So a little while ago I decided it would be nice to give people the opportunity to ask some questions about Vanlife on Instagram. I did the typical thing, asking and answering questions on my story. But I soon realized it’s impossible to actually give people the answer that they want or deserve with such limited space to write a response. I ended up giving brief, generalized answers, lacking detail and personalization towards the person that asked the question and feeling like I was not really offering anything of use. So I’ve been compiling all of those questions together to put in a post like this. I also might try to make this more of a regular thing so if you’ve got questions, no matter how big, small or even if you think it’s stupid….ask away. After answering a few of these, I kind of wish I had asked other people these sort of questions before I moved in to my van.
First the common ones which everyone seems to ask…..
Common Questions
Where do you shower?
First of all, I do not have a shower in my van, a lot of people say to me, ‘Surely life would be a lot easier if you just installed a shower, then you have no worries if you can’t find somewhere’ This may be true, but I did put a bit of thought in to whether or not I wanted to install a shower in the van and decided, for me, the answer was no. Now, I know some people choose to put one in, particularly people who live in their vans full time, as I do, but there were a number reasons I decided to not follow suit:
- The space I would lose in the interior of the van was just not worth it
- The time frame I had to complete my van in was very short (5 weeks) and building a shower cubicle, waterproofing and installing a water heater would have been very time consuming
- The added weight of the extra water I would have to carry would not leave me with much spare weight for me and my belongings.
- The added cost of a water heater was just not something I could afford at the time.
- When you think about it, it’s really not difficult to come up with places to find a shower.
So to answer the actual question: As I am based full time in Chamonix in my van and am fortunate to know lots of people here now, generally I shower at friends houses. But when I am traveling elsewhere or not wanting to be a burden, I use; Swimming pools, spas, gyms, campsites (They will usually just let you pay a small fee for a shower if you’re not staying, service stations, beach/lakeside showers or if you’re really desperate, rivers/lakes.
I do also have a cheap solar shower (I think it cost me about €10) that I leave to heat up in the sun in the front of the van on the dashboard, I can then hang it between the back doors of the van between two shower curtains. (one to protect the inside of the van from getting wet, and one for privacy) Standing in between them then gives me my very own shower cubicle.
I have also, in a desperate situation, managed to use it in winter, inside the van. To do this, I filled the shower bag up with a mixture of cold water and boiling water from my stove until it was at the right temperature, screwed some small hooks in to my ceiling, hung the shower curtain from these, placed the solar shower bag on a high shelf and then stood in a big plastic box (usually used for all my climbing gear) with the curtain tucked in. It’s not the easiest, but it works.
Do you have a toilet and how do you deal with that issue?
Similarly to the shower question, I did debate putting a toilet in the van, but I just couldn’t handle the thought of the smell or having to clean it and I also have a real issue with the nasty chemicals used in camping toilets. Being completely honest, it’s never been an issue. I am nearly always parked in nature so going out for a pee in the night is no different to if I was camping in a tent; Go and find a bush and get behind it…simples. If this worries you, then choose your parking near to somewhere with a public toilet. On the odd occasion I have parked in city centers or built up areas, I have parked near public toilets or a bar/restaurant/ where I can sneak in and use the facilities. In Europe (not UK) living without a toilet in your van can be easy, all of the aires and stellplatz have toilets and can be found almost anywhere. While they might not always be out in nature, if you simply just can’t cope without having a toilet nearby then parking at one of these could be a good solution. It hasn’t caused a problem yet, and I’m pretty glad I don’t have to clean a horrible smelly camping toilet and further pollute the environment with nasty chemicals. (I am aware you can get bio chemicals for this purpose, but I’d rather just not bother)
Biggest everyday cons of living in a van?
I guess when I started, I found some things more difficult than I do now, but I suppose thats just like any new situation you find yourself in…you adapt. But if I had to make a list of the things I have found difficult from one time or another:
- Not having an address can sometimes be difficult. I use a family members address back in the UK for all the important stuff and now I’m based in Chamonix, I can have things posted to friends houses.
- If you’re van breaks down, it can be pretty damning depending on the severity of it. Losing your home and transport all in one go can be tough to deal with, but I’ve always found a way around it so far.
- I guess not having easy access to a shower/toilet, but as I’ve said, you adapt to these things and realize it’s really not that hard.
- If something goes wrong with your living space….I had a time when I had an issue with my gas system, my stove would work but for some reason my heating would not. This was on the way in to winter and as temperatures started to get below zero it became a bit of a worry. Luckily it was an easy fix and just needed a new regulator on my gas bottle. But having a part of your home fail and finding people that are professionals with van based electrics/gas/etc is not always.
- Some people I know that live in their vans have said they find loneliness a problem sometimes, but for me, this hasn’t been the case so I can’t really comment on it. Even when I have been solo traveling and not based in a place like Chamonix where I know a lot of people, I haven’t found this to be an issue.
Legal Stuff
Are you registered anywhere?
I do not have a permanent address anywhere. I do however use a family members address back in the UK for my van insurance, driving license and passport stuff. Otherwise I am pretty much off grid.
What insurance do you use?
I am insured with a company called BrentAcre, they offer custom insurance policies for modified vehicles. This is perfect for me as they would insure me for while the van was under conversion and now she is finished. I have not chosen to reclassify Effy as a motorhome for a number of reasons and not many insurance companies will insure you if this is the case, Brentacre are one that will. They are also able to offer varied insurance based on the time you spend outside the UK in Europe. I have not had to claim on my insurance yet but having spoken to a number of people that have also insured with Brentacre, I have always heard good things.
Financial stuff
Now this time, I will answer these questions but I’m going to have a little rant before answering….While I am obviously not opposed to putting my way of life out there as a showcase for people to see, I do think that people still need to respect that not all parts of my life are up for broadcasting in the public domain. I’m pretty easy going and open minded and there isn’t much that I wouldn’t share. But personally, I wouldn’t go around asking people how much money they earn or spend in a year. Whether you live a conventional life in a house, in a van, on a boat or wherever, I think there are just some questions that if you feel the need to ask them, maybe try and do it in a diplomatic way. I understand that people are intrigued to know if this a way of life where they can save money on costs of living and how they can earn money living this way, but please try and be human while asking. After all, we are all different so asking me personally, ‘How much do you spend?’ might not actually tell you anything as we may have totally different spending habits. I just also find it a bit of an invasion of my personal life, I mean if you want to pry, why stop at my financial status? Why not ask; What underwear are you wearing? How old are you? How much do you weigh? What’s your relationship status? Any underlying health issues? – Generally you just wouldn’t ask these things, so even though I show a lot of my life on the internet and will willingly share anything I feel comfortable with, please try and be reasonable and ask these sorts of questions in a way that doesn’t make the person answering feel like they are a piece of meat, only there to serve the needs of the everyone else. Rant over!
How much does it cost to live per month excluding repairs?
This is hard to put a number on, I live in Chamonix which is pretty much the ultimate place to be when it comes to French mountain towns so is obviously quite an expensive place to live. The costs also vary massively here based on the time of year that it is: In the winter when the temperatures can easily reach at least -20 overnight and rarely go above 0 for months at a time, naturally my heating bill goes up. I also need to buy winter tires, different chemicals to put in the engine; Screen-wash/anti freeze/etc and diesel that is treated so it doesn’t freeze is also more expensive than regular diesel. As a result of this, the months running up to winter are very expensive and costs are increased pretty much until the start/middle of spring when the temperatures start to rise consistently. Aside from that, I also quite enjoy going out for dinner and treating myself to the occasional night out and shopping spree, so truth be told, as long as my bank balance remains in the plus side of things, I really try my best to not keep track of how much I’m spending per month. However if I had to try and guess, based on an average month, not including winter costs, with very little driving, cooking predominantly in my van, I would probably say around €500 should cover basic costs in Chamonix.
How much do you spend in a year? Fuel food beer touristy stuff van expenses
As with the previous question, this is really hard to quantify. I don’t have savings, I don’t have a consistent job, I pick up work as and when I need it, to support the lifestyle I am living in that current moment. Obviously the life you are leading and the type of person you are will determine how much you spend. As I mentioned, I like nice food, going out for dinner, nice bottles of wine, random last minute trips away, and the occasional treat of new skis/ski gear/climbing gear, plus the need for ski passes, van expenses including repair etc, and naturally this adds a lot to my yearly costs. But if I’m being completely honest thinking about last year, where I had a few frugal and a lot of fairly lavish months at various points in the year, my costs, I would say were €20,000.
This year has been vastly different; I haven’t had to buy so much gear for skiing, I’ve calmed down with my nights and meals out, I’ve gotten to know Chamonix better so I know where the cheap food, fuel, etc can be found, so this has naturally brought my costs down to, what I would imagine to be, well under a third of what I spent last year, but I do have the fairly huge mechanical costs for Effy that I’ve had to shell out this year and my medical costs for my skiing crash. It’s all relative, you can live a life where your careful with spending and have things out of your control cost you a fortune, or you can live luxuriously and still spend the same amount of money. The difference is, if I was living in a house and paying all the costs associated with that, I wouldn’t have a choice of what type of life I’d get to lead as I’d be constantly struggling to pay rent/bills/taxes.
How do you financially sustain yourself?
I am based in Chamonix, pretty much permanently, so finding work and sustaining myself is somewhat easier than if I was a full time traveler. I’ve not gone down the road of the digital nomad, yet, although it is something that I would be interested in due to the freedom it would give me. Instead I pick up work in Chamonix as and when I need it; cleaning, waitressing, bar work, painting, building, driving, dog walking, pet sitting, I don’t really mind what I do. I just like to do as little as possible and have as much fun as possible, after all, I started the van life and traveling to have fun, not to work.
Do you manage to find enough work?
In Chamonix, yes. There is no shortage of work here. I won’t lie, I’m a little work shy to say the least. My life now (in the van), as I’ve said before was something I planned to fill with as much fun and as little work as possible. That being said, if I wanted to make a decent amount of money in Chamonix, while living in my van, it should be no problem. Being a big tourist town in the winter and even more so in the summer, there is always plenty of work in hotels, restaurants, bars, childcare, transfer driving and so much more. If you have a mind or tolerance for hospitality based work, despite the high cost of living here, Chamonix is the place.
Van Build
How long did it take to put everything together? Any plans to move on out of Chamonix?
In regards to building the van, I gave myself a very short timeframe to complete the conversion. Although I had considered the idea of living in a van for a long time, I had never really seriously made any steps towards making it happen. But after spending a summer in Chamonix three years ago in my car, surrounded by friends in vans, I made the decision to buy a van. I found one whilst still in Chamonix, went to see it the week I returned home and then collected it to start converting it the following week. At this point I gave notice on the house I was renting and started the van conversion. With the remaining time on my accommodation agreement and the one months notice I was required to provide, this gave me five weeks to not only complete the van conversion to a point where it was livable, (I decided cupboard doors/curtains/etc and finishing touches could be completed once I moved in to the van) but also to reduce my belongings to an amount that would fit in the van and either place the rest in storage, sell, give, or throw it away. Believe it or not, I managed it, obviously with some help along the way from friends and family. Would I choose to do a van conversion of this size in five weeks again? Definitely not, but I couldn’t spend years doing it like some people do. I think there is something to be said for choosing to do something and pushing to get it done while you’re still super psyched on the idea.
In regards to moving out of Chamonix, I have no plans to leave and move on to travel full time or settle anywhere else. When I arrived in my van at the start of winter 17/18, I was supposed to be here for a three week holiday, yet at the end of that time, the inevitable happened (as it almost had when I had visited for the first time the previous summer), I had fallen so madly in love with the place and the lifestyle that I couldn’t bring myself to let the fun end. I did drive back to the UK, but just to tie up the few loose ends I had, I quit my job, sold my car, attended my uncle’s funeral, said goodbye to my friends and family and was back within a week. I have never looked back. The dream has not died for me yet, I still love and adore this funny little town. Sometimes I need a break, so I will obviously travel to other places at some point, like my trip to Scandanavia May-July last year, but I have a feeling Chamonix will be my home for a little while now. Although, that being said, anything can change and the luxury of having the van and all my belongings and life wrapped up inside those four metal walls, mean that if I get bored of Chamonix tomorrow, I can drive off and move somewhere else.
Is it possible to take a low top lifted and lower the floor in the walkway?
I don’t really know what this question means if I’m honest? My van is a high top with an extra pre-fab fibreglass extension on the roof (ultra high top?) but that is fixed and not like the pop-top, lift up roofs that you get on VW Transporters and the like. I’m not sure how you would go about lowering the floor of a van, in fact I’m pretty sure that would probably be impossible. But who knows, I am not a mechanical/engineering/building/van specialist. I managed to convert my van with little knowledge and a lot of help and advice from other people; My skills that I gained through it, extend only as far as what I’ve done unfortunately, nothing more. Technically I guess I actually raised my floor and lowered my roof on the inside by the amount of insulation I put in it, I probably lost 10cm of height in the ceiling and probably the same in the floor by insulating and then laying the actual floor and cladding the ceiling, due to the interior height of my van though this has never been an issue, even for my very tall friends. Sorry I couldn’t answer this one properly, send me a message explaining what you mean if I’ve got it wrong and I’ll try again.
Seems really cramped?
I mean if you’re worried about living in a small space, I guess vanlife probably wouldn’t be for you. I guess it could be cramped if you have a lot of belongings in your van, but that being said, I do have a lot! I have clothes for both summer and winter extreme tempertatures plus everything in the middle, tools for fixing things, food and kitchen equipment, ropes, climbing gear, four sets of skis and all my ski gear, spare tire, camping kit, books, dvd’s, computers, musical instruments, plants, spare equipment for fixing things like electrics/gas/water systems in the van and sooo much more and I have never found my van to be cramped. It’s all about being clever with storage and keeping it clean and tidy.
That all being said, I would hate to have a van any smaller than Effy, I am 176cm tall and can stand up easily with plenty of room which I think is vital for if you’re living full time in the van. I know some people that manage to live in VW T5’s or whatever and I commend them, I could not live in a van of that size, whatever suits people as individuals. But for me Effy is perfect!
Do you have any improvements planned for Effy?
I DO! I’ve actually been thinking about this quite a lot for the last year or so; After the first year, I started thinking about small improvements that I could make, not that I feel she needs it. She is perfect and functional the way she is, but I have picked up some ideas along the way and am looking to start making a few little changes. It’s nothing major, basically all I am planning to change is changing the orientation of the bed from lengthways in the van, to across the back, I will raise this bed platform slightly above what is already there and with the lower section that is left at what is the front of the bed currently, I will turn that in to a sofa with a table that flips down from the wall, just to enable myself to have a more comfortable work space and some more alternative seating. I might also add some more cupboard or some kind of storage up high on the walls, but that I’m not so sure about at the moment as I quite enjoy the open, spacey Effy has.
Another addition which I really need to work on before winter is adding some access through the bulk head. I initially kept this in to enable Effy to be as stealth and secure as possible and not being able to access to cab from the living space has never bothered me. But in the mountains, when the temperature drops below -10, my door seals start to freeze and once the temps reach -20, they freeze so solidly that they become impossible to open, my dead locks I have on the back doors also freeze. So to get around this, I’ve been thinking about cutting a small ‘window’ through the bulkhead just to give myself an extra option for accessing the back.
Driving, Travel & Parking
Where do you park longterm in Chamonix?
This is question of the moment….See my last post on the changes that are being made to a lot of the common parking places around Cham….although the situation does now seem to have escalated a little now…..
There is what seems to be a bit of an ‘attack’ on vanlifers in Chamonix at the moment. Some of the popular places have been fenced off, height barriers placed on car parks and signs prohibiting overnight parking have appeared. I do believe these actions are the result of a select few van dwellers (tourists) that came through town and parked with complete disregard for other people and were just downright disrespectful of the area and prompted a response from the council to make van life harder. But in reality, it’s only harder if you’re a tourist. For the people that are in Chamonix in their vans full time, we all know good parking spaces. Unfortunately due to these recent actions, I’m going to stop giving away the good(or any) of my parking places now to safeguard my own lifestyle. Sorry, but the key to parking long term anywhere, is to move around a little, not stay in one place for too long, be respectful and not give anyone any reason to be annoyed by you. If you follow those basic rules, you can generally get away with parking anywhere.
How is it living in a van while not traveling, but staying for an extended period of time in a single place?
I love it! You get to really know a place; all the good parking spots, the hidden gems that you only discover through hiking or driving down funny little roads that look like they don’t go anywhere. As well as this, you can find work. You discover where to find the cheap fuel, best places to fill and empty water, places to get shade, places to get enough sun for your solar panels, the best restaurants, bars and places to hang out. And you get to make friends; Nothing makes a place feel like home more than having a good network of people around you. But still living in your van helps you retain that feeling of freedom, that you can up and leave whenever you like.
How many km a year do you drive?
It varies vastly. Last year I did a number of trips to the UK and back, I travelled to Scandinavia and did an almost astronomical amount of km’s exploring around there. In total last year I did over 46,000 kms. This year I have done less than 5000kms. There’s no reason other than the fact I’ve just not done a lot of traveling this year. That may be due to other factors such as van breakdowns but if I had wanted to I could have travelled to other countries, I’ve just been satisfied being based in Chamonix. I am however starting to get twitchy feet, so a trip away somewhere may be in store at some point soon…..Watch this space!
Future plans
Any thought of shipping the van to USA/Canada?
Not at the immediate moment; I don’t even really have any plans to leave Chamonix, maybe for a short trip somewhere but I don’t have any desire to do any big trips anywhere yet and if I was to take the van all the way and pay the costs associated with shipping and things, I would want to make sure I was there for a sufficient amount of time to do all the things I want to do. That being said, I am being drawn more and more towards the idea of skiing in Canada and also in South America as I have an idea to do a whole year of winter at some point, but whether or not I would bring Effy along for that particular ride…I don’t know.
Plans for life after Effy?
Is there such a thing?! Hmm I don’t really know, while I have had a number of issues with Effy this year mechanically, most of them my fault I might add, she is still a very young van and now she has a brand new gearbox and pretty much a brand new engine. Everything being well she should have a fair bit of life in her for some time yet. So whether she dies first or I choose to move on from her, at some point I will obviously have to consider what comes next. At this particular moment though, she is my number one girl and I have no plans to move on, but I do think when that time comes, judging by how I feel right now, I would be looking at getting another van to convert and starting all over again. In terms of what sort of van I would look at, I think I would get either the same or slightly bigger than what I have now, probably a VW Crafter or a Sprinter (4×4 in an ideal world) but as I have a bit of a soft spot for electric/hybrid vehicles; if Tesla made a van, I think I would have to try and find a way to be able to afford one.
Something you want to try elsewhere in the world?
At the moment, I am happy in Chamonix and even after that changes (if), I still have plenty of Europe left to explore. After that, I would of course love to explore other places by van. For me, it’s the ultimate way to travel and there are lots of places I would love to visit. I have also had a crazy idea for a long time now, that I would love to do an epic road trip from where I am in Europe and drive all the way to Nepal, either via Russia, Kazakhstan and China or via Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and India, but at the moment thats just a dream for me. But if anyone would be interested in doing something similar in the future, let me know….convoy?
If anyone has any other questions about vanlife, Chamonix life, mountain life or just anything you’d like to ask me. Send me a message on here, via email on my contact page or on any of my social media channels. I’m going to try and make this a regular thing and provide as much honest and useful information as possible. Thanks for reading. Happy vanlife. X
The BLOG - The Adventures of Carly and Effy-Van 