There were a lot of reasons that I decided to move into a van but I didn’t move into a van to be a minimalist. I moved in to a van to see North America and travel as cheaply as I could for as long as I could. I moved into a van to because I was diagnosed with stage IV cancer at age 25 and no one’s future retirement is guaranteed. I moved into a van to go on an adventure and push my boundaries. I moved into a van to allow myself to hopefully grow as a person.
After over one and a half years in a van, I have slowly realized that I have become somewhat of a minimalist. Not in the sense of an absolute desire to own one pair of pants and a backpack, but in the sense of thinking about what I own, why I own it, and do I want to own it. Is this item worth having in my life? Conversely, when buying something, is this item worth bringing into my life.
Living in a van requires some degree of minimalism, as Sarah and I found out. There is only so much storage space and square footage (72 sq feet in our van). Difficult (at the time) choices had to be made on what will make the cut. We both worried about the things that we would miss and made plans for things to be shipped to us by our parents if we found out we needed more stuff that we forgot. A big surprise is that we have actually shipped things back to my parents to keep for us on multiple occasions.
I was surprised to find out that I am very happy with the things that we ended up bringing and I don’t feel I am missing much from my life. My two main things that I wish I had access to while living in the van are a washer/dryer and a dishwasher. The rest, I’ve realized I don’t really need and don’t add that much to my life.
The other revelation that I’ve come across is that as humans (at least talking about myself here), we fill the spaces that we live in. And the same is true for the van. The van garage is pretty packed with stuff and includes stuff we didn’t start out on the trip with. We now own a surfboard, climbing gear, a wetsuit, snorkeling gear, along with the road bikes that we brought on the trip. Those new additions have brought me enjoyment and we plan to continue climbing on the rest of our trip. (A 2019 goal was new hobbies!). The surfboard is tougher and maybe we should have sold it in San Diego. It is mounted under the solar panels so it doesn’t take up additional space - although it isn’t great for stealth.
What impact this will have on the rest of my life is still unclear, but I’ve already decided I don’t want to live in a large house in the future. I’ve spent time looking at tiny houses and love the idea of building one. Tiny houses have their own set of issues with zoning and regulations, so it may just end up being a small manageable house.
Eddie Vedder sums up some of my thoughts eloquently in the song Society.
You think you have to want
More than you need
Until you have it all you won't be free
Society, you're a crazy breed
I hope you're not lonely without me
When you want more than you have
You think you need
And when you think more than you want
Your thoughts begin to bleed
I think I need to find a bigger place
'Cause when you have more than you think
You need more space
Maybe I’m somewhat of a minimalist now. Maybe I’m just living in 72sq feet and physically can’t fit more stuff in the van and thus can’t have as much stuff. Regardless, I like the feeling.