Adjusting to Van Life Realities, Part 1
It hasn’t been an easy road so far. I knew it wouldn’t be, but it seems like I get a wake up call every day reminding me that this life of freedom is something I’m going to have to work hard for. With freedom comes so much uncertainty, and the anxiety has been real. I may not have as much house to clean, and I may be able to wake up wherever I want, but that comes at the price of complications and logistical nightmares.
In the beginning, which I think was around March or April of this year when I decided I was ready to sell my place and find a van, I couldn’t find one—at least, not the one I wanted. 4×4 Sprinters are in high demand, especially with chip shortages and other production delays. Everyone, from dealerships to builders, told me the fastest way to get one would be to custom order one. I placed my order in May with an initial delivery timeline of July-August (funny that I initially thought that was a realistic timeline!). In July, it was pushed to August-September. In the middle of August, the dealership began to tell me it was completed awaiting final inspection and that I should have it next week. This went on for three weeks. Thankfully my builder was very understanding of the delays, but when I called the dealership at the beginning of September and they told me they had “no idea” when the van would arrive, my patience ran out—especially since I wanted my van to be complete before the holidays.
I called no less than thirty dealerships across the country since the online search tools are never up to date. Surprisingly, quite a few 4x4s were available, but most were the shorter wheelbase or far more expensive than I was willing to pay (with a million features I didn’t need), and just about all of them were selling before they even reached the lot. Most dealerships were even tacking on an additional $5000-$7000 fee just because it’s an in-demand vehicle. I almost gave up hope a couple of times, but I persisted, and finally found one in Macon, GA almost exactly like the one I custom ordered, and with no upcharge. I called, put down my deposit, booked a flight to Atlanta on Labor Day, and then I took a bus to Macon.
The entire trip I was terrified they would sell it before I got there, even with the deposit (I’ve heard so many horror stories!), but when I got to the dealership, it was parked front and center waiting for me. It was, believe it or not, the first time I’d ever seen one in-person other than passing them on the road. The first thing they did was hand me the keys for a test drive… with no supervision. I’ve never driven anything close to the size of this thing, so it was nerve-wracking, but it was also exciting and surreal. After months of back-and-forth and waiting, it felt like a milestone moment.
Since I lined up my financing through Navy-Federal in advance and showed up with a check, it was the fastest, smoothest car buying experience I’ve ever had, but I should have known it couldn’t be that easy. An hour and a half into my six hour drive to Boone, NC, where my builder is located, I got a call from the dealership. It turns out, Navy-Federal doesn’t finance cargo vans. I should have known this and done better research, but having never bought a commercial vehicle before, all I knew was that it was a different category for registration and would have higher insurance costs. Somehow, the dealership was thoughtful enough to let me continue to Boone and line up financing through them when I got back to DC. (It was also partially their fault since there is a verification number on the check they were supposed to call before I even left, so I’m sure this, along with the money I put down, contributed to this thoughtfulness!)
The trip to Georgia (a two hour flight and then one and a half hour bus ride) and the drive to North Carolina all happened in one day, and all of it was a lesson in humility, because as independent as I like to be, I couldn’t have done this without support from friends. So many friends offered to help leading up to the journey and along the way. My roommate watched the dogs and another friend met me in Boone with my car. We stayed at the cutest tiny house Airbnb overnight, and I wish we could have stayed longer, because it was the most serene location in the mountains. We made the most of it though, drinking champagne in a hot tub under the brightest stars.
The next morning, I dropped off the van at Stand Up Vans. Sam, the owner and van builder, gave us a tour of another van he’d recently completed, as well as a tour of his shop, and we stayed for a while and chatted through ideas. Handing over the keys felt like another milestone moment. We’d talked on the phone a few times before, but there we were, finally chatting in person in the empty shell of my Sprinter.
My friend and I grabbed brunch in cute downtown Boone, where I ended up getting food poisoning, before the drive back to Northern Virginia. I’ll spare you all the details, and thankfully it didn’t hit me until the end of the drive, but I share it just to emphasize that I’ve lost track of the ups and downs. I’ve learned road life, which I haven’t even officially started, is not for the faint of heart. It’s kind of like my favorite hikes—they’re always the hardest. Living nomadically may look dreamy on Instagram, and I’m excited for those dreamy moments that make it all worth it, but I also know it’s not just a dream, or a destination. It’s a beautiful life, and it’s my future home.
As always, if you have any questions about the process or if there’s anything you’d like me to shed more light on, drop a comment below. Thank you for reading!
