Off-grid Van Life Survival Guide
We are in the 21st century, and it almost seems unimaginable to live life off-grid with all the advances in technology and social media always keeping us connected. The irony is, a lot of people are trading in their house keys for life on the road for essentially the same reasons.
Whether you find yourself constantly “keeping up with the Jones’” or stuck in the rat race and aren’t happy with your work-life balance, our modern world can become overwhelming. It's one of the reasons why Sunny and I decided to live van life full-time. It’s given us the ability to unplug and strip life down to the bare essentials. Although we didn't have the usual amenities of house life and modern living, van life allowed us to live life to the fullest.
What does off-grid mean?
By definition, off-the-grid means not depending on public utilities, especially the supply of electricity. When living van life, you're doing just that. So, how did we do it?
Water/Showering
Our 35 gallon water tank lasts for about 2 weeks and runs the sink and shower in our van. We use a water filter when filling up, that way we can drink straight out of our kitchen faucet and don't have to worry about constantly finding drinkable water.
You can learn all about our water system set up here.
When it comes to showering, we installed our own shower in the van. If you don’t feel like installing an indoor shower there are plenty of unique outdoor shower options or you can simply get a membership with an easily accessible gym chain. A lot of vanlifers we know go with Planet Fitness. They are all over the country and it’s a very convenient option, especially since you can enjoy long showers as you aren’t worried about running out of water. The truth is, you won't be able to take as many showers as you want when living van life, especially since you have a limited water supply. We find ourselves taking about two quick showers a week.
Doing Your Business
We use a portable toilet in our van. It's removable so we can easily move it when we want to take a shower. As a general rule, we only go number 1 in our toilet. Most of the time, we do number 2 outdoors, miles and miles away from cities or at gas stations and public restrooms. Yep, it's been quite the experience but you'd have to be open to doing things like this if you truly want to live off-the-grid.
You can learn all about different toilet options here that are great for van life!
Electricity
We installed solar panels on the roof of our van. They're connected to lithium batteries which store the power, to be used whenever we need. Our system allows us to charge our phones, cameras, and laptops. It's also responsible for all of our lights, fan, plug in heater, fridge and more.
In case you're wondering, yes we do have WIFI. Since we work remotely, we get our data from our phones and from a Verizon hotspot.
We actually installed a large propane tank underneath our van. It's about six gallons and is connected to our three-burner stove and oven. This lasts us about 6 months at a time. You can set up your cooking system differently than ours. Some van lifers use an electric or portable stove top.
You can learn all about different van life cooking options here.
Tip: When grocery shopping, only buy what you need for about a week at a time since you have less storage room and remove all the outer packaging as it will take up too much space in your mini fridge & freezer.
The reality is, even when living “off-grid” in the van you will still need a regular source of water and food.
Van Tour, Anyone?
If you want to take a look at our setup, you can check out our Van Tour video here. We share all the ins and outs of our tiny home on wheels.