We never had a flat tire. We did regular tire maintenance. But we had breakdowns. Our tranmission went out in Mexico last year.
Many people travel in vans and campers with pets.
It is an amazing lifestyle!
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Oh amazing thank you so much!
I’m in a ford transit which has been great for stealthily parking up on industrial estates and streets etc. Obviously parked up in a layby in the lakes it’s pretty obvious what I’m up to! I was hoping to get it DVLA changed to a camper but I don’t think realistically they will accept it and the best I will get is van with windows. But it means I don’t need any logos etc so can keep it stealth!
Such a lovely answer thank you! The transit is below 3.5 tonnes which in France has made everything super easy, I only had to turn round once in Carcassonne at the medieval bridge!
Such inspiration, everyone other than my parents are telling me to go for it!
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Yes I’ve done a few housesits where they have too many fancy cars for there also to be room for a van! 
@ERRa what helps me with life decisions, is the realisation that nothing is forever. If it doesn’t work, change it to what works for you. I was always so nervous about WHERE to buy a house and SETTLE DOWN, voicing it like it was a real burden, until a very wise client told me: it’s just a house. It’s not a noose. You can sell it or change your situation if it doesn’t work out. Granted it’s big and expensive, or whatever else we tell ourselves. But just the relief to know that it’s supposed to be fun (whether a house, or a van challenge, or a housesit), so don’t make it such a big deal. Change it if it feels wrong, but do try it out.
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There are loads of great vanlife videos on YouTube and other social media. If you check out the videos you prefer, that can help you decide whom to follow. There are lots of vanlife / RV groups on Facebook as well, including ones based on gender, age, geography, etc. I belong to a bunch of them and get videos, etc., promoted on my feed all the time.
There are ones where longtime RV’ers help people troubleshoot problems, as well as share other pointers.
Countless full-time vanlifers and RV’ers are creating content. I’ve followed a bunch for a long time, because my husband and I’ve roadtripped over decades. We just want to do it for occasional fun, though, not go full time.
Now, we have a Sprinter. We also had another RV, but we sold it, because we weren’t getting enough use out of it and sitting can lead to maintenance issues.
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@ERRa Your parents are probably just a bit anxious for you not having a secure homebase but once they see you loving your new lifestyle and they’ll be ‘on board’ before you know it!
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@Lokstar How have you managed 5 months in Europe, given the 90 days in 180 ruling (I presume you’re Brits?)?
From reading their posts it looks like they’re German
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Ah, that explains it.
We’ve just returned from 11 weeks in Europe, where we combined touring with 2 lovely sits (1 a repeat). We’d have stayed longer (we had 2 more weeks max allowance) but were tempted back by a nice UK sit.
@Happypets I am a Brit but have UK/Dutch dual citizenship and my hubby is German. It is a real blessing with the 90 days restriction. But even if I didn’t have a Dutch passport I’d still be able to ‘piggyback’ on my hubbys German passport! 
Fellow Brit here @Smiley but I am very fortunate to have dual UK/Dutch citizenship thanks to my darling late mum. But you are right- hubby is German!
Lucky you! Damn Brekshit! Having got my DNA results through ancestry.co…. I’ve got 13% Irish & 10% Norwegian. Be great if I use one of those for a European passport 
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Ah, but you’ll have to qualify for 2/3 
Digital Nomad here for 7+ years. I’ve never done van life but I would definitely try it at some point for some months. I can say that you do reach nomad burnout points. That’s when it’s good to, say, get an AirBnb for a long term (months) and tuck in for a bit. Or go stay with family/friends, or near to them, for a bit. I love the nomad lifestyle and I love housesitting in the mix of it too, but it can get a bit sad constantly having to get rid of things to hit baggage limits (or paying extra for suitcases). This applies to relationships too, unfortunately. You will constantly meet new people and then exit. It becomes a cycle…In terms of sitting I can say I’ve just done my first stretch of long, back to back sits and have realized I absolutely need a break in between them! This is something I didn’t know until I did it. I think I could do like one month sit, one or two months off, then a long sit again. With a van as your backup this could truly be ideal!
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Oh and if it’s possible just use a family address or set up a PO Box for your permanent addy, get a VoIP and eSIMs, etc etc. Find a way to keep your UK financial rhythms chugging along while you roam and make sure you have as much paperwork, insurance and credit stuff prepped beforehand!
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I think you should go for it, life is for living and you have the chance to follow your dreams.
You only live once, go for it.
Best of luck to you
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Yes, I agree with Garfield. It is for example close to impossible to get registration and insurance for a vehicle if you have no permanent residence. My car which was registered at my daughter’s address in England died when I was travelling through Germany in May 2023, and I got into big trouble. Today I know that the only reasonable way would have been to travel by public transport back to England and buy a car there, and then I could have continued my nomadic life. The same would apply in case of a need for medical treatment - you always have to travel back to the country of your registered “permanent residence” and you have to keep making your income tax payments there and so on, otherwise you are doomed.
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And the word «doomed» is very accurate for several people that end up in that… very warm end-point (wasn’t allowed to write the Word. 
)