A year and a half ago, 24-year-old Jason Roesslein headed from Illinois to the Bay Area to start work as an engineer for Tesla Motors.

He lived with a roommate for a few months, but found it frustrating shelling out $1,250 for rent each month.

"That was supposed to be a temporary situation until I figured out where I really wanted to live," Roesslein told Business Insider. "As I got further and further along in my thinking, I decided that I would try to live in a van, and I eventually pulled the trigger on it."

He lived in his "studio on wheels" — a 2006 Dodge Sprinter van — from October 2014 through March 2015, using Tesla and his gym to shower and eat most of his meals. After five months of van life, he reverted back to a more traditional lifestyle, with nearly $10,000 in extra savings, some of which he diverted toward paying off his student loans in full.

Here's what it was like: