Van Life FAQ: What Do You Do All Day?

We’ve been on the road for close to two years now, and at this point, “van living” is our new normal. To us, the nomadic life feels like, well…. life. We have our routines, our hobbies, our grocery lists and chores. In some ways we are more free than we were when we lived in a “sticks and bricks” house, and in other ways we are less so. One of the questions we get pretty often is “What do you do all day?” So I thought I’d take a moment to share a few weeks in the life– the “van life”.

We spent the last month or so easing North. We zigzagged from the West coast of Florida to the Atlantic seaboard then cut across to the Appalachian Mountains, the upper midwest and to New England. We visited family along the way and arrived in our old stomping grounds with just enough time to catch up with doctors and dentists and work obligations.

@danielincolrain

♬ Wagon Wheel – Micheal Darius

The trip was amazing, and challenging, and pretty well our “life as usual”. In this post, We’ll answer the “What do you do all day” question by sharing the particulars of what we’ve been calling the “coastal-lachia” leg of our travels.

Driving

One of the things we do almost daily is drive. We don’t drive a lot, and we don’t drive fast (ever) but it is rare we set down for more than a few days at a time. Typically, we don’t drive more than a few hours a day, and we rarely drive on interstates.

During our drive time, we listen to my many playlists on spotify We are always building new playlists. We typically create one for each “leg” of our van-life journey. They include location-specific songs, whatever’s been sticking in our heads, references to weather or events, even in-jokes. (Here is the playlist for our Costal-lachia leg in case you want to check it out.) No one has ever asked how we make our playlists, but maybe I’ll write a post about that someday.)

Many nomads plan weeks, even months, in advance. But we are okay with playing it by ear. We pick a general direction and figure it will all work out. When we start a “day” of driving, we don’t usually know where we’ll end up. However, we do spend quite a bit of our drive time researching campsites on iOverlander and Campendium and following the ubiquitous brown national forest signs.

We also research interesting things we pass along the way. On this latest leg, we took a deep dive into the history of rice plantations in South Carolina, Tegus, an invasive lizard we encountered while hiking in the south, the feud between the Hatfields and McCoys in Kentucky, and the Shaker Communities of New York and New England.

I (Perri) check the Rockhound Resource state maps in case we happen to be near something awesome. If the rockhounding is right, we might veer off in a whole new direction. We also veer for visitor centers and ranger stations as we are suckers for paper maps.

We also check the weather as we drive. It is no fun to be surprised by torrential downpours, tornado alerts, blizzards, etc. If the weather is frightening, we might hunkerdown in a park or rest area, or change course.

Looking For Stuff

When you live in a house, showering, shopping and finding services par for the course. You can take care of most basic needs without much trouble. On the road, these things take some doing. No one talks about it, but looking for stuff is a big part of van life. This is one of the reasons why Walmart is so popular with nomadic folks: It’s predictable. You can get almost everything you need in one quick stop.

In addition to Walmart, we often find ourself looking for self-serve dog washes, haircuts, places to replenish our water and propane. Sometimes we’re on the hunt for public greenspace to walk the dog and stop lunch. Sometimes we are just looking for a bathroom.

There are a few grocery chains, like Sprouts and Natural Grocers, we will detour for. Dan needs his nuts and figs, after all. He (truly) snacks constantly and these “healthy” noshes are key. And Aldi is quickly becoming one of our “go tos”. Planet Fitness is another frequently sought chain. We have a membership there and will use its showers after a few grimy days on the road.

When we’re in cities or larger towns, we look for local restaurants with regional specialties. The South was a foodie bonanza. We had a delicious Southern breakfast in Savannah, and another one in Wilmington North Carolina. We tried calabash on the Carolina Coast and ate some amazing Barbeque in Asheville, North Carolina and Johnson City, Tennessee. Also: HONEY HOT CHICKEN (!!!)

Of course, we are also looking for spots to spend the night. On our way north, we stayed at a mix of “stealth” spots, national forests and state parks. All of which required some research on the fly.

In van life, the looking is pretty well constant. Maybe we should call it “Van looking” instead of Van living?

Camp Days

What about when you’re NOT driving, you ask? Well, those days are mellower. Dan spends a lot of time working online… and managing our wifi and solar power. These things really eat up the hours. And he plays the guitar.

I’ve been deep into fiction writing lately… not much blogging. Sorry about that; I intend to do better. I generally cook our meals and keep the van organized. Both of these things take up a lot more time than you’d expect.

Much of my “free time” is spent walking roads and trails, learning about the plants and birds nearby with my apps and guides. I am also learning French with Duolingo … and do a lot of reading.

Honestly, we are never bored.

Around dinner, we share a beer … usually one can split between us, because that’s how we roll, and we snapchat or facetime with our kids and other family members. Every once in a while, we have a campfire and hang around it. At night, we play Scrabble (on an iPad) and sometimes watch series on Netflix or Prime, etc. We go to sleep early and wake up early too.

It’s a surprisingly “normal” life… except that we are rarely in the same place for more than a few days.

Exploring New Places

When we are both free, we explore. We hike right from our campsite or look up interesting spots nearby.

We walk cities, ducking in and out of stores. We rarely buy anything, because: van.

Sometimes we check out local parks, libraries and thrift stores. You can learn a lot about a place by its thrift stores and libraries… and parks.

Being Social

Dan and I are lucky; we are content in each others’ company… only each others’ company. Every once in a while, we meet a kindred spirit or an interesting road nomad….but not as often as you’d think. I chalk this up to our “vaguely menacing van” and the fact that we don’t quite fit into the broad categories of the nomadic scene: We aren’t young, beautiful Sprinter Van folks, nor are we folks who have moved into a van as a last resort. We aren’t RVers exactly… or even traditional retirees. In short: people don’t usually approach us. And we tend to be a bit shy about approaching others.

However, on our “Coastal-lachia” leg and in general, we really enjoy visiting old friends and family. Our last eight months or so have been punctuated by extended stays with loved ones from British Columbia, to California to Florida, Michigan and New England.

In addition, we are constantly connecting with our kids and other family through the wonders of iPhone, Snapchat, texting, even a daily Wordle group. We are away but still sort of around.

Visiting is part of the answer to “what do you do all day?” And we feel lucky to be able to spend so much “quality time” with our peeps, and to meet new ones. If you see us around, feel free to stop by and say hello!

Living on Nomad Time

What do we do all day? In short: lots, and not really much at all. It’s just life, man.

But, time sort of slows on the road. A day of looking for stuff and figuring out and exploring can really streeeeetttttccch. Conversely, a week of travel can feel like no time at all. It’s the van life paradox.

What does your travel day look like? Have any van life questions you’d like us to answer? We’d love to hear from you. Drop us a line!