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Vandwelling – What’s That?

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Vandwelling Another Option For Living Small?

The van of Brenda Curtiss, who does vandwelling full-time.

The van of Brenda Curtiss, who does vandwelling full-time.

Since I’ve been visiting RV forums I have sometimes come across posts related to “vandwelling.” I never paid attention to the word, thinking it was some type of German vehicle. (Doesn’t it sound like it?) But recently I joined a forum called Cheap RV Living Forum and there is a huge section on vandwellers. I finally figured out (duh!) the word was actually two words – Van and Dwelling: and it refers to people who live in vans. Needless to say, I was blown away that there are thousands of people in America who live in vans by choice.

At first I thought the vandwelling people in the forum must be having really hard times financially. But after reading the posts I realized that most are happily giving up the stick and brick life to live and roam freely. And it’s not just young men, another assumption that I made. It’s people of all ages living in vans. There are women my age living in vans, and young women are vandwelling.

I don’t think it’s something I could ever do – mostly because I don’t think it would work that well with cats – but I do admire people who can do it.

I feel like I’ve been living under a big rock. I had no idea that there were people living like this by choice. I have an x-brother-in-law who was living in his van in Maui for awhile, but the comments I heard were all negative, like “he’s having a hard time financially.” I should ask him how living in a van in Maui really was for him, for all I know he might have loved it. He’s back on the mainland now, with his van having made the trip back with him.

Vandwelling in America

Here is a video of a vandweller who is an older woman. She lives in a Chevy conversion van. It looks pretty nice, for living in a van. It make me a bit claustrophobic to watch, but to each his/her own, no? If I were to live in a van, it would probably be set up as nice as this, only with one of those pop-up roofs.

Vandweller Brenda Curtiss

Brenda Curtiss has been vandwelling since 2009.

Brenda Curtiss has been vandwelling since 2009.

Here is another woman who is vandwelling. Brenda Curtiss has been vandwelling full-time since October, 2009. The photo at the top of the page is of the inside of her van. She has a blog called Lord And Curtiss and on it she writes,

“I am an Adventuring VanDweller with a nomadic spirit that enjoys working from my campervan in whatever place I happen to be whether by the water or on a mountain top. I currently have a full-time telecommute job Monday through Friday so as long as I can get cell service and a wifi signal (and the climate is agreeable) I am good to go!  On the week-ends I often explore the area I am in much further, doing my (much enjoyed :) photo-journaling along the way.”

Brenda’s blog has lots of photos of places she’s traveled to in her van, just her and her little dog. It sounds so free and adventurous. At the bottom of the front page of her website is a slideshow of different vans that have been set up to live in. Some of them are high-tech and amazing, some are home-made and don’t look too comfortable, and some are just plain hilarious! One of them even has a fireplace in it! It’s a fun slideshow to watch and I recommend heading over to her website to take a look at it. Makes me think that maybe with the right van….. no, probably not.

And if you want to know more about how to do vandwelling she sells an ebook on her blog called “How to Set Up & Comfortably Camp or Live in Your Vehicle or Van.”

Vandwelling in a Westfalia

This next video is of a guy and his dog living in an VW Westfalia. This guy has a whole series of videos of living in his van. I think there are about 12 of them. (He has a very interesting way of speaking, it reminds me of Hugo Weaving’s character in the Matrix.)

There are so many different ways to live our lives, to spend our days on this planet. When I watch these videos of vandwellers it makes me wonder what other paths in life I might have taken, if only I had been more adventurous when I was young. And I guess it’s still not too late.


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