels... with the emphasis on the en suite part...
"It isn't always as glamorous..." says Jodie looking glamorous. 😂 Great surprise having two videos so close together from you guys, and nice to have a bit of perspective as it were, to go with the glorious views from sunny places. (Although I think you're generally pretty good at depicting the lows too. The Great Victron Disaster (TM) was one of your best videos.)
Haha TM 😂 thanks Dominic!
She always looks glamorous, she’s just gorgeous
Your Van build is amazing but personally I couldn't do without a private toilet and hot water. I have a small 25 year old Auto Sleeper like Tanya and Adams ( Jits into the Sunset). In fact mine is the short version and it has everything you need for two people at a squeeze. The compact Toilet/Shower/Basin area is less than a 1m square but the door folds out to make a room divider, across the width of the van. It has a Carver gas /electric water heater, giving hot showers and the user privacy. I don't know why self builders don't copy this concept more often, especially in a large Van. Well done for not killing each other so far!
Jodie does miss hot water! But it worked for our build and we've found ways around it, even if they're not glamorous 🤪
Thanks for watching ❤️
Cooking in a van should not be any more difficult compared to cooking in a house. Obviously you have the amount of food available in cold or regular storage but you can plan a somewhat healthy diet for sure.
If you like to try some of my time tested ways of cooking, look into: the omnia stove oven (or a more affordable Italian (Versili) or spanish (ibili) version), a diy heat retention cooker (or hay box) called the Wonderoven (which can be sewn together - by hand if in a pinch - using an old cotton bed sheet or duvet cover, an extremely handy way to cook while driving even and without using any energy not to mention safe and no need to attend as the cooking is going on. Very nice for those dishes which need a long time stewing, you know the Irish Stew, Boeuf Bourguignon and those hearty winter soups like pasta fagioli), a pressure cooker (obviously a great way to cook fast and very energy efficient), steaming food (also very easy and über healthy, though moisture buildup in the van is a consideration), if you want to go a little bit extra out of the box you could experiment with a solar oven (cardboard, some aluminium tape and two glass washing machine doors (huh? yes those glass things are very useful) does the trick (the interweb has the free plans, if not shoot me aline, I can send you one over)
There is no excuse to eat poorly in the van... Ask Ainsley, Ramsey, Bourdain or if you must Oliver...
10:58 Image my surprise when I parked my van one day and the van next to me had parked on top of a piece of wood which was purposefully made to look like a human lower leg, including a tennis shoe and sock... very weird but also very funny and in an urban setting totally stealth...
Love your videos, you both come across as really nice, genuine and funny people 😁👍
Aww thanks you're definitely getting the raw us!
Nice one guys, great video! Joe you are the luckiest man in the world spending 23.5 hours a day with Jodie! Take it easy guys. All the best!
Thanks so much! I'm just as lucky as he is 😍
A great description there, I’ve not done it, don’t intend to except for a few weeks at a time , but great advice to lots of folks
Thank you, love you guys. Going off grid next year, wish us luck!!
Best of luck! It will be wonderful 👍🏼
Well that was informative, interesting and worthwhile.
Thanks for sharing, you lovely people 🤘🏻
Thank you kindly 🤩
Great video guys as usual take care 👍
Great tips! Really enjoyed this video. ❤ 🤛🏻
All valid points 👍
Thank you.
You're welcome! Thanks for watching ❤️
Nice one guys, I love my van but there is no way I would want to do full time van life so big uo to you both. Cheers K.
Thanks so much! We didn't think we could do it full time either, but you get used to it!
Just love your content but need more please. ❤
Love the reality
Thanks for the brutal honesty. I admire you guys. I think for many people reliability might be a big problem, because there isn't going to be a local guy down the road to fix things. Also the accumulation of CO2 is a problem in confined volumes. Remember, all the carbon in your used calories is breathed out as CO2, and it's surprising how rapidly this can build up. Get a CO2 monitor.
That's a really great point! We open windows regularly but a CO2 meter will be in our next order! Thanks for the tip x
Loooks like Scalan to me? There is a beautiful juniper forest in the Glen above👍👍🏴🏴
It was right around there!
Funniest people on CZcams, you always make me smile ❤
Thanks so much Matt! Glad our antics make you smile 😀 x
You 2 make a great couple, living in a confined space must present many challenges but u obviously love one another, slightly jealous 😁
Those pictures out of the back of the van is not about the view but more about the scantily clad miss on her stomach in the foreground...or at least so I was told... I would not know anything about that because my miss is not ...well you catch my drift...
Loving Jodie's hair in this video, I'm not a stalker by the way honest!!
Haha thanks!!
Hi guys, great video.
Im kind of surprised you didnt mention the legality of driving licence and V5 if you dont have a permanent address.
It is no longer legal to use a 'care of' address of a family member or friend. This means that doing so could mean fines of £1000 for giving false information on your licence and £1000 fine for your V5.
Also a PO box address is not legal either.
Good info for those with no legal address - those with no fixed abode should look into it for their circumstance!
Solar shower in summer ☀️ 😎 in the winter body wipes keep you smelling good 👍 good luck on your journeys ❤❤❤❤
We should get one for next summer, they seem great!
Anymore vids coming or r u done if so merry Christmas
Yep new video is out!
Joe: "do you want to talk to your own camera? i got you one over there."
*proceeds to ignore his own camera the rest of the video*
HA! I did not even notice he did that
What a numpty 😂😂
and don't forget the cost and the unforeseen costs our van decided it didn't like its timing belt so broke it and got it towed to a garage and got a price of 10,000 to fix it
then due to work had to travel home and the got a price for 6250 to get the van home
we think we need to start a go fund me to get big blue home still not home 4 weeks later :(
Yikes that's rough, we've thankfully not ran into anything like that. All we had was an engine bolt that snapped and needed drilling out for a few hundred pounds
Gym membership is great for showers
Very true!!
Why be negative… life can be difficult in a house, palace, tent … van … that’s life !
There will be another video on the positives, this one was just about the negatives 😊
23.5 hours, sounds like the time i spend in prison :P
Hahaa feels like it sometimes 🤪
It’s agreed then. Van life in Europe is expensive. Van life should be done in America with lots of BLM land. Got it 👍👌
We are dreaming of the day we can explore the Americas!! 😍🤩