What Does A Day Of Long-Term Van Life Look Like?

Long-term travel is something a lot of people dream of doing. Living in a van is one too. While short road trips to certain destinations can be focused on a lot of fun, what does a day of long-term van life look like?

While your days can vary greatly, there are generally four types of days during long-term van life. Activities, Travel, Work, and a mix of them all. While it might seem exciting to hike every day, have campfires, and visit beautiful places, the reality is a bit more complex than that. Regardless of what type of day you have, they're all rewarding in their own ways.

Table of Content

Leisure Days
Travel Days
Work Days
Mixed Days
Conclusion

Long-Term Van Life Leisure Days

Perhaps the most desired type of day spent living a van life are leisure days. These days often consist of doing whatever it is we desire. You can ski, hike, climb, surf, sightsee, and frankly, whatever it is you do for fun. These days can even include hanging around a campsite, reading, taking the dogs for a walk, cooking great meals, then watching a movie before bed. Generally, these are the days we look back at the most fondly.

These days can be hard to come by, depending on your circumstances. If you need to work through the week, it might mean you need to spend your weekend travelling on Saturday, and then enjoying some leisure time on Sunday. Keep in mind, this is one of the most rewarding types of days we can have. They make this lifestyle worth it if you're not in it for a more serious issue like saving money.

Sometimes, when I head out on activities, I'll be gone most of the day just to arrive back at my van to cook food and go to sleep. These days are incredibly enjoyable, but the other aspects of my life do add up. Long hikes, days of climbing, and skiing from the first lift to the last one eat up the time in your day in a big way.

Admittedly, these days can also look like lazy days where I recharge by playing video games, binge-watching TV shows, or napping away the afternoon. That's the glory of leisure days, you can choose to do whatever you like!

It's not often I have these days as I like to get so much done in a day, and most of my days are more focused on other categories than activities.

Long-Term Van Life Travel Days

Another common type of day during van life is travel days. Depending on where you need to go, it usually consists of moving from one location to another. Perhaps these days can be strung together to get from one coast to another. Maybe the activity itself is driving to a particular destination just to turn around.

While mandatory, these days can be exhausting. They can also be a bit tougher too. Things might not go to plan, and you may end up sleeping somewhere less desirable due to closures, or it taking longer than expected to get to a particular spot. Make sure to check out my review of iOverlander and a post about sleeping spots so you can make sure you plan as much as possible before running into bad situations!

These days might mean you drive through the night. It could mean you need to face a mountain pass during a snowstorm. They're expensive, put wear on your vehicle, and can be boring.

An important lesson I'm learning is to travel more slowly. Having fewer travel days means I'm spending my time doing other things that I find more enjoyable. And when I have to travel, I try and drive less than 300 miles, or not after 3 PM.

Sometimes I dread these days. Sometimes I love them. Sometimes they're planned, and other times they're a spur-of-the-moment idea to move to a different state for a change of scenery or to avoid some less desirable weather. Usually, I have a long list of podcasts to make these days a bit more enjoyable. I try and wake up as early as possible and get some momentum going on the off chance that the day goes more quickly and I can squeeze in some work or leisure before going to bed.

I've also enjoyed days when I travel between different BLM locations. These have led me to have some of the most rewarding travel days. Even if it's just a new spot to watch a movie, have a fire, and go to bed.

Take a look at Living The Van Life on Youtube and how they drove up to the arctic circle. Days full of travel can be part of leisure too!

Long-Term Van Life Work Days

If you love your job, you'll never work a day in your life. Sounds nice, doesn't it? Well, not everyone can attain this level of enjoyment from employment. From Monday to Friday, 9-5, many people need to work for income to fund their lifestyles. There are many ways to work while travelling, and even some can be part-time, seasonal, contracting, and even project-based where it might only take you an hour a day to get your work done.

In my current phase of life, my work consists of all the admin to make my life happen like finances, groceries, laundry, showers, writing, etc. I feel incredibly fortunate to be in this phase of my life and have my world revolve around my desire to travel and live more alternatively than what is common. While I detest spending obscene amounts of money for a coffee in a Starbucks, sometimes I end up enjoying getting out of my van with my laptop at a coffee shop to get work done.

I find a similar amount of enjoyment in my productive days as I do my activity days. If I've had a few days of activities where the other aspects of my life have built up, I get excited about being able to catch up and complete plenty of tasks. The reverse is true too. I enjoy being able to front-load some tasks so that I can have an unremorseful day of leisure. This also probably means catching up on fitness and resetting my diet to eat better.

Long-Term Van Life Mixed Days

The reality of van life is that there's always something to do. Moving around a lot means you get to see novel sights. Doing so usually means travelling, to get to an activity like a hike, or a beautiful campground. You are then squeezing in a few hours of work before dinner and bed. This is the real side of van life.

Even the most popular van life Youtubers need to edit and publish their videos. They also need to go to new locations to get new content with new activities to keep their channels alive! While a few of them do admit that they work an obscene amount of time to keep us entertained, I don't think it's stressed just how much real life is different from their highway drone shots.

Right now, I'm enjoying days that look like waking up, writing, admin, hitting the gym, driving to a new location or hike, enjoying some leisure time, and cooking great food before a campfire or locking myself in my van for the night with a movie or some reading. I've found a rhythm that works for my current needs. It's based around the longevity of this lifestyle so I can still work on all the aspects of my life that make me happy.

Conclusion

Short outings can often be incredible experiences when you're able to delay all the other aspects of your life until you return. Long-term van life requires staying on top of all the aspects of your life that keep you going. While on the road, living in your van for long periods, you'll often have four types of days; travel, work, leisure, and mixed days. While all mandatory, oftentimes, your days will have a mix of productivity, moving around, and having fun all together.