Image courtesy of vanlifestickers.com
Long summer road trips in your car can feel tiresome. Between eating at restaurants all the time, sleeping in hotels, and driving for long stretches, it can be hard to live on the road comfortably for more than a few weeks at a time. That’s why if you’re looking to do a long road trip in a more comfortable way, an RV or van conversion could take your vacation to the next level.
How exactly do you live in a van or an RV comfortably long-term? The key is to optimize storage and appliances to fit within a compact space. In fact, the van conversions that work best for long-term living have incorporated design concepts from ADU’s and tiny houses, just in a smaller, on-the-go environment.
The idea of van conversions, and even long term “van life,” was popularized from 2020-2021 as a result of companies going fully remote. So, we now have lots of tried-and-true van designs from homeowners who decided to take their whole life on the road rather than just a summer.
From modular furniture to compact shelving, adding custom elements to your car will help you pull off your big road trip in comfort and style. Instead of having to stop at restaurants, you can cook in your car! Plus, there’s no need to fuss with tents or hotel bookings because you’ll always have a cozy place to sleep.
So, which on-the-go option is right for your travel plans? Let’s look at some of the pros and cons of van life versus RV living.
Startup Costs
RVs can be more expensive up front, but their many built-in amenities allow you to get out on the road quickly.
The first thing you may want to consider when making your choice is startup costs and labor. If you can afford to spend a little more up front, an RV would be a great choice to get on the road quickly. Plus, RVs come with the added benefit of being fully manufactured. This means that kitchen amenities, beds, bathrooms, and sometimes even showers come pre-installed.
Van life, on the other hand, is much more about customizing and possibly DIY-ing your space to work for you. So, you’ll often see that the up-front cost of van life is less than it would be for RVs.
However, what about the time spent getting ready to get out on the road? While vans can be cheaper to buy, it’ll take longer to prepare a van for a long trip than it would for an RV. DIY is the cheapest option, but it also comes with the largest time commitment on your part. However, if DIY isn’t your thing, van life could still work for you. There are lots of van conversion shops that can work with an existing car and give you some much-needed storage and appliance layouts.
Living Space and Extra Costs
While some RVs can be up to 360 square feet in size, other RVs are much smaller.
In terms of layouts and spaciousness, RVs are known for their size, whereas vans place an emphasis on compact living. A van that’s 16.5 feet long may only give you around 100 square feet of living space, whereas a class A RV would give you closer to 360 square feet. So, if you feel most relaxed when you’ve got a little more elbow room, it’d be wise to invest in a larger RV.
On the other hand, if you don’t mind downsizing, van life could be a great, cost-effective option. Just bear in mind that you may have to factor a bit more into your travel budget in the long run. Because small vans often lack amenities like bathrooms and showers, many van-lifers near cities invest in gym memberships at national chains like Planet Fitness and 24 Hour Fitness so they can shower across the country. For those on a long trip that avoids cities, though, many campgrounds do offer minimalistic showers for visitors, which are less costly.
Parking
This RV is a class A, the most spacious type of RV available. They’re great for a spacious life on the road, but they aren’t ideal for city parking. Image courtesy of Transwest
The next big consideration between RVs and Van Life is parking. For both RV and van living, it’s important to plan your parking ahead of time. With RVs, though, overnight parking restrictions can make last-minute stops a lot more difficult.
Whereas smaller vans can be parked in most places that cars can, large RVs like class A face more restrictions for overnight parking. In cities in California, for instance, there are restrictions on class A RV’s being parked on a curb overnight. While RV parking can sometimes be found outside 24-hour stores like Walmart, not all locations allow RV parking.
For both vans and RVs, you’re likely to have more luck finding parking in a campground or national park than in a city. In many cases, you can even boondock – that is, camp on public land outside of a campground. To plan where to go, many RV and Van-Lifers consult helpful websites that show you where public campgrounds are.
If you’re more interested in living in and around cities, a van would allow you more flexibility and ease. On the other hand, if you’re eager to take your life out to national parks and live a little more rurally, you’ll fit right in at national parks and public campgrounds, as most of them take RVs (with a few exceptions).
Key Takeaways
A smaller van conversion like this one can be a great, cost-effective way to travel long distance.
In the end, choosing an RV or a van for your travels comes down to your ideal lifestyle. What is a no-go, and what feels like a fun adventure will vary from family to family, and even person to person. To figure out which roadtrip lifestyle would suit you best, be sure to talk things through with the people you’ll share the car with. By looking at your potential budget, ideal lifestyle, and daily needs, you’ll be able to more easily choose between a van or an RV.
Whichever you choose, we hope that you have a great time out on the road. Happy travels!
