You may never feel 100% ready when starting vanlife, but these action items will immediately boost your confidence and get you feeling ready!
By Bekah Whitney
Starting vanlife is scary. It’s an opposing lifestyle to what society has taught us is “normal”. However, being nomadic is not a new concept to us humans. We are meant to explore, travel, and meet people who live differently from us. Getting into vanlife has been one of the most amazing things I have ever done and I’m beyond excited to help you start your adventure. In this post I will share with you 5 things you can do to immediately boost your confidence for starting vanlife to help turn those mountains into molehills.
It might sound silly, but with how amazing online shopping is these days, knowing how to receive packages while on the road is super comforting. So go ahead and try it out!
Once you get it down it’s super simple, but there are a few tricks to it. I have written a complete guide on all the possible scenarios you might run into with General Delivery, but for a letter all you need to do is address it as following:
Your Name
General Delivery
City/Town, State, Zip Code
Slap a stamp on it, put it in the mail, and wait a few days. Once you have waited a few business days, head to the post office with a government-issued photo ID, tell them you have a letter that was sent General Delivery and watch your letter appear. One important note is that if there is more than one post office in your town/city, only one of them will accept General Delivery. A quick call, google search, or visit will tell you which post office your letter will be delivered to.
Many vanlifers have a lot more luxuries in their rig than someone taking a road trip in their car, but getting a feel for how to cook, where to sleep, and how to live with limited resources will give you a great foundation for vanlife. When planning out your trip, make sure to have at least two separate destinations and try to spend at least one night somewhere that is free or cheap. Freecampsites.net is a widely used website to discover dispersed camping spots if you aren’t sure where to start. Comparing sites marked on Freecampsites.net with the google satellite image of the area will show you exactly where the roads are that were mentioned in the post. Hopefully you’ll end your trip excited and more knowledgeable of what you will expect from vanlife. Plus, if you survive in a car, think of how well you will do with a mattress, kitchen, and electricity!
Listen, daydreaming about where you will travel and how incredible your rig will be is intoxicating, but making realistic preparations is the only way you are going to achieve your goals of starting vanlife. For instance, creating a plan to finance your travels is a must as Vanlife isn’t free. Fuel can get easily become expensive, mechanical problems are sure to arise, the dog might get sprayed by a skunk, you might find yourself in a town where chicken is $8.99/lb, and the list goes on. It pays to be intentional with every one of your preparations, which is exactly why I created a free guide, 5 Simple Steps to Prepare for Vanlife, to help you with everything you need to start thinking about. In the guide I take you through discovering your “why”, which rig is best for you, where to start with downsizing, how to make money, and creating a timeline.
How do you react when life throws a curve-ball at you? Do you get angry, overwhelmed, break down crying? I sure have. Don’t worry, we all get frustrated when life doesn’t cooperate with our plans. Living on the road is no different, except life tends to throw a lot more hiccups your way. It’s a beautiful life, but it is almost never just how you pictured it would be. Sometimes the activity you drove for hours to get to is closed for trail maintenance or there is an RC plane airstrip right next to the only available camping that sounds like WWII starting at 6 AM. Start practicing mindfulness skills in your daily life whenever negative emotions arise. Stop what you’re doing, take a breath, and remind yourself you can get through this. Mindfulness is a great skill to have and will make you feel more confident when things go wrong when just starting vanlife out. We have been in countless situations over the years that we could only laugh at how poorly everything had worked out. Maintaining a sense of positivity toward and appreciation for all adventures, good or bad, planned or unexpected, is necessary for being happy long-term on the road.
Many government offices, banks, and other institutions will not mail official documents to random addresses or General Delivery. Create a binder with all your vehicle registrations, identifications, insurance cards, and anything else important. If you are not alone, I would recommend combining the binders/folders and keeping them in the care of the more responsible individual (I hold onto Sawyer’s important documents). Note the expiration dates of credit cards, drivers licenses, and vehicle registration so that you are not in the middle of nowhere when things start to expire. This goes for any personal or pet records you may need as well. During this process you will discover if anything has been lost or misplaced, such as passport or vehicle title so you can get ahead of replacing those items before you hit the road. It also helps to keep as many things as you can in one place if you think you might pass through the same town, maybe where your storage unit is, every year to do things like eye exams and pet vaccines.
You are never going to be 100% ready to start vanlife. I remember sitting in my counselors’ office for my last in-person appointment freaking out that I was about to make a huge mistake. ‘What if’s can consume you, but only if you let them. Every single action in this blog post will boost your confidence and get you closer to feeling like you’ve got this! Plus my free 5 Simple Steps to Prepare for Vanlife guide will get you prepared for starting vanlife on the right foot. I am so excited for you to start this journey and I can’t wait to meet you on the road!
Hi! I’m Bekah, but you can call me Beks, all my friends do! I travel full-time in a tiny home on wheels that my partner, Sawyer, and I built from a cargo trailer shell in 2019. We started out in beautiful Colorado and have been all over the United States over the years. This space is designed to inspire and guide the nature obsessed nomad, weekend warrior, and future roadlifer. I’m so excited you’re here!
Get my incredible FREE guide to get yourself prepared for Vanlife!
We wanted a watercraft for a long time, but didn’t quite know what to pull the trigger on. We wanted something that was durable and folded up nice and small. After watching videos of a jeep driving over the kayak and hit it with a hammer, we knew it was the one for us!
If you don’t already have a hammock, you really need to get on it! The Eno is a lightweight, packable, and durable hammock perfect for anyone living on the road. We have a single nest because neither of us seem to want to be in the hammock at the same time, but they do make a Double Nest if you are looking to cuddle up with your significant other in it.
Listen, everyone with photos of their van door wide open has flies. Adding a screen door was an absolute game-changer for us, plus it is attached through velcro so that you can easily remove it when you are ready to take those idyllic photos. If you haven’t hit the road yet, just get one. If you already have, this is the answer to your fly problem, you’re welcome.
13 Comments on 5 Ways to Immediately Boost Your Confidence About Starting Vanlife!
Cool article! Did not even know about general delivery!
Thank you for reading! The first time my father sent me something General Delivery he was very skeptical.
Great information. There are things I had not considered like general delivery. Also keeping the right mindset is so key!
Very informative! If I were to start this type of lifestyle your post provided a lot of information that I would not have thought of. Great tips to prepare and an engaging read.
Interesting article and very helpful!
This was such an informative read! I have always been curious about van life. An amazing guide laying out all of the things that someone starting this journey may not even think of.
Very helpful! I didn't know about general delivery.
I am saving up to buy a van now so these tips are very relevant - I hadn't thought about the first one, I will now as I buy a lot online!
Getting all the documents in order is a great idea!
Great blog post! I haven't gotten into travelling in a van yet, but I'd love to give it a go!
It's so much nicer than camping! You'll fall in love quick!
So many practical tips here, thanks for sharing. Van life would be such an adventure
I'm glad you enjoyed it!