Why We are ENDING VAN LIFE (Q&A & Our Next Chapter)
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- čas přidán 19. 06. 2024
- Description: After 1 and a half years of van life driving all across North America, from Canada all the way to Central America, it's time to make some life adjustments. We start out with a van life Q&A and answer all your biggest questions about travel planning, relationships in the van, dumping black water / gray water tanks, and discuss money, burnout, and CZcams. At the end we tell you our plans with the camper van and what's next for the channel. If you haven't seen all of our videos yet make sure to start at day 1 until now for the Chapter 1!
#Vanlife #TravelCouple #Q&A
Products We Use in the Van
Bed
• Mattress topper (We have 2 in and wish we went with 3 in) - amzn.to/3BZfUSw
• Sheets and Pillowcases (Full - Blue Grey) - amzn.to/3j7W5jm
• Duvet Cover - amzn.to/3zU5JwF
• Cover for Side Pieces on bed - used body pillowcases and sewed/fitted to correct size - amzn.to/3lex20L
Kitchen & Cooking
• Paper Towel Holder - amzn.to/3Am1MBk
• Refrigerator Storage Bins - Medium - amzn.to/3rHjsnM
• Refrigerator Storage Bins - Bottom Shelf - amzn.to/2UYlCUb
• Plastic Dish Set -amzn.to/3rHLkbr
• Yeti 30 oz Rambler - amzn.to/3yt26xD
• Sink Scrubbie Holder - amzn.to/3j6CMH5
• Drawer Organizers - amzn.to/3xfokl1
• Blackstone Griddle - amzn.to/3yh6Vtx
• Blackstone Griddle Cover - amzn.to/3BXJZBS
• Griddle Utensils - amzn.to/3lde3Dw
• Portable Espresso Maker - amzn.to/3zQ3udR
• Aeropress Coffee Maker - amzn.to/3xyKqz8
• Coffee Bean Grinder - amzn.to/3xF1kfL
Cleaning
• Mini Shark Vacuum - amzn.to/2Vx0Aft
Bathroom
• Toilet Cleaner Brush - amzn.to/3j5WKld
• Porta Pack for Holding Tank - amzn.to/3rXgJGX
• Eco-Friendly Shower Shampoo/Soap - amzn.to/3jzcYn0
• Laundry Bags - amzn.to/3lF7EkI
• Mirror - amzn.to/3CrKa8H
Work Stations & Electronics
• Computer Monitor Stand - amzn.to/3lFnKuI
• Kindle - amzn.to/36twRpL
Storage & Hooks
• Clothing Bins fit in cubby above driver & passenger seats - tidd.ly/3feK1vm
○ Message Seller for custom bins - Length 12.25in, Width 10.5in, Height 7.5in
○ Color: Black
• Storage Bins - Used in bathroom - 2 small, kitchen - 1 small, electronics cabinet - 1 small, garage on top of black aluminum boxes - 1 large, 1 small, Garage under bench seat - 1 medium - amzn.to/3CpLjxt
• Aluminum Black Storage Box 1 used in garage, 1 used on roof - amzn.to/2Voa6lf
• Adhesive Velcro Netting - amzn.to/3xv4CBO
• Travel Packing Cubes - amzn.to/3yBnzo8
• Self Adhesive Wall Hooks - Stainless steel - amzn.to/3AgKSE0
• Plastic Adhesive Wall hooks - amzn.to/2VDhM2p
Cockpit
• Visor Mirror - amzn.to/37uGQLG
• Blackout Curtains - amzn.to/3xxCa2i
Adhesives
• Velcro - Curtains, kitchen top extender, etc - amzn.to/3lGaNAL
• Double Sided Tape - Mirror - amzn.to/3rYx0v6
Bikes
• Bike Cover - XL - amzn.to/3fEGYNb
• Bike Rack - rockymounts.com/backstage/
Modifications
• Hose Filter - Drinking Water - amzn.to/3yuoMxr
Vehicle Maintenance / Needs
• Tire Deflator - amzn.to/3fDW99z
• Portable Compressor 40045 400P - amzn.to/3CsQ7m6
• 25 FT Water Hose Fill Up - amzn.to/2TYCYj4
• Tool Roll Organizer - amzn.to/3Cs6BdS
• Bungee Cords - amzn.to/3yygILS
• Hatchet - amzn.to/3xtOSiA
Outside
• Camping Chairs - www.rei.com/product/164385/re...
Connect With Us!
Blog - farisandlisa.com/
Weekly Newsletter Tina's Tea Sign Up & Get a FREE Travel Starter Kit - farisandlisa.com/about/
Instagram - / farisandlisa
Facebook - / farisandlisa
Tik Tok - @farisandlisa
Camera Gear
Camera 1: amzn.to/3zzNa0H
Camera 2: amzn.to/3zBNUlL
Lens 1: amzn.to/3BSJlFZ
Lens 2: amzn.to/3rCbRXr
Lens 3: amzn.to/3BBrvH8
Lens 4: amzn.to/3iIwTzu
We're Faris and Lisa
A travel couple from Metro Detroit, MI. We met in business school and started traveling immediately post graduation in 2016 while maintaining automotive marketing positions. We’ve traveled to over 35 different countries together and still can’t get enough!
In April 2021, we made the leap and quit our 9-5 jobs to follow our dreams of full time travel. We sold our house, donated all of our belongings and moved into our camper van / RV, “Tina” or “Big T”. Now we document all of our travels and van life adventures via travel vlog style! Subscribe to our CZcams channel and Newsletter to follow along on our adventure as we explore North America.
Questions we didn’t get to in the video!
How often do you
1. use the AC and or the Heater? - we used the heater in Canada at night but not too many times otherwise. We typically like the warmer weather. We used the AC the most in the Yucatán in Mexico!
2. use the LP, refill - we only used propane for the griddle so just bought and recycled the small green cans. So maybe 10 over the year.
3. Cook inside the van - pretty much everyday unless we were cooking outside!
4. ever run out of battery - occasionally but then we just drove and it was fine! We didn’t stay too long at any spot.
5. empty out the black tank (Faris hates to clean it so I'm assuming you rarely use it.. lol) - we used it for #1, so emptied it every 5 days or so.
How do you order something online like from Amazon? - Amazon lockers are perfect for this!
How much was the current setup you guys have? Van and anything additional you purchased for it/your travels. - the MSRP was $180 on our van at the time of purchase. But no one pays MSRP, the dealers get major discounts so it was much less than this. Also the revel is considered an RV so we got a RV loan at 3.5% over 20 years which kept the monthly payment low.
What are some income sources? - we met people who had all kinds of jobs but the most who were working corporate were working in business remotely. We also met some travel nurses who would go off and on!
Other ways are freelancing, we did some photo/video and social media work on the side! You can find all kinds of freelance jobs on upwork!
Our costs were about 50% of what they were when we lived in a house so luckily you don’t need as much.
How did you know where the cartels were in Mexico? - lots and lots of research. Faris reads multiple forums to understand the best routes and safest spots. We never just roamed into random places, we always had a plan and knew what to expect and what to avoid. This process took many hours almost on the daily but safety was always a priority. And we found that 99.9% of people are good people, unfortunately our news just makes everything seem way worse than it is.
Thank you so much for all your questions and your support in our van life journey. It truly means the world to us and we are so excited to share this next chapter with you!! ♥️♥️
I remember watching your first Van Tour video, what a crazy crazy ride it's been. So happy for you guys, yall are such such troopers, always cheering yall on.
I’m so excited to see what’s next in your channel!! Thank you once again for being so real and authentic!!! Good luck in this new chapter and thank you for making us part of it!!!
Thank you so much Chavalonn! Very excited to have you on board for the building process!
Ya'll inspired me to include a few months of traveling in a van and get out of my comfort zone. I subscribed when ya'll had like 700 subs and it's wild how fast one year went by. Thanks for the videos. Can't wait for the next chapter! ❤️
Adam that’s so awesome and thank you for sticking with us we truly appreciate it so much!! And love that we inspired some travel 🥰 we’re super excited for the next chapter!
It’s bittersweet to see this journey come to an end, but it’s refreshing to hear that priorities change as life goes on and that’s all part of the journey. Im sad to see Tina go but I’m grateful to have seen your ups and down first hand. Good luck on the new adventure!
Thanks Brandon! We appreciate the kind words and so happy we could share the real moments with you. We are super sad to see Tina go but excited for the next adventure!
awesome stuff guys, great tips and insight into the reality of van life.
Love you guys! Excited to watch your new vids and following your new journey
Love you and miss you!! Hope to see you soon ♥️♥️
Congrats y'all! Excited for your new season of home building!
Thanks guys! Appreciate it. Can’t wait to see your world travels!
Sorry to see you leaving van life but thanks for all the enjoyable months of videos. I think you are 2 great humans with loving hearts and I wish you both all the best!
Thanks Stephen really appreciate all your kind words and support over the year and so happy you enjoyed the videos! 🥰
What an awesome journey, your videos have given us all a great perspective on Van life. We will miss seeing all those beautiful places and funny mishaps, the ups and downs but you are on another journey now. Your next series will be just as awesome, welcome home!!
Haha thanks mom. We will miss Tina and all the adventures, and food very much. But also excited for the next adventure!
We love following your travel journey. Looking forward to seeing you guys build.
Thank you so much, so glad to have you for the ride 🥰
I have really enjoyed watching your adventures. Thanks for taking us along. Best wishes for your future, May you have many, many decades of happiness and love.
Thank you so much for the kind words and all of your support we truly appreciate it and always love seeing your pup pop up in our comments 🥰
Awesome! Good luck with all your plans… love your videos!
Thank you! Appreciate the kind words!
I love your videos and SO excited for the house build! You guys always make me smile! 😁
Thanks Heather!! Really appreciate the kind words and support! 🥰
Thanks for the great videos of your journey. They have been a blessing to me.
So glad you are enjoyed them and ThTs l you for the kind words 🥰
I've Been here since the beginning! Thanks for the Q & A always appreciate the hard work you put into your videos!
Might have missed it is youtube paying the bills?
Stephen, that means so much to us thank you for all the kind words! We had so much fun and happy we were able to share! So cool to hear from the small group that’s been with us since beginning!
In regards to is CZcams paying the bills no definitely not! We’ve been doing freelance video and photo on the side to help out!
This is great guys! Congratulations! Excited to see how to house comes out
Thanks guys!! Appreciate the love 🥰
Impressive. Good luck.
Great path you've envisioned.
Awesome! Looking forward to watching the next chapter
Thanks Emily! Can’t wait to share 🥰
Awesome! I’ve enjoyed your travels and now I will enjoy watching your build.
So happy you enjoyed the videos and thank you for coming along on our next adventure!
Great channel, good tips along the way. If you have a builder/ framer in the family you’ll be all set. As a framer for 35 yrs, nothing gives me more satisfaction as building a new home for a family as I learned to build my own years ago. I wish you both much happiness, God bless.
Thanks JN, really appreciate your support and kind words! We are super excited to be immersed in the process but super grateful to have a mentor for it! We’re hoping we get that same satisfaction!
Hahaha! We also never argued until vanlife!!! WE GET IT! Good luck you two, can’t wait to watch the build 💪🏼
Omg hahah and with CZcams too!! Thanks guys always appreciate it! ❤️❤️
Still following your journey and rooting for you both. I always look forward to watching your videos! 🤩-Christine K.
Christine!! Hahah I love it and thank you for the support we appreciate it so much! Hope all is well!! 🥰🥰
We've loved your videos and have been binge watching these past few days!
What part of the country are you building your home? Definitely plan to watch your journey on that. Good luck!!
Hey Rocio! So glad you’ve enjoyed the videos! 😊 we are building in Michigan going for a woodsy feel! We are super excited!
Love your channel
Looking forward to what’s next, keep moving forward
Thanks John! Appreciate it ☺️
What a wild ride! A great adventure for the past year. Sad to see Tina go, but life goes on. Get a van for Europe after building your own house! Fan for life! Love you two! Just got back from Marion Mountain campground and learn of your van departure 😭. I’ll be with you two for your first build! 💕❤️❤️❤️❤️
Thanks for being with us on every video Shaw, always appreciated all you comments and support!! We are so sad to see Tina go but excited for the next adventure. Van life Europe is definitely on the future radar!!
Amazing video
How things going, hope the house is going great. Definitely need a new video,
So excited for you guys!! I hope you're building in MI, you must come visit!
Thanks Lindsay!! Yes it will be in Michigan definitely want to meet up soon!
Not going to lie, I'm going to miss your Vanlife excursions, your characters, and great videos but, wish you both all the best in the future! Bloopers, yess! Tina, yess! Binge watching your videos, yess! Thanks for all the laughs too.
Thanks for all the kind words Dennis!! We are going to miss them too but I don’t think van life is done forever just at another time!! Hope you join us for the house build 😊
Glad we got to meet you on your journey. We built our home you will be fine, tired but fine. Love from Vermont.
So great meeting you Tim!! Thanks for the well wishes!! I’m sure it’s going to be exhausting but some good lessons to learn ☺️
So sad to see Tina go but so excited for your next adventure! We'll bring the mezcal to celebrate when the house is built 😉🤣
Hahah the Mezcal I love it! We’re so sad to see her go too but next chapter!
Whereabouts are you guys planning on building? Sad to see you guys and your travels for now:-( however looking forward to seeing the new and upcoming videos of the build. From your friendly trash guy back home:-)
I'm wondering how much you paid for your van brand new and how much did you sell it for?
I have really enjoyed watching your channel and the world of Van life. You have shown myself in any others the real side of living this lifestyle. While I will deeply miss your postings, I do understand that life is ever-changing and the fact that you wish to look into your next chapter only explains why you chose Van life to begin with. Good luck with your endeavors. While I have done my own research on other CZcamsrs posting van life, are there any in particular that you would suggest following? As this is something that I will continue to do until I'm ready to step into that world myself. Thanks again for all of your shares.......
Thanks Don really appreciate you following along on our journey and your kind words ☺️ Do you have a plan for full time van life?!
We met a few incredible Van life CZcamsrs on the road called Tal & Mads and Sam and Kelly they do a great job showing the realities of living in a van!
@@FarisandLisa yes, Jan 2023......almost ready!!! Thanks for the additional references. Of course I will continue to watch "your world " with the home building project......🥳
Hi again, hope you are doing well! I find myself on the cusp of buying a van soon and am having some back and forth between sprinter 144 and 170… if you could have the same van in 170 (same features with some added space and storage) do you think you would have gone that route if you could do it again? Just looking for any input! I hope you guys are doing well and getting things started strong on this new phase!
Hey Branson! So excited for you to join van life! If we were to get another van we would build out a 144 again without the permanent bathroom. We definitely felt like this took up so much room, and it felt cramped inside. At the same time we loved how easy it was to drive and park in normal parking spots. The 170 is great and we’ve been in many of our friends but in the end we would stick with the 144. Hope this helps!
Sad to see Tina go. Will we see the send off video of Tina? Also, when is the wedding? And how often will you be posting new videos on the new chapter? Looking forward to the new plan forward.
So sad to see Tina go but very excited for the next chapter! This is the last video you will see Tina sadly! The wedding is next September. We will have the same cadence for videos, every Sunday. We will be taking a few weeks off to get the project going and start the filming. Can’t wait to share with you!
Hi Faris and Lisa. Turning on van life seems a bit challenging, but it looks cool and your video looks great. Just wondering if you would be interested in using a drone to record some footage of the van life?
Hi April! Yes we have one and use it for our videos 😊
Thanks for the video! How many miles did you put on your van?
We put 25k on the van in 1 year!
@@FarisandLisa good job!
For shocks, I would go with Bilstein or fox racing
We will keep that in mind! Thanks
wait a minute....a CZcams couple that went from Vanlife to building a house...haven't I seen that before :-). ?
Good luck with your new adventure. I'm sad to see Tina go. But I am looking forward staying with you
Hahah yes I guess we all need a place to live eventually 😅 we are so sad to see Tina go but also very excited for this next chapter. So glad you are joining us!! Always appreciate the support ♥️♥️🙏
Have you thought of getting rid of the side steps and putting rock sliders?
That’s a great idea, but unfortunately we sold the van. But good to know for the next one!
I KNOW
Do you use a phone for camera when filming? What equipment do you use for this channel??
Sometimes we will use a phone for a quick clip. But mostly we use a Canon R5 and a Canon EOSR
You told me at the cottage
It's like when you ride a motorcycle you go to places you would never go too. It's great. Life is to short to not live it.
Yes exactly, love that! Van life has definitely opened our eyes to living a more adventurous open lifestyle!
I would say building your own thing is an upgrade
Thanks Emmett we think so too!! Hope to have you over when it’s finished 😁
Let’s goooo
Explaination what's a spinner?
Mercedes Sprinter Van
A pesky little caveat that Sprinter fans NEVER point out! As opposed to Ford dealers, which are like fast-food franchises where every little town has at least one, as a luxury brand? Mercedes dealers get very rare once you leave the largest city in the region and lets not be naïve, Mercedes Benz repair bills are going to be a LOT more expensive AND...(here's the kicker) a Mercedes dealer will not EVEN LOOK at your Sprinter unless they have a Mercedes Factory Certified Sprinter Technician on staff and not all of them do! 😲Which means you may have to flatbed your Sprinter from wherever it breaks down, a few hundred miles to get it to a Mercedes dealer with a "M.F.C.S.T." on staff. No getting around that and the build quality is NO BETTER than the Ford Transit! 😉
First
😂😂
Seems like a lot of vanlifers are giving it up . Third "end of vanlife" vid i see today .😕
Ricus, I know so true! We saved up to do this for a year but it was never our intention to live in it forever! Definitely going to get another van at another time to travel other countries!
Am I supposed to Care?? 🙄🙄🙄
No! ☺️
Going to Mexico isn't international travel.
What do you consider it then?
@@FarisandLisa across the boarder.
lol ur wack to say that
Go start a family have children so you can share it with them have great memories with them
You have a great energy in your videos! Keep doing what you do and enjoy what you do!
Thanks Adam really appreciate your kind words!!