Why Is Everyone Quitting Van Life? (it’s not what you think)

If anyone does or keep doing vanlife all their reasons are valid. Anyone leaves vanlife for any reasons their reasons are also valid. Following your dreams is a great goal, and sometimes those dreams change. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next for you guys!

This is probably the 10th video I have watched on why people are quitting van life, most of the videos just keep repeating each other. But none of them talk about the financial end of van life. Most of the channels are quitting because they are dependent on the adsense revenue from YouTube and for the last 2 years the content creators revenue from YouTube has dropped drastically so it's not worth the effort to continue making videos. A lot of young van lifers source of income has dry up, whether it be a savings account, insurance payout, trust fund, or whatever the case maybe. For me, I just started van life, I recently retired from the Air Force with an E8 retirement payout, so my monthly income will be average, but because I have no debt I will be fine. I paid cash for a used van that has low miles and in excellent shape, I only spent $3000 on the build out, my needs are very basic. I joined the Air Force right out of high school and spent my whole career at the same base, so I really didn't get to travel that much, for that reason I think I'm going to enjoy it greatly, but I do have a backup plan, if for what ever reasons I find myself no longer enjoying this lifestyle I will move on to a little piece of property I purchased in southern Alabama. I mainly bought this property to have a home base and a permanent address. What's nice about this property, it's 2.76 acres, it sits on a 800 acre private lake and has no deed restrictions and is considered an off-grid residence.....

I think people get confused between van life and van travel. If all a person can afford to live in is a van or a person chooses a van as their home then there’s no quitting. It’s called regular life.

I’ve lived van life, not by choice. But by ending up homeless. And it can be liberating, however it’s a full time job. I can say that after a full year including a Canadian winter, I’m done with van living. And I have perspective on how lucky I am. God speed to anyone who is homeless, I pray for all of your safety.

Yep. Vanlife is great but it's not anyone's forever. I'd guess 90% of people stop vanlife within 5 years. While vanlife is great, it's harder than living in a house and it gets old. It's a chapter, not the entire book. Plus living in a van, by itself, is not really the goal. The purpose of van life is to help people reach their goal, whether that's traveling, saving money, creating a new start, getting away from certain people, finding a community, getting outside their comfort zone, whatever. Once that goal is met, that chapter is closed, and people move on. I think the fact that people started YouTube channels that revolve around their living in a van is why quitting is such a big deal. Before YouTube, van dwellers would come and go from the lifestyle at the drop of a hat, no explanation necessary. Now with YouTube and the glorification of vanlife, not doing vanlife is a big deal because they've chained themselves to the label vanlifer, even though one of the main positives of vanlife is the freedom to live the way you want to live. People really have to fight hard to escape the matrix and not allow themselves or others to trap them back in it.

I absolutely love you guys. When I was 19 in 1992 I began hitchhiking to every state & would grab a rock from every state marking them with a sharpie. I feel fortunate to have done this extreme unconventional adventure. I say this because at 38 I got ALS . Sucks cause I have 2 girls 10 & 12. I have lived so many adventures. I’m glad because my memories are all I have as I’m currently 95% paralyzed & can’t speak & look like a freak…. fuk ALS…… so when I see you guys I’m just glad that you’re living life & marching to your own beat.

I know a guy who has been living in his van for fourteen years out of love for the life and not fore economic reasons. This is his 15th year and he has no plans of quitting at all. He says he wants to die in his van (a warning to all you drivers on the road!). But seriously, when he explained to me why he loves van life so much I could really see his viewpoint. It's not for everyone. You have to have the personality for it; that's for sure.

I agree with your statements earlier in the video regarding other people's "Why I Quit Van Life" videos. I've seen videos like this as well and it's painfully obvious as to why many of these people quit. Most of the reasons I have found people who quit van life after only a few months stems from the following reasons: They don't have location-independent income or only can support themselves by spending their savings. They don't have a reliable van that can handle the milage and are always having to make repairs and suffer breakdowns. They don't have a way to clean themselves or use a toilet. They enjoy the comforts of a home-based lifestyle and can't adapt to camping in a van. They require consistency in a lifestyle that makes it infinitly harder to have consistency which leads to travel burnout. They get tired of never knowing where they will be able to sleep at night.

We tried it and gave it up within six months. It was really hard on our relationship. Not having a home base was a terrible idea. It was often claustrophobic, nothing was ever truly clean and you were always limited on something, water , electricity, food storage, a full toilet cassette, camp site hire etc. We had 2 pets and they hated being in there for long periods which was difficult for relaxing. Only one of us was handy which made them feel responsible for everything. We worked on the road which was crap on our backs/ neck, working out how to charge all the electronics and being disturbed by Zoom calls. Every single time you move you have to pack every single thing away to avoid things flying around or banging or breaking. Heating/cooling is expensive if not already set up properly or breaks. Don't get me started on water leaks. You constantly buy things to upgrade the van whilst it depreciates. Yearly maintenance, insurance, rego, petrol, site hire - it's a moneypit. It took us a long time to forgive and move on and sell the van for a loss. It is not as sunny skies as they show on Youtube for sure.

It definitely feels like Van life was a huge trend. It got views and it got people curious on someone’s life on how they lived in a van when we are all used to houses where we can have almost anything. It gets people a glimpse of a different life on someone’s adventures but if you doing it to tour America eventually your journey will come to an end after you’ve explored everything you wanted. Van life sounds so nice for a tour around America but at the same time it be nice to just settle down in one place after that tour. That’s my view on it tho as someone who has never done van life

There's NO need to make a big fuss about it. Van life like everything in life.. Gets boring after a while. When I go on the road I have 100% excitement. But after a while. My "battery" is drained

I think a lot of people think of vanlife as the destination, when for most people it's only one part of their journey. For myself, I know that vanlife allows me to both travel and save money. I do plan to buy some property in a few years (for cash, with the money I save from not paying rent), and at that time I will most likely build a tiny home and be a lot more stationary. When that happens I won't be "quitting" fulltime vanlife, I will simply be finishing that phase of my journey and starting another one. And that's a good thing. It's progress. It's what people do as they mature.

People who don’t think about what van life is hour by hour can be shocked by daily life in a van. We are planning to do some van lifeing but we are not selling our house.

Only so many sunsets you can see before you become bored. Life has more meaning than that to be fulfilled.

There's a reason why humans stopped being nomadic and put down roots. Stability.

I like the message. I’ve been thinking about doing van life for a couple years now. I haven’t even started and I already know, it’s not a forever thing. Everything in life changes- that’s just life. We move onto new phases. I wanted to do it to get out for a few years and roam, but I know I’ll eventually want a place to call “home” because that’s just who I am. But I’m also very adventurous and love to travel. Like you said, two things can be true at once. Nothing in life is permanent and just because you embrace van life doesn’t mean it NEEDS or has to be permanent or for a lifetime. Enjoy it while it lasts and move onto a new phase in life when you’re ready for it. We don’t have to have everything planned out.

Thanks for the insightful video! We've been following you guys since Cambodia, about 5 years or so. Good luck with future plans!

I full time and luckily have the ultimate nomad rig and I don’t see ever quitting. The ones I see quitting are the ones without a functioning bathroom and shower and very limited water supply. They get tired of “camping “. I have helped many of them with everything from meals, showers, and putting them in here overnight when unexpected freezing temps happened. I even have a clothes washer. I would never quit van life to rent. Happy travels everyone!

I find it funny that so many are quitting when I’m just beginning. I’ve been following since 2019 but have just been able to start doing weekend trips. Hopefully this doesn’t happen to me. 🤞🏾

godspeed, we are just beginning our "van life", and looking forward to it! goodluck on your next adventure!