While living in a van full-time can have its perks and look like a glamorous life, there are still many unexpected problems vanlifers deal with on a day-to-day basis. When a van becomes your primary living space, there are bound to be some unexpected problems you deal with in vanlife.
Such as vehicle insurance, getting mail, voting, condensation issues, van maintenance, and more.
The little problems can add up and become less than ideal, but the freedom of living full-time vanlife often exceeds the little problems you have to deal with. Here is a list of unexpected problems you deal with in vanlife you might overlook.
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Condensation:
Condensation is often overlooked when living in a van full-time. Our breathing, cooking, snow/rain, etc are all ways condensation is created. Some condensation is inevitable. But if you don’t have a way to control moisture, like a vent fan or a cracked window, it can lead to mold.
Therefore, you need a way for this moisture in the van to leave. We use a MaxxAir Maxx Fan which we wrote an in-depth Maxxfan review about, if you are interested. But you can also leave windows cracked, and pair that with an interior fan. Or make sure you open your doors during the day to get everything dried out.
If you don’t let the condensation leave the van, then it will most likely create mildew and mold, which we expand on below.
Mold/Mildew:
Jake and I have dealt with mold & mildew more times than we would like to admit, but it was luckily just in one location. I, unfortunately, have a sweating problem when I sleep, so I create moisture in our bed. Unlike beds you have in your house, which is designed to be placed on top of a box spring, we have a wooden platform that our foam mattress topper sits on top of.
We did our research before building out our van, but we didn’t follow every precautionary measure other vanlifers were suggesting. Such as starting with a hypervent right away and maybe cutting holes in your bed platform to allow as much airflow as possible under your bed.
We thought we could get by with using some leftover plastic mold prevention product you use under carpet my parents had sitting around. But it was definitely not meant for use under a bed.
Hypervent:
We finally came up with a plan of adding Victory 8 Garden DekProTek Modulars under the bed, and adding in a humidity sensor. It has worked great and we no longer deal with mold & mildew growing under our bed!
But mold growing under your bed is not always the only place mold can grow. If you don’t have a watertight floor and you spill water, then that water can absorb into the wood. And if not properly aired out to dry properly, then you can potentially create mold or mildew. So be sure to have watertight flooring.
Moisture Absorber Products:
Another thing we keep in the van is moisture absorbers. We put a Damprid container under our sink where our water jugs sit. Often when we put our water jugs into their designated spot, water might spill over, or if we go on bumpy roads some water might splash out. So this moisture absorber collects any water that might spill out before it has the chance to make it under the flooring and cause mold.
Temperature Regulation:
Unless budget isn’t an issue, keeping your van temperate can be a challenge.
Air Conditioning/Heater:
Purchasing and installing an air conditioner or heater can be expensive. Air conditioners often start around $500 but for higher quality, they become much more expensive. Heaters can be a bit cheaper up front but if you want a quality heater that will work for years and year with no mechanical problems, it will generally start around $1,000.
Then in order to run both an air conditioner or heater, it requires power from gas, propane, or a large supply of battery power. Therefore, the cost of keeping the van temperate with an air conditioner or heater can add up quickly.
So if you are a budget vanlifer like us, you need to be prepared to be cold in the winter and hot in the summer. There are many unique ways to Stay Warm In Winter Vanlife Without A Heater.
Insulation:
Also if you insulate your vehicle properly for the weather you will mainly be traveling in, then you might be able to set yourself up a little better. For example, we knew we wanted to stay in moderate climates (50-70 degrees). So we used sheeps wool to insulate our van. The R-Value is between 3.5-3.8, meaning it was going to be a good balance of keeping us warm in colder temperatures and keeping us cool in warmer temperatures. Without being too extreme in either climate.
We also have many windows in our van, so we used reflectix on one side and wool on the other to protect us from the heat in the summer and cold in the winter.
Different Grocery Stores:
One of the most annoying unexpected problems you deal with in vanlife is always traveling to new grocery stores. You won’t be in your local grocery store knowing where all your staple food items are.
You are now entering into the land of never knowing where anything is! And let me tell you, every grocery store seems to have a different layout. Some like to keep their bread near the deli while some like to keep it smack dab in the middle. Or the produce is right when you walk in or tucked far in the back. Get ready to stroll up and down every isle to find the essentials!
Plus there might be a certain brand you like, but they don’t carry it in that store. So it can be a challenge to find the things you know you already like and you might need to gamble a bit more on certain brands.
And don’t get me started on guacamole. That is a true gamble every single time. We usually like to get the deli guacamole because we think it has a better taste than the generic guacamole pastes. Plus it’s typically cheaper than making it yourself. But it’s always a dice roll on getting a bad batch of guacamole.
Discounts:
Another problem we deal with in grocery stores is not having the right discount card. If you are like Jake and I, we like to find the best deals on food. But sometimes you might not be getting that super deal you thought because you don’t have the local discount card.
If you are just shopping at a grocery store once, it’s usually not worth the hassle of picking up the local discount card. But if you will be visiting that grocery store more than once, it is relatively easy to get your own grocery store discount card.
If you are looking to pick up a local discount card, find the customer service desk and ask for one. You usually need to fill out a quick bit of information: name, address, phone number, etc. and they hand it right over! So taking the extra time to get the discount card could end up saving a good bit of money in the long run!
And make sure you save any loyalty cards you have so that you can use it the next time you encounter that store chain.
No Wifi:
Not having wifi on the regular is one of the biggest unexpected problems you deal with in vanlife. In full-time vanlife, we don’t have the luxury of kicking back to Netflix and Chill because we don’t have unlimited internet supply like you would at home.
Although you can often use your phone as a hot spot, you won’t always be in cell range or you might be limited to a certain amount of data you can use.
Also not having Wifi on the regular means you are dealing with less than ideal upload and download speeds. For example, if you want to sync your icloud or google cloud, you will most likely need wifi, rather than using your cell phone data plan.
For us, we are usually taking a lot of photos and videos for our blogs and vlogs. But we don’t have wifi in the van, so our clouds do not get backed up as often as we would like. Therefore, we usually have to spend a day or two linking up to the local library wifi or coffee shop.
Hygiene:
Hygiene is obviously one of the unexpected problems you deal with in vanlife. Vanlifers often don’t have a shower or bathroom. Or if they do, they don’t have an endless supply of water. So your hygiene might take a hit when living in a van full-time.
But you can get a portable shower you can use outside or a portable toilet that you can use. But they will still need to be filled up with water or disposed of properly.
Just be prepared to maybe not be the cleanest person in the room! And be okay with a little grease in your hair and dirt under your finger nails.
Car maintenance/Temporarily losing your home:
Accidents happen or you need regular car maintenance. But one of the biggest unexpected problems you deal with in vanlife is sometimes having to leave your vehicle overnight with the auto repair company. The problem is that your van is your home. If you have to leave it at the auto repair company you no longer have your “home”.
Luckily many smaller companies are fine with you staying in your vehicle overnight. Just check with the owner to make sure it is legal and they are okay with it!
We have luckily only had to deal with staying at a dealership one time (cross your fingers it remains only one). We just stayed one night because they were waiting for a part to come in. Our van was just going to sit in the parking lot until the part came in anyways, so it was a decent set up for us! We didn’t have to find a campsite for the night and their wifi reached out to the van!
If there is a bigger problem and the auto repair company needs to keep your van for an extended period of time, you might want to consider renting a car or finding an alternative place to stay. Or it could maybe be a great time for a spontaneous trip back home to visit family or friends.
But this can be one of the unexpected problems you deal with in vanlife you might overlook. It can be a real problem in rural areas that have limited access to parts and don’t have many accommodation options.
Winter Sun:
One of the major unexpected problems you deal with in vanlife you might overlook is the sun in winter. The sun just isn’t up in the sky for nearly as many hours and it is lower in the sky. So after soaking in all the solar power all summer long, and not having an issue, you might now be facing a power problem.
Every winter, we have to be a little more selective of what we can charge or what we can use with our power supply.
In the winter season we often go to coffee shops or libraries to use their wifi and stay warm. Which in return, we end up spending more money by going into the local shops.
Portable Battery Power:
Or you can invest in a portable solar powered battery, such the Bluetti EB70S (<-read full review). But these batteries aren’t cheap. Especially if you are trying to get a battery that can charge your laptop or other electronics, I would aim for a battery that is 200 Watt Hours or higher.
The perk of having a portable powered battery is you can charge via a wall outlet. So if you are heading into the library or local coffee shop, you can charge it inside while you also charge your laptops, phones, tablets, etc. Or if you get the battery with the solar panel kit you can tilt the solar panel to wherever the sun is in the sky to maximize the solar charging power.
Check out our in-depth guide for the Best Portable Solar-Powered Generators For Off-Grid Camping & Vanlife
But overall, just be prepared to get way less solar power charge in winter than in summer, because that is something we overlooked when moving into our van full-time.
Safety:
Fortunately, we haven’t really felt like our safety has been compromised while living in a van. But, I have heard stories of peoples vans being broken into, or weird people hanging around the campsites you might typically stay at.
But the first rule of thumb is if you don’t feel comfortable, follow your gut and go somewhere else. There is no reason you need to stay in a place that might make you feel uncomfortable and compromise your safety. Even if it might cost you more money to pay for a campground you feel safe in or gas money to bring you to the next town, it can always save you the headache of worrying about your safety.
It might not be fun to think about, but go through a couple possibilities that could happen to you in vanlife. How are you going to protect yourself?
If you are a solo female (or male) vanlifer, then you might want to have some self-defense lessons or carry gel pepper spray in the van. Or always carry your phone with you when you go into a gas station or store by yourself in case you need to make an emergency call.
I’ve also heard of a trick for solo vanlifers to use when in a parking lot or popular location to pretend like you are talking to someone in the van. It will make it look like there is someone else in the van, and could possibly stray away an intruder.
Your safety is obviously most important when living in a van full-time. Make sure you feel comfortable in the places you plan to sleep. Always lock your doors at night! And have a plan in case of an emergency.
Getting Mail:
Getting mail on the road can be a headache and one of the least fun unexpected problems you deal with in vanlife. Unless you stay in one place for an extended period of time, it can be hard to get mail on the road.
There are a few different ways you can receive mail on the road.
One way is getting General Delivery to a USPS location. Another being Amazon Lockers. Or you can have a package held for you at a UPS or FedEx location. But the easiest way is having mail sent to a family or friend’s house if you can arrange that.
Or if you need to have a “physical address” then there are mail forwarding services that will accept mail for you. The companies send you a picture of the outside of the envelope. You can then decide if you want them to open it and scan it, recycle it, shred it or send it. These services usually have an annual membership fee, plus additional fees for opening a piece of mail, sending it or storing it etc.
Voting/Registering Your Vehicle:
Unless you also have a home and can use that physical address, voting and registering your vehicle becomes an issue when living in a van full-time. When we first started out living in a van full-time we were stationary in Colorado. And I had a family member that lived in Colorado at the time, so we used her physical address.
But that family member has since moved from that address so we were no longer able to use it as our “physical address”. So we now use a mail forwarding service (information listed above). It helps us register both for voting and our vehicle.
And when it comes time for voting in an election you can either have the mail forwarding service forward a “mail-in ballot” to you or have it mailed to a close family or friend, so they can forward it to you!
But voting and registering your car are some of the most overlooked unexpected problems you deal with in vanlife.
Read our Guide For Voting As A Vanlifer.
Insurance (Vehicle & Health Care):
Insurance is yet another one of the unexpected problems you deal with in vanlife. Whether it be car insurance or health insurance, it’s hard to find a plan that is both affordable and works with this lifestyle.
Car Insurance:
For example, when we were first searching for car insurance in 2019, it was hard to find a plan that would cover everything inside our van because we self-converted.
Local State Farm agents are usually a good resource for insuring a campervan. However, you definitely have to pay premium rates for that kind of insurance.
Therefore, it was going to cost almost $250 per month for a low-end plan that covered accidents/collisions but there was still a grey area of whether it would cover our belongings in the van. Which was just too much to pay for a gamble.
Eventually, we learned about Roamly. They are an insurance company that is built around insuring campervans and RVs. Working with them was comforting because they provide competitive rates that actually insure the cost of our conversion materials. But I should note that we have yet to make a claim, an provide a personal experience of their claims process.
Health Insurance:
Because Jake and my “physical address” is in Colorado we can use Connect For Health Colorado to get affordable health care. But the issue is, that we need to be in Colorado in order to be “in network”.
Therefore when we are traveling in any other state besides Colorado, we are entering into “out of network” territory. So if an emergency arises, we might be stuck with a large medical bill.
So health insurance can be a tricky thing in vanlife. When looking for health care plans, try to find one that can cover out-of-network costs. Or potentially look into annual travel insurance plans.
Allianz is a popular travel insurance company that we have used for International Travel. They have annual plans that can cover emergencies when you are out of state. Check into their annual plans here.
Takeaway | Unexpected Problems You Deal With In Vanlife:
While vanlife can provide you with ultimate freedom there will still be unexpected problems you deal with in vanlife.
But if you are proactive about these challenges, there are solutions to all of them.
We wanted to shine a light on unexpected problems you deal with vanlife you might overlook because pictures often make vanlife look very glamorous. We don’t want you to make some of the same mistakes we have made or problems we have had to deal with that can be avoided.
But these problems are only part of the equation. For a more comprehensive view of Vanlife, read our guide about Deciding If Vanlife Is Right For You.
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