No, of course not.
It’s not necessary to live in a bunker if you’ve chosen to go off-grid.
And no, it not necessary to live in a house built in the wild either.
A very lucrative option is to go for living in a van. The ones who already know about this have learned to stay quiet because really, everybody wants the best for themselves, right? 😉
The benefits. The perks. The fun. The ease.
SUPER CRAZY.
But you know, we’re your friends, here at Off-Grid Living. And we’ve vowed awesome advice for you always, when “off-grid living” makes rounds in our conversations.
So, let’s begin, a fun tour of the van life in off-grid living!
Benefits of Van Life
The first things that come to mind are the benefits because they’re A LOT. I’ve chosen the best benefits for you here; read them out and see if you’re convinced yet or not!
- Mobility – You’re Everywhere!
And you really are.
Fed up with one location? Move.
Find somewhere more fun to live.
Find a place you like more.
And if you’ve wanderlust like me, you can always keep traveling to places you’ve always dreamt of living at without any feeling of being stuck.
You can meet newer and newer peoples – and if you’re an introvert like most off-grid living enthusiasts, you can stay away from more and more people!
In a fixed off-grid domicile, you’ve to live the same life every day. With this mobile living, you can change the views out of your window every night to catch the perfect moon sight!
- Minimal – You’re More Compact!
EXCEPTIONAL.
All that our beloved off-grid living is about is fitting more and more stuff in little and littler space. These modern vans, engineered carefully and cleverly, work just like those charming tents from Harry Potter!
You won’t have much stuff lying around in this way. Everything will be in your van all the time. And whenever you want to leave, it’ll just be a quick little pack up, and you’ll be off to writing new memories.
- Independence– You’re Free.
If you go otherwise and choose to live in a bunker instead, you’re at a loss.
The freedom and liberty that we at off-grid living keep talking about are essential, an idea derived from the wandering gypsies: settling where they want to and always moving, looking for food and survival needs.
Except that we’re looking for peace, entertainment, and FREEDOM, all at once.
Living in a van eases this for you wonderfully. You move when you feel that your current habitat has given you all that it could.
You move when you’re attacked—yes, I swear.
Because there’s a good chance that a wild creation may attack you, if your stuff is in the van (and most the times, it will be), it will be easier for you to just start up the engine and get going.
If you’re in a permanent domicile instead, like a bunker, the chances are that you will be attacked (say, by a bear?), and it will keep roaming around your bunker until you come out. Inter Bears is a website to visit for those interested in learning fun bear facts.
And you can’t stay in there … can you?
- Affordability – You’re Rich.
There’s an extremely low maintenance cost associated with living in a van.
Initially, it’s only the investment that you’ve to make. You can get these and these camper vans at relatively affordable rates as compared to buying your own land and having a bunker constructed.
There are cheaper alternatives as well, but when you’re talking about the van life, things don’t get better than this!
No matter how fun, it’s not all perfect too.
Drawbacks of Van Life
You must be aware of some little things when you’re planning on living in a van for your off-grid living. And … *drum roll* … here we go:
- Vulnerability – A little dangerous. Not much.
I created a successful scenario of a bear attacking you and you escaping his attack.
But what if there’s a smart intruder? A thief?
Yeah, they can be in the wild too, especially if you’re living near a community (5-6 miles away don’t say much to a thief, trust me).
In such cases, a bunker is a thousand times safer. They have no point of entry, and you’re safe as long as you’re in there. And since it’s stuffed with food and survival gear, there’s no way of getting hurt.
In a van, on the other hand, yeah. The thief can break the window, and I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.
If you can afford a better van, then that’s another story!
- Van-wrecked – Another What If.
This is a problem that you can consider to be a little more serious.
What if the van gets damaged or catches a technical fault, out in the middle of nowhere?
You’re not able to move it. You’re not able to live in it either. And there’s no one in your many miles radius to help you out with it.
An excellent remedy to this is being proactive. You can always check your important metrics before leaving for a new destination and can always choose safer tracks to go through.
I think these drawbacks are okay, given the adventure that we’re talking about. I mean, off-grid living is all about adventure, right? Where’s the fun if it doesn’t give you goosebumps!
In the End, It Doesn’t Even Matter
Yes. Living in the van sure is a far better experience than living in a bunker or immobile residence.
BUT IT DOESN’T MATTER, AT THE END OF THE DAY.
Why, you ask? Simple: it’s off-grid living after all.
As long as you’re living a life free of societal pressures, my team and I are enormously pleased because that’s what we’ve aimed for: best content for our buddies risking it all and going off-grid!
