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Now ye're talking - to a man living in his van

Boards.ie: Niamh

Our next guest is a full-time professional who lives in a van in an Irish city.

He has chosen to live in a van to avoid paying high rents, avoid living with strangers in a house share situation and to save for a deposit for a more permanent home in the future.
He converted the commercial van to a home himself, learning how to do things by watching videos online.

He is here to answer your questions about his experience of living in a van.

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Alpha_zero

Next time your are complaining about your extortionate insurance costs, think of this guy and buying his house.

Donald Trump

What about finding parking? Do you commute to work in the Van?

Ever been clamped? Either when you were in van or away

Am I the only one who automatically made the association between a man with a mattress in his van and dead hookers? :pac:

sydthebeat

Alpha_zero wrote: »

Next time your are complaining about your extortionate insurance costs, think of this guy and buying his house.

He is costing us nothing unless he makes a claim.

Flippyfloppy

Do you sleep well?
Have you ever had to stop staying in an area due to noise such as anti-social behaviour or early morning traffic like vin collections etc.

Sounds like a great set up you have!

ILoveYourVibes

Do you worry its unsafe?

Is this what you plan to do longterm?

I'm living in my van, AMA

handlemaster wrote: »

it must be a right turn off for the ladies ? Hows your love life proceeding with this life choice ?

It may well and my love life is stone dead at the moment.

But I have bigger things on my mind and Im on a mission.

And believe me, if a lady did not at understand at all where I'm coming from, we probably would not get on anyway. I'm a bit of an oddball anyway, and like other oddballs.

I intend to be dating soon/now, so fingers crossed.

Need to build my thunderbox first really before I bring a chick back...

Donald Trump

Did you ever consider upgrading to something like a houseboat?

Donald Trump

I'm living in my van, AMA wrote: »

Need to build my thunderbox first really before I bring a chick back...

Do you think you might find one with her own thunderbox?

Steer55

Squatter wrote: »

Have you paid the residential property tax?

Why he doesn't live in a residential property but in a converted van. He pays motor tax.

Soilse

Dude as a female I assure you there are dozens of ladies who are more than OK with the lifestyle but you may not meet them in the city. When doing crvt do you have to remove everything coz it's not a camper. Do you do much miles. What about van maintenence do you do all your own if it breakdown what's the backup plan. When on hols if you go away do you just park at family. I second the get a co2 monitor life saver.

I'm living in my van, AMA

Deleted User wrote: »

What would your budget for a month be?

I have not done the actual sums , I need to ,

Food - Humm, I eat well, no take aways, well maybe one a month, so about 350 on Food/Housewears . Same as anyone else who cooks for themselves I guess.
I have to buy a lot of water. I have a 20 liter tank on board.

Diesel - I don't really have to commute Mon - Fri, but I do drive a good bit at the weekends, so probably 200- 250 per month.

Electricity - I have a 110ah 12v Leisure Battery , charged from a Voltage Sensitive Relay - so the Battery charges off the engine- 'Free ' Power. Decent solar incoming Aslo.

Parking - I do have to pay for parking regularly , I cannot just put this van anywhere, and like I said, I dont want to draw attention, always pay and display etc - 20 - 30 Month on random parking .

Tolls - 3.80 - 4.40 in a van, that adds up quickly running a van privately.

Laundry machine - about 10/15 a week

The rest is normal human being running costs, I'm trying to think van specific, humm...

I'm living in my van, AMA

Sonny noggs wrote: »

Did you ever forget where you parked?

Pretty much every single morning the first thing I have to think about is ' Where am I?' It takes a moment or two to remember parking the night before.

I like it, its an interesting way to experience the world.

Teddy Daniels

What age are you? 28?

I'm living in my van, AMA

only new wrote: »

Do you keep any pets in the van?

I do have dogs, and they were one of the reasons I had issues renting/sharing.

But they stay with family now as they are old and lazy.

I would often have them for a few days here an there when not working, they have their spots in the van, and know the drill.

rainbowdrop

Fascinating thread. My dream is to convert a van and head off whenever/wherever the fancy takes me.
Not sure if I could do it permanently, but 2-3months over the summer would be very do-able.

Do you drive your van day-to-day, to go to work/shopping etc? Or do you only move it when you are heading to a new sleeping location?

Do you cook in the van every day/or get takeaways? What would be a typical meal you cook in the van?

irishgirl19

Great thread. Do you get lonely in the van or are you happy with your own company?
Stay safe.

Edit: why don't you just drive and park in work when you're working? I take it no one can tell from the outside?

Danzy

Alpha_zero wrote: »

Next time your are complaining about your extortionate insurance costs, think of this guy and buying his house.

Next time my house Insurance goes up.
I'll think of you and other chronic masturbators, drinking and smoking too much over their laptops.

I'm living in my van, AMA

Bummer1234 wrote: »

How long do you plan on living the way you are now? What do you miss the most in the van from a house? Whats the craic with Electricity?

Fair balls to you for doing it btw!

Cheers man!

I plan another two years max, I feel like I've only got on top of how to do this properly in the last year odd, so it will be a lot more comfortable going forward.

I have 110ah ( big and heavy) 12v battery charging off the engine of the van, rigged up to a 300w inverter and USB charging stations, along with 12v LED touch lights. Plenty of power and light for what need, never ran out,

Odyssey 2005

OP I would be wary of a wood stove in the van,not because they are dangerous, properly fitted their great ,but living like you do the smoke would only draw attention to you. Diesel heaters would be a better option. Theres also cleaning the effing thing and storing a little fuel.
Great idea and a brilliant way to save a few quid.

I'm living in my van, AMA

Viscount Aggro wrote: »

Its a stealth camper van, right? Blackout windows.

Popular in the UK. Theres always a couple for sale on Donedeal.

Trick is to move around. Nobody would notice a transit van parked in their estate overnight.

Insurance? None of their business.

Desperate times, demand desperate measures. I would putting away serious wedge for a couple of years, then move on your cottage plan. Check out the guy on Youtube, Mossy Bottom.

You are a badass.

Sound man, cheers

Yes , Stealth Camper, and Stealth means looking like a plain old van, as much as possible. I do want to get my front window and sides tinted , as much as allowed.

Yup, the trick is to move about, have a handful of areas, I've settled on one or two now as I've sussed them out and spent months moving between them, but always need the Radar switched on. Do not become too familiar or routine generally.

Ha, Mossy Bottom, yeah, he is a dude, this is Part 1 of the plan, part 2 is the Mossy Bottom part of the plan.

I'm living in my van, AMA

gussieg wrote: »

fair play for the lateral thinking , may i suggest a little portable projector takes up no space and works with all things esp a samsung galaxy s5 phone
i spent about 2 years in my car, due to not wanting to part with my pet, and also not get into ridiculous sharing scenarios at my age. have a place now , but also a car that doubles as a mini camper when needed.

I never heard of the portable projector, Ill take a look into it.

I hear you buddy, the pets can make a hard situation infinitely harder in Ireland with the accommodation, respect to you and fair play for keeping the back up plan!

I'm living in my van, AMA

Alpha_zero wrote: »

Wow such an interesting topic, cause no one have ever lived in a van before, go on youtube nobody does this. I mean how do they come up with this stuff.

Youtube both inspired me and taught me how to do this, Van Dog Traveler was a great start.

Although, I get a bit fed up with all these hyper idealised videos of van life on youtube, it is great , but it has its rough moments also, never see videos of that really.

Alpha_zero

Danzy wrote: »

Next time my house Insurance goes up.
I'll think of you and other chronic masturbators, drinking and smoking too much over their laptops.

Cool story bro

I'm living in my van, AMA

bubblypop wrote: »

Why a Van though?
Is it just so no-one knows? Like could you not have a little camper, already set up for living in?

Mainly Stealth,to like a normal looking works van as much as possible, whne you stick a ladder on the back door, radar dishes, extra lights , awnings etc, its an idiot magnet in the city, especially the ladder thing.

Also being able to rig it out to how I wanted it, I've had experience with a few camper vans in the past (not mine) so had definite ideas about layout and function.

Donald Trump

Ever consider renting out half your van on airbnb at weekends?

Could double up as a mobile tour bus/tour guide.

Want to go into business? I'll manage it for you for 50%

I'm living in my van, AMA

Evd-Burner wrote: »

What exactly is your current power setup?

I assume you charge devices etc in work during the day?

Have you looked at joining a gym, something like flyefit would give you the roaming option and would be good for showering etc on the weekend.

Also regarding insulation, dampness and carbon monoxide. You should look at something like this, it could be easily retrofitted. It would get rid of the stale air very quickly without losing all the heat.
https://www.i-sells.co.uk/kair-heat-recovery-extractor-fan-12vac-selv-humidistat

12v 110 ah Halfords Leisure battery, VSR to charge from the engine.

Probably going to join the Gym, more from swims and sauna, but yeah, full toilet facilities.

Have not heard of these heat recovery extractor fans, thanks, most interesting

nthclare

Sounds like you're quite free and have your priorities right.

Have you any hobbies like surfing or fishing?

Beasty

Alpha_zero

Do not post in this thread again

Any questions, PM me

I'm living in my van, AMA

sydthebeat wrote: »

No questions, just wanted to pop in and say fair dues!! Brave actions that I hope are paying off for you... And watch out for that carbon monoxide... Especially if you got a micro stove (you will need some kind of air vent if you do)

Cheers sydthebeat,

Yes, safety is always top, I have a fear of all that kind of thing, I have Fire and Carbon Alarms, and an extinguisher. Always have roof vents cracked and Ive drilled a vent hole in the floor.

I'm living in my van, AMA

Alpha_zero wrote: »

Next time your are complaining about your extortionate insurance costs, think of this guy and buying his house.

Dude, I pay a huge wad of insurance for this van, that in itself is a scam.

I have 12 years NCB.

And if anything ever happened, you can be sure Id be picking up the costs no matter what.