10 Things You Need To Know About VanLife

couple lives in a van, mr and mrs adventure, adventure couple

Looks magical doesn’t it? VanLife definitely has its perks, its lessons, its moments of beauty and its moments of frustration, especially when you’re traveling with your soon-to-be husband or wife… for 10 months straight! The truth is that as crazy as we’ve made each other throughout the past few months, I couldn’t love him more and we wouldn’t trade this experience for the world.

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1.We don’t plan ahead.

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Aside from a few key events and deadlines we’ve had to make, vanlife allows our spirits to roam as wildly and freely as we wish. With no reservations, if we fall completely in love with a place we can stay as long as our hearts desire! Who needs an agenda when you can live by faith and follow your intuition.

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2. Living together 24/7 is HARD.

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Yep, that’s me sticking out my tongue… I can’t really remember what we were arguing about here, which is a shame because I bet it was good. Yes, we have our moments and sometimes it sucks, but more often than not, it’s sooo gooood and somehow, we still can’t seem to get enough of each other. Our 21-foot home leaves no room for emotional distance and is much more comfortable when things are running smoothly (literally and figuratively), so we try to learn more everyday about how we can be a better part for our whole.

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3. We don’t use half of what we brought.

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Mugs? Yes. Blender? Not so much. We all know the saying “less is more,” well, when it comes to living in a van, it couldn’t ring more true. When we first set out on this journey we packed as many items of clothing as we could possibly fit into our 3 little cubbies each. Certain that I would NEED multiple bikini options and a different little tank top everyday, the truth is that Florida/California girls are the worst at packing for anything below 72 degrees (and I am both).

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4. We make friends with strangers everyday.

big sur roadtrip, vanlife adventure, vanlife

One of our mottos over the past year has been to say “YES” to strangers. Despite what we may have been told as children, there are A LOT of really GREAT people out there! You just have to be willing and open enough to give them a chance. When you believe in others, you give them a chance to be a blessing.

5. The internet still finds a way to take over.

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While we may not have TV or wifi all the time, as travel bloggers we have a responsibility to share our journey with our wonderful fellow-adventurers (YOU), and while we love having the opportunity to do so, we also have to be aware of how easily the “pursuit of wifi” can take us out of our present moments. Between writing posts in cafes, camping outside of McDonald’s to upload YouTube videos and using our mobile hotspots till we have no more data left, we’re constantly trying to reformulate our lives in a way that will protect us from missing out on the unique world and people around us.

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6. It feels better to save $10 than it does to spend it.

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Ever wonder how we stick to our $33/day budget? This goes along with point #3, less is truly more. Sure we enjoy a few trinkets and treats here and there, but the more we indulge in life, the less we need to indulge into our pockets… unless there’s an ice cream cone (or kombucha) in that pocket, then it’s a different story.

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7. Time is our most important commodity.

You may think that life on the road slows everything down, that we lay in our hammock and play cards all day, reading books and staring into each other’s eyes, but the reality is that there is SO MUCH TO SEE IN AMERICA! While we make it a point to enjoy our present moments (hammock and eye staring included), we both agree that we could have spent three years doing what is taking us one; basically we wish we could spend more time EVERYWHERE.

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8. We hardly spend time inside our van.

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Besides sleeping, doing chores, cooking and the few nights we’ve spent streaming wifi from a Starbucks so we could watch a movie, most of our time is spent outside building bonfires, exploring nature, seeing cities and making friends with the people around us. We do a pretty good job breaking up drive times and have rarely spent the whole day driving… though in some ways, those are some of our favorite days.

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9. People are always shocked (and inspired) by our story.

mr and mrs adventure, geographie store san diego, live a great story sticker

Most of the time we just feel like two crazy kids trying to make a difference in this world, but I guess for some, we’re already making difference enough… which brings us to our next point:

10. WE LOVE VANLIFE and we don’t want it to end.

van life love, couple lives in a van, mr and mrs adventure

…the great thing is, it doesn’t have to end… and it won’t… more on that to come. If you want to make sure to get an update on plans for our next GREAT ADVENTURE, be sure to subscribe here! Until then, keep on dreaming and keep on building up the courage to manifest those dreams, one adventurous day at a time