There are downsides to Living a nomadic Lifestyle
Sharing the real side of living on the road in a van or shuttle bus is one of the most important things to us. We try to be authentic and honest when it comes to all aspects of bus life. That’s why we want to share 7 of the worst parts of living a nomadic lifestyle. We can definitively say that the positives outweigh the negatives with this lifestyle although it’s important to consider all angles when deciding if bus life or van life is right for you. Let’s get the nitty gritty out of the way. The WORST parts of living on the road. There are a few big ones we definitely wanted to mention, so let’s get started!
1. KEEPING A SMALL SPACE TIDY
Our shuttle bus is 112sqft, which is a small living space by anyone’s standards. That means organization is the key to long term happiness and avoiding frustration. We do a big tidy up every morning before we start our day and small cleanups as we go throughout our day. This usually keeps things in order so the mess doesn’t get so out of control.
2. Breakdowns
One of the worst parts of your home being a vehicle is that when your vehicle breaks down, so does your house. We’ve spent many long days in mechanic shop waiting rooms. A breakdown can cause you to become house-less for several days if the problem requires a big fix. You have the choice of getting a hotel if your budget allows it or roughing it at the mechanic shop. This can mean nights of sleeping in the mechanic shop parking lot (if they allow it) in between long days of packing up meals, snacks, electronics, and books for the waiting room.
We usually prefer to stay at the mechanic shop and use the opportunity to get some focused work done with no distractions.
Some of our lowest moments on the road have been breakdowns. The feeling of uncertainty and helplessness of having your house unavailable to you for long periods of time in the shop can be tough to manage. Eventually we learned to take it all in stride, however breakdowns can be some of the most difficult road moments you’ll experience while living a nomadic lifestyle.
Try to budget for breakdowns. Set aside a little bit of money every month for when something goes wrong. There will be any months nothing where nothing will happen but eventually you’ll have a breakdown fund to pull from when a problem does arise. Knowing your breakdown fund is there will undoubtedly reduce your stress around the situation.
Even though in the moment it may seem like it is the end of the world, don’t panic! You will get through it. Breakdowns happen to everyone on the road.
3. Finding Water Fill ups
Finding water can be a tricky part of living a nomadic lifestyle. We’ve had several moments of the years where we were out of water and unable to find a place to fill-up. This forced us to do crazy things like stop using our sink and showering or fill gallon water containers from gas station faucets and dump it in our tank to get us by until we could find a place to fill our tanks.
We are almost never in campgrounds and we never stay at RV parks. If you do choose to pay for camping, water tank fill-up stations are usually available and this is a good trick if you’re in a pinch . In general, we prefer not to pay for camping which can make finding free fill-up spots difficult.
Our most used tool for finding water is the iOverlander app. We go into more detail about how we use iOverlander in our article about finding free camping. iOverlander is a user based app meaning other travelers can mark places where they filled up their water. These spots are indicated by an orange water droplet symbol on the map. When we’re low on water we open the app and look to see if there are any fill stations marked near us. If we don’t see any, the next best bet is major truck stops like Love’s or Flying Jay. Many times they’ll have a free water fill spigot off to the side of the parking lot. Throughout the southwest many rest stops will also have free water fill stations.
4. Finding Camping in a new area
Getting stuck searching for camping can happen both in the wilderness and in cities.
You’re on the highway headed to a new and exciting area you can’t wait to check out. You did your research and found the perfect camp spot on the map. After exiting the highway you drive the long dirt road to get to the BLM camping area. Except when you pull in, there are brand new NO CAMPING signs that weren’t mentioned anywhere online. You’re out of service and now have to drive all the back to the highway to look for a new spot. After hours of searching and 2 more spots that don’t work out, the sun is going down. Now you’re searching for wild camping in the dark in an unfamiliar area.
Now take this situation and apply it to city camping. Being unfamiliar with an area can also make you unsure of where overnight parking is allowed. This can certainly make it difficult to settle in and relax. Finding a place where you feel comfortable and safe is extremely important especially when traveling solo. We’ve ended up spending several late nights driving around cities we didn’t know trying to find street parking.
You can be left exhausted and frustrated when all you want to do is relax but you’re stuck driving around looking for a place to park. These scenarios have been some our most disappointing moments of vanlife and buslife.
5. Getting Mail
Getting mail when you’re living on the road can be difficult to say the least. Admittedly it took us a few years to really figure it out.
We have switched all our bills to paperless and we pay them all online. So for the most part our day to day living does not involve mail. For anything official such as voting, residency, or taxes, we use a family member’s address.
These days we use a combination of USPS general delivery, UPS pickup points, Fedex pickup locations when we want to order something online. The major problem we’ve run into with these methods is that you have to know what shipping carrier the online store is using. USPS won’t delivery to UPS or Fedex pickup points and UPS/Fedex wont delivery to UPS general delivery. So you need to know how the place you’re buying from is shipping ahead of time or you risk having your package held up.
Another great option is if you have friends or family in an area you’re going to be traveling to, ask them if use can use their address to have a package delivered. This is a very safe and reliable way to receive mail.
The best option to get around ordering things online and having to deal with delivery issues is to find the product you need or an alternative locally in whatever area you’re in. Preferably, we try to find things at small stores that support the local economy.
6. COMPROMISE SPACE & TIME
Living in a bus means that we have 1 vehicle. Wherever one of us goes, the other person does too. This means that a lot of the time we need to compromise our needs/wants. I don’t always want to go where Drew does and vice versa but we have to make that sacrifice.
The same goes for activities in the bus. When Drew is playing a video game on the projector, I can’t get into the closet without rolling up the screen. If I want to read a book on the couch, Drew can’t put the couch into booth mode to do some work on the computer. We both have to make compromises and be respectful of the other person because we live in a small space.
7. FINDING A ROUTINE & WORK/LIFE BALANCE
Balance is something people struggle with in all different walks of life. Trying to find balance while being in constant motion is even more difficult.
A routine is something that has helped me find balance in my life while living a nomadic lifestyle. It grounds me and allows me to be more productive. Having a bus that allows me to take my home with me everywhere I go can actually be a really positive thing. I always have my favorite yoga mat, I drink my coffee out of the same mug every morning, my bed is always the same, I brush my teeth in the same sink, I work at the same spot at our booth table etc. This is one of the biggest perks of vanlife and buslife. Consistency internally with huge variables externally. That’s the excitement! However maintaining that routine and balance when you’re traveling can be extra difficult.
It takes a lot of willpower to still do a workout, meditate, or get some computer work done when you have Yosemite Valley outside your door. I don’t want to do my taxes before we go for a day hike at The Grand Canyon, but I have to. It’s easy to get lazy and make every day like a vacation because sometimes this life feels like one. That was the feeling that encompassed the first 6 months of our move into vanlife. Now that we are almost half a decade in, we have come to think of life on the road as just that . . . life! We still need to work just as hard as we play or we wont be able to maintain buslife.
and thats it!
We hope you enjoyed these 7 worst parts of buslife and vanlife. Living a nomadic lifestyle will push you out of your comfort zone. It’s something that’s tough to be prepared for but will absolutely help you in your personal development. We are much more confident, knowledgeable, and independent people from 8 years on the road.
Below is our 7 best and worst of buslife videos from Youtube. Part 1 is the worsts! Check it out and let us know what you think!