Although the public (and the law) tends to view all “van-dwellers” in the same way (as “panhandling homeless bums”), there is in fact a wide range of people who live this lifestyle, and a myriad of ways in which we live it. We are not a monolithic group. Instead, we are more like a spectrum, which is distinguished not only by different economic circumstances but also by different motivations and aims. The only thing we all have in common is that we all sleep in our vehicle.

At one end of the spectrum, there are those whom most people would consider to be “homeless”. They live in a van (actually, most live in their car) simply because it’s the only shelter they have. So, what is it that distinguishes the “homeless” from the “van-dweller”? To my mind, the crucial factor is “choice”. On the various van-dwelling forums, we see stories every day which begin with “I’m losing my apartment in X weeks…”, or “I need a way out of this or that bad situation….” Those are not “choices”: those are people who are forced by circumstances into a state of affairs that they do not want to be in. I see little “choice” in that. They are homeless in their vehicle, involuntarily, and they are doing their best to get out of that situation.

For some odd reason, though, a small portion of the van-dwelling community has embraced the homeless “lifestyle”, and has even, in an attempt to make a virtue of their necessity, preached a caricature of class-struggle ideology (I refer to it as “Poverty Purity”), which castigates those “rich” people who live in their big fancy vans with solar panels and stoves, and asserts that it is somehow more “noble” to live on as little as possible—such as sleeping in a car and eating raw food. Some , who call themselves ‘freegans”, even go so far as to advocate that people practice “dumpster-diving” and root through the garbage for their food (it’s more “sustainable” and less “wasteful”, ya know). The whole idea falls on its own silliness. There is an enormous difference between “van-dwelling” and “living like a homeless person”, and nobody wants to voluntarily live like a homeless person. The idea behind “van-dwelling” isn’t to live on nothing: it is to live with a maximum of comfort and convenience inside a minimum of space.

Next to the “homeless” on the van-dwelling spectrum are those who “choose” to “save money” by “not needing to pay rent”. They live in a van simply because it is cheaper than living in a house or apartment. Although they are usually in a better financial position than the destitute homeless (most of them hold an ordinary 9-5 job somewhere and just “van-dwell” nearby), they are, nevertheless, the victims of economic circumstances over which they have no control. This is the segment of the van-dwelling community that the press likes to focus on (because it illustrates the callous level of human ruin that our once-mighty economy has fallen to, and the death of the “American Dream”).

It is, however, debatable how “voluntary” this situation is. While many such van-dwellers try to prettify and justify their “choice” (since nobody wants to be stigmatized as a “homeless person”) by talking about their “freedom” and about “not being tied down by a house or apartment”, the brutal reality is that they simply have no alternative. Can’t afford to not live in a van? Then it’s not a “choice”.

In my view, that situation, in addition to being a sad human tragedy and an indictment of our entire society’s inability to meet its members’ most basic needs, is also unfortunate because it does not allow people to live up to the full potential of a mobile lifestyle—what’s the use of being mobile if you can’t even be … well… mobile? Although this group of van-dwellers may be inspired by all the “travel and visit exotic and exciting places on the road!” thingie that they see on the Internet, the harsh reality is that this has become mostly an impossible dream for them. If one is tied down to a specific location by one’s job, then one is not “free” or on an “adventure”—one is simply sleeping on the streets in a van, and is chained to one’s job just as surely as if one were chained to an apartment. And for me, being tied to a 9-5 job is the very opposite of “freedom”.

As I see it, then, the real essence of van-dwelling is “mobility”, the freedom and ability to go wherever one wants, stay there as long as one likes, and then move on to anywhere else that one wishes to go. Living in a van and not traveling in it is, to people like me, functionally no different than having a bicycle without wheels. It becomes merely a shelter, not much different than a tent or a backyard shed: smaller and less comfortable than a house or apartment but, for some people, all they can afford.

To really unlock the full potential of a mobile lifestyle, then, one must be able to make a living on the road, either from savings, from retirement, or from a job that one can do from anywhere. Gaining that priceless advantage makes everything else in van-dwelling a thousand percent easier and better. The only ones who really choose the van-dwelling life are those who have enough income and resources to give it up on a moment’s notice, but who opt to continue in it anyway—because they like it.

So, by far the most serious practical hurdle in successful van-traveling is having enough money to live on the road. Yes, it is very very difficult to find such a source of income. But it should be something that every serious van-dweller directs a lot of effort towards. The payoff is tremendous.

For folks who are retired, of course, the “income” problem is already solved. It used to be standard practice for retired folks to live out their last years traveling. Now, with our Third World economy, however, even most retired people no longer have the means to do that.

Therefore, “how can I make enough money to live on the road?” is an enormous obstacle for many people to overcome. Most do not ever overcome it: they simply must stay at their fixed job, and then either give up the idea of van-traveling altogether or just travel part-time for vacations or weekends (which is of course certainly fun and worthwhile, but in essence is no different than an apartment dweller). And many newbie van-dwellers just set out with some “savings” of a few thousand bucks and no source of income (they figure they will just “find some odd jobs along the way”)—then when the money runs out they get disillusioned and give it all up.

This deserves to be repeated and emphasized. It is not easy to find a job that allows one to live on the road. It is very likely that most people who are trying to, will never succeed in doing so. It also means that those who just try to wing it without a definite plan are likewise doomed almost inevitably to catastrophe. Failure to realize this from the start is, I think, a primary reason why so many people who enthusiastically charge headlong into the “#vanlife” drop out of it shortly later, once they find out that it’s not as easy as YouTube and Instagram make it appear to be. It requires serious planning, and there is a high risk of failure. You are not going to make a living on the road by selling hemp bracelets on Etsy or by busking in the park.

I am extremely fortunate because, as an editor for a small publishing company, I can do all my work online and it doesn’t matter what location I am in, as long as I can get a wifi connection. So I can be completely mobile and still make enough income to live comfortably and travel fulltime. There are some other van-travelers who can also do this—they work as computer consultants or freelance graphics designers or online sales or technical writers or something similar. Others are retired and live on their fixed income. But we are a minority (probably a very small minority) in the van-dwelling community. Most van-dwellers need to be tied to a job at a fixed location in order to make a living. And, sadly, they therefore miss out on some of the best parts of the lifestyle.

So, if you are one of that very small number of people who actually realize that potential, and who have the ability to comfortably live and travel fulltime on the road—then seize that opportunity and take full advantage of it. There’s nothing else like it in the world.