I’m going to echo most of what was said above by Sprint2Freedom and those below. I’ve been living full time in my van for a little over two years now. It is anything but stealth with my kayak and windsurfer hanging off the side (actually, just kayak now. Some idiot stole my 20-year old Mistral Malibu two nights ago... see what happens when you don’t sleep in your van?).
My greatest asset is my community. I have a great group of friends both locally and scattered across the country. I’ve been working locally as a “creative Solutions Engineer,” which is a fancier word for handyman (and I consider my work fancier than a handyman’s). I’ve been fortunate to work for either friends or friends of friends, who become the former, and so generally park and live where I work. Because (from what I’ve been told) my work adds value to their homes, and (most importantly), my presence adds value to their lives, I have a limitless supply of work. I live in my van while working, which involves everything short of showering and #2. The neighbors are often very curious about the van, and often my day is interrupted by having to give a short tour instead of fetching the tool I went out to get.
Having this community is, for me an extension of family. As a friend once said, there is your Biological Family, over which you have no say, and there is your Logical Family, which you choose. I have a large and wonderful Logical Family. And it certainly makes Van Life much easer, and I’m very grateful for that. I’m used to living in small spaces and with minimal things - I was an Outward Bound instructor, living out of a backpack or sea duffel or kayak for years, and my wife and golden retriever lived on a 26’ sailboat for three years. In all cases, community was key. I’m often offered couches and spare beds, which I politely turn down - my van is my cozy home, my mattress is very comfortable, I’m surrounded by my books and memories of my life, and I can wake up early and make myself coffee without looking through the cupboards to find anything. On the other hand, I spent the weekend housesitting, which coincided with a nasty 24-hr stomach bug. In those cases, it’s nice to have a couch and big screen tv very close to indoor plumbing... Again, community matters.
When I’m taking time off between projects, which I do frequently as I also very much treasure my time alone, I’ve never had any issue with being hassled or asked to move. I’ve spent time in WalMart lots as a last resort (Bass Pro Shops are much nicer - trees!), state campgrounds, I spent three nights on the streets of Miami durning the boat show two years ago, countless nights here and there and in small towns along the way (I live in the SF area and visit my mother in Florida every year for a couple months). Personally, I don’t believe in ‘Stealth Camping.” I think a white van looks more suspicious than a colored one. And so I think my silver Mercedes badging with sports equipment hanging on the side, a dashboard garden of succulents and seashells and my rear windows’ collection of stickers from my travels mostly says ‘visiting friend of someone’ or just ‘probably not cooking meth in that van,’ and so I’m not the target of the cops or HOA’s. I have been broken into three times, twice in Oakland and once in SF (plus the windsurfer in Russian Hill, where my girlfriend lives), but that’s par for the course living in this particular area. My tools are under my bed, and since it doesn’t look like a tool van, so far no one has bothered to look in the back doors - it’s all smash-and-grab type.
Back to particulars - so far, I pee in Simply Lemonade bottles - wide mouths, stout construction, secure lids. I may add a Porta-potty at some point, but in two years I’ve either been at a house, near a Starbucks/McD/various store, or out in the wilderness with my shovel. My water system is a blue 6-gallon fresh water and a grey 5-gallon grey water jerry jugs. Easy to carry and refill/dump anywhere. On the road, the 6-gallon fills at any water dispenser in a grocery store or the like for $2. Lasts me about 5-7 days. I pour a half cap of bleach in to the empty grey jug, swish it around, and never had any odors. My sink is an Ikea lampshade upside down - it’s a nice big bowl that, if i can’t find a shower or a place to swim, I can wash my hair in it easily to rid myself of itchy scalp or mad genius hair. Baby wipes help the other areas for short stretches (a helpful tip from Burning Man.) I can also shower myself with a 2-liter soda bottle with 4 1/8” holes in the cap - the squeeze to dispense means I can aim the stream into my underarms or other non-gravity-friendly spaces... Kirk’s Castile bar soap is nicer than Dr. Bonner’s; doesn’t completely strip every single oil from your body. Also, look into AOBiome’s stuff - we’ve eliminated a type of bacteria from our skin that used to keep us fresher.
I have a 300ah agm bank and a 2kw inverter. I have a .5 liter electric kettle for coffee or hot drinks, a 2 liter InstantPot for cooking, and a butane 1-burner for when I need to use my small cast iron skillet to carmelize onions or the like. I have a 4 cu/ft AC dorm fridge; not the most efficient I’m sure, but it was a place holder for the build, and the 300w solar on the roof keeps up, or diving. If I’m in a spot where neither happens (at my mom’s I’m under a carport), I have a laptop power supply that tricks my solar controller (CTEK Dual) into thinking it’s sunny as hell.
I occasionally think about a stall shower/toilet, but not long enough to do anything about it. Possibly a road shower on the roof for after swimming in the ocean, but I’ve always like the feel of salt water drying on my skin, so...
Community is key.
I’m not sure what work you do, but being handy has served me well. I’ve twice, while on the road, stopped at a jib site and picked up a couple of days work by just walking up and talking to who’s in charge. Having tools with me means self sufficiency. And my tools are Ryobi, mainly, so they’re less likely to get poached, and cheap enough to replace if they do. I know, people think they’re toys, but they’re made by the same company as Rigid and Milwaukee, and I can do pretty much anything that someone with higher $$ tools can.
I think that’s enough stream of consciousness for a tuesday morning. Gotta get back to work; I’m on my first van commission...
Good luck in whatever you choose.
Cheers,
Greg