TL;DR
Whom am I speaking to? Who is this going to help?
My Practical Experience
My Mind Dump.
When you live in an apartment, you are geographically stuck to whatever tax bracket you pay for. Generally, you won’t be in the company of highly ambitious business people if you’re paying between $500 to $1000 for a place (depending of course of location).
That’s not to say that these are “bad” places, but we cannot deny that our location plays the greatest influence in who we become. Would you rather be surrounded by bums, or highly driven and ambitious career people?
The problem lies in the rent. Certainly you can pay $6,000 for a spot, but I’d imagine that, if you’re not already highly financially abundant, then you’ll be living paycheck-to-paycheck (or even accruing debt to live your lifestyle).
All for what exactly? For a space that you only use for sleep because you’re alway working anyway?
Let’s be real, my personal experience tells me that I am the most hard working when I am away from home; home has the association of relaxing and unwinding–do you really think, or desire, the habit of working to co-exist peacefully with the habit of relaxing? Personally, I’ll pass.
So what if, we can benefit from the luxury apartments if we pay for parking space and use our car as our “sleeping pod”?
Look, I get it: you worry about what people think about you. But I’m at the stage in my life where I really don’t care–because these same people, even with their social approval, would not be so quick to help me overcome my issues, whatever they may be.
So let’s actually run the numbers. Can it really be cheaper to sleep in a paid parking spot?
I should preface that even though the title of this post is “vanlife” it’s really more like “urban vanlife” because we want to take advantage of all the amenities the city has to offer that can offset not being in an apartment.
Analysis
Note: whether you live in a car or in an apartment, you will most likely be paying for a car (unless you cough up the extra cash to pay for a space closer to work)
Possible downsides to sleeping in a car
- Temperature regulation
- portable AC can help cool down the car
- winter clothing and even a heater can combat colder environment
- Loud noises
- Parking spots are not exactly the most tranquil oasis of blissful peace
- Dating
- I think it’s a safe bet to assume that most girls will not want to spend the night in a parking garage…
Possible upsides
- location freedom
- intentionally selecting where you wish to associate
- financial freedom
- ideally, this will be both (1) less binding (2) cheaper than an apartment setup
Costs
We don’t be factoring the price of gas, maintenance, and insurance, since that’s something that we will have to pay anyway for both living situations
- Food ($30/day x 30days/mon = $900)
- Parking spot (tops: $200/mon in my spot; $700/mon in NYC)
- NOTE: I can save on parking fees if I simply park at work
- https://www.tampa.gov/parking/info/parking-hourly-and-daily-rates
- F*cking hot
- It’s an uphill battle to climate control your car
- if you decide to park in a parking garage, you must ask yourself if you’re okay with that level of air pollution
- Downsides of vanlife
Apartment Pros/Cons (compared to vanlife)
Pros
- Having your own space »> anything else really
- Your own space enables you to treat yourself as if you were in a controlled laboratory, where you can update and modify any habits, and gain clarity on what you want your life to look like
- You’re mentally secure and feel great
- Food optimization with meal prep. Meal prep is cheaper AND healthier
- Peace and independence; YOU FEEL GREAT!
Cons
- Leases will lock you in to a specific area for a dedicated amount of time, so choose your location wisely
- AirBnBs or any short-term lease will cost more per month
- Boring? You lose the excitement of thinking on your feet. Basically the hedonic adaption
- Socialization must be scheduled
FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS FOR ME TO ANSWER:
- WILL THIS STOP ME FROM LIVING LIFE ON MY TERMS?
- From developing the urgency to develop my sense of self identity?
- What’s the alternative? What is nearly guaranteed to happen if I stay home? Who will I become if I stay?
Questions to ask myself
- where am I going to use the restroom?
- where am I going to brush my teeth, take a shower, and shave?
- Should I airBnB during the summer/winder, and vanlife during the spring and fall?
- where am I going to cook meals?
- where am I going to do laundry?
- How will I protect my stuff from overheating in the car while I’m gone?
- Will I truly feel “at home” with a “private” space if I’m in a busy parking lot?
- where will I receive mail?
- what am I going to do on days when my car is at the shop?
- If and when I get into a car accident, what will I do?
- where will I be able to get reliable wifi?
- where can I recharge my battery bank during the day?
- where will I be able to hold virtual meetings in peace?
- Is it actually cheaper to eat out everyday, than it is to both (1) pay rent (2) pay for groceries?
- When I need to hop on a virtual meeting, take a phone call, or present for an interview, and I want to be confident, where will I take the call if I am not in a car?
- Could I develop the habit of not caring how silly I look in front of people?
Final verdict
I will not do vanlife.
It was a pain installing the Zero Breeze, and it’s simply not practical to live in your car, unless there’s some force that’s actively pushing you towards there.
What I’ve realized is that Vanlife is much like Doomsday prepping. I do not doomsday prep because, in reality, society is here to stay, and I don’t even want to go out in the middle of no where just so I can pick up sticks during my down time. That sucks.
What if, instead of doomsday prepping, I simply muster the COURAGE to confront REALITY and LEARN THE NEW SKILLS that will help INCREASE MY INCOME.
Instead I will focus on:
- increasing my income
- developing my social skills
- becoming someone of value
- build a business that permits me the fine luxuries of life
- You don’t want vanlife because you understand the principles of contrast; having an apartment is your contrast from the rest of the world, whereas it’s much harder to obtain the same level of contrast from a car.
If I increase my income, then I will have the ability to simply rent out nice AirBnBs AND move to whatever city I want, rather than living pessimistically.