The Truth About Van Life
Many people that I have crossed paths with have given me the "you're living the dream" or the "do it while your young". I think the "do it while your young" is much more accurate considering that it's cold, all of the time. My young body handles it fine, not great, but fine as I curl into my 0 degree sleeping bag sleeping on the ground of the van. I can't imagine how an older version of myself would handle it. Realistically, 3/4s of my day is stressful and miserable, the other 1/4 is amazing. That's the quarter that I get to go splitboarding, making dealing with that other crap so worth it.
This isn't my first rodeo doing this. I lived out of a smaller [sport] car with another person for 6 months traveling the country, rock climbing. The difference is the cold. The cold has taken a serious toll on me mentally. Not saying I'm driven to insanity but doubt crosses my mind more often than when I was traveling in the warmer temperatures. It has been 4 months, roughly, and I'm over it. I love this life when I'm snowboarding but the other times I'm sitting in the dark because the sun starts to lose it's intensity by 4:30pm, got old quick. But wait, it's such a simple life, all I had to worry about were simple necessities of life. Those simple necessities are no longer simple and are actually quite complicated now.
Here's my day in order:
6:50am Wake up.
8:00am Put snowboard gear on/head up the canyon
8:30 to 3:00pm Snowboard.
3:30pm Eat post-lunch.
4:00pm Library/Wifi.
7:00pm Cook dinner.
8:00pm Get splitboard ready for tomorrow.
9:00pm Read a book.
10:00pm Sleep.
Pretty simple lifestyle right? Well there's some gray areas that aren't included in this day.
Here's a list of things that would fill this "gray" and why I dreaded coming back to the van life:
Dealing with the cold in the morning when trying to put on clothes.
Eating cereal without milk.
Being cold all of the time.
Stepping into cold and wet gear from the day before. Nothing like a wet boot liner to put your foot into while the air around you is also cold.
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| The drying rack. |
Sleeping in a "parking" lot that you may or may not should be in as paranoia sets in thinking a cop is going to tap on your window at 4am.
Having no water because all of it froze.
...so did my cooking oil and peanut butter. I didn't even know peanut butter could freeze.
Choosing between cooking dinner when you are not hungry, or cooking in the complete darkness and cold when you are hungry.
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| The kitchen. |
Drying out skins is impossible unless you sleep with them in your sleeping bag and then you get cold because of the dampness. Try hiking up a mountain with an already wet skin.
Condensation on the inside builds up from your breath and sometimes, when cold enough, starts icing the windows over from the inside. This makes dethawing the car incredibly time consuming.
Lonliness which usually leads to clinging to conversations with random people at libraries.
Seeing the temperature drop to 0 degrees.
Not showering.
Going to sleep on some nights at 8pm because you have already cooked dinner, read a book for 2 hours, went to the library, got gear ready for the next day, and you have nothing else to do.
When it gets really cold, you think of a way to cook inside the van with windows down, then almost set the entire van on fire. (short, very scary and embarrassing story)
Washing clothes either entails going to the laundry mat or not doing it at all. I've opted the latter.
Sleeping, or should I say staying awake, as snowcats plow the parking lots of ski resorts. That beeping sounds like an alarm and immediately wakes you.
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| Thanks Big Sky for the free overnight parking, no thanks for the free alarm at 3am. |
Not having someone to laugh with at how ridiculous things go.
The smell of my feet, which if you know me, already know they smell pretty bad. Add not showering and hiking-for-turns-sweat to that.
Have you ever worn socks enough times in a row that they could be used as a deadly weapon because they are like stone?
Zero consistency.
Getting dressed inside of a sleeping bag.
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| My bed and where I got dressed, inside of it. |
There are some upsides to being in the cold compared to the warm weather. For example, natural refrigeration, and I don't feel as gross when not showering for 7 days at a time. Big wins there.
The real truth of the matter is that I didn't choose this lifestyle because I wanted to live in a van. I chose it because I wanted to snowboard every, single, day. Maybe that's what people mean when they say, "you're living the dream!"
With so many downsides to count I really don't enjoy doing this but the upside is that ultimate goal of what I've always been dreaming about since moving to Utah 4 years ago, to fill my time with snowboarding. Isn't that what life is about though - to strip away the things that you really don't need to maximize the short time that you have on this planet? Grant it, I've stripped myself of the things that I probably need too but it's sort of working. This van has created opportunities for me to meet new people across this country, compete in competitions, hike in states I've never been ascending in like Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Nevada, Wyoming; and create everlasting memories that I can smile about later (and laugh at much later in life). Winter seems to be coming to a close now though. The sun is staying out until 8:00 pm, the temperatures are on average sitting around 55, and Park and Ride parking lots are open for overnight parking making my life a little easier. It's bittersweet. I'm happy about the warm temperatures but also means that my shred days are slowly fading.
To everyone who has helped me out through this season, I know I already have said it, but thank you for your hospitality and offers to help me out when needed. It feels a little selfish to get so much help when I chose this lifestyle when there are people out there who don't choose this. It really forces you to evaluate your life and appreciate what you have: the simple things and the people in your life.
4 comments
Well said, Steve. You have learned about the simple things early in your life which is an awesome thing! Keep chasing your dreams, wherever they lead!!
ReplyDeleteI wish I knew where they would take me in advance, but I will.
DeleteThat's a great sunset picture!!
ReplyDeleteYou need a portable generator for your van so you can have a space heater!!!
Thanks! It's from the top of a quick hike called Glory in the Tetons.
DeleteA space heater would have been really nice, but I have very limited space. If the van was, per say, an Econoline or Sprinter then yes, I would have one.