'I live in a van but it's not the dream life I thought it was going to be'
Travel Influencer Allison Sharpe gave up her job to live in a van to travel the world. It's not as great as she thought it was going to be.
Van life appears to be the flavor of the month when it comes to travel and life adventures.
So many are trading in their comfortable houses and flats for a home on wheels.
The freedom of being able to wake up in idyllic locations and living minimally is a tempting option in this frenetic world. Who knew the mundane act of making morning coffee and showering under a tree would make such compelling viewing on so many social sites.
But Van life isn’t as relaxing or as life-affirming as you may think, according to travel influencer, Allison Sharpe.
She quit her job in California and has been living on the road in her Chevrolet Express Van for three years.
Her YouTube channel, @TravelSnacks features videos where she not only offers useful titbits and snippets of her adventures, but a brutal, yet refreshing depiction of what life living in a van is actually like.
She is an inspiration and her zest for life and adventure is infectious.
Her video: “5 LIES of Van Life Nobody Talks about” is a no-holds-barred account of how she’s adjusted to life in a van. She makes some valid and shocking points:
If you think you can drive your vehicle wherever you want to, that is not quite true.
Her first summer, she says was terrible. “I felt like I had heatstroke and I was sweating constantly” she says.
"Sure you can go to the mountains, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to be cool, she adds.
"There’s the problem of high elevation too which means that you might not necessarily get a signal.
"If you’re working, you’ll be out of luck.
"People are always posting parking up their van in bodies of water with space around them. But it’s hot.
"You have to keep the shades up so it doesn’t make any difference.
"There’s also the subject of loneliness". Sharpe admitted she loves being alone but not all the time.
She believes it’s unhealthy to isolate yourself.
"There is a Van life community, which she says is ‘awesome’, but as she doesn’t drink or party a lot. It’s not something she’s really got into. And working hard means she can’t really have a lot of late nights."
She flashes up a video of a group around a campfire and admits “that does happen but not all the time”.
Driving around finding somewhere to park is stressful in itself. “You have to move your vehicle every night.
"You can’t stay and you have to find somewhere to park. You’re never 100 percent settled”.
Allison also says, you do need money. “You might be able to survive in a van having food gas and the like,
but you’re going to need money for other things”.
“If your vehicle needs a repair and the garage keeps it in, you’re going to have to go somewhere to stay”.
Recently she had her gas tank taken out.
“If you have solar panels powering everything in the vehicle and your van is in the shop, in the bay, your solar panels are not getting any sun your refrigerator will not work so if something breaks you need a plan in place”.
Shape says she’s not going to do this forever. When she started she said, “I’m gonna live in this vehicle for the rest of my life”.
Now she knows that won’t be the case. She says, “At some point, you’re going to want to be in one spot. You’re going to want stability."
