The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(April 2024) |
Van-dwelling or vanlife is an unconventional lifestyle of living in a car, van or other motor vehicle. A person who lives in such a manner, either on a full or part-time basis, is known as a van dweller, car dweller or vehicle dweller. People who live this way by choice are typically seeking a more self-sufficient lifestyle characterized by freedom and mobility. They may perceive it as being a less regulated form of housing, or one that offers a lower cost advantage over standard housing, especially in regions susceptible to housing shortages. [1] Other van dwellers may be one step away from living on the street or in a shelter.
In 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, [2] an idealized version has been popularized through social media with the hashtag #vanlife. [3] [4]
Van-dwelling is a compound word that denotes the fact that motor vehicle living takes place typically, but not exclusively, in a van. Many different types of motor vehicles have been used for vandwelling, either permanently or only on a temporary basis. Some of these are former public buses or school buses ("skoolies"), campervans, recreational vehicles (RVs), travel trailers, motorhomes, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), decommissioned ambulances, and cars. The vehicle is typically modified with basic amenities, such as house batteries, [5] solar panels, [6] a bed platform, [7] some form of toilet, [8] sink, and storage space.
A person who engages in van dwelling is known as a van dweller, [9] car dweller [10] or vehicle dweller. [11] [12] [13] Sometimes, a car dweller is known as a car sleeper. If the residence is temporary, it may be referred to as car camping. [14] Cars (including SUVs and cargo vans but typically not pickup trucks) with the seats folded flat/down and a mattress placed inside is referred to as "床车" in China, literally translates to "bed car". [15]
The history of vandwelling goes back to horse-drawn vehicles such as Roma vardo wagons in Europe, and covered Conestoga wagons in the United States. One of the first uses of the term "vandwellers" was in the United Kingdom Showman and Van Dwellers' Protection Association, [16] a guild for travelling show performers formed in 1889. Shortly afterwards in 1901, Albert Bigalow Paine wrote The Van Dwellers, [17] about people living on the verge of poverty having to live a nomadic life in horse-drawn moving vans. After the introduction of motorised vehicles, the modern form of vandwelling began.[ citation needed ]
Mobile wheeled homes became popular in the US following the Great Depression in the mid-1930s as house trailers first entered mass production. This expanded availability beyond the domain of hobbyists and small-batch builders. A New York Times article in 1936 described "hundreds of thousands of families [who] have packed their possessions into traveling houses, said goodbye to their friends, and taken to the open road." [18] [19] Through 1960, approximately 1.5-2 million Americans acquired house trailers. In the 1960s this trend ended with the development of mobile homes, less expensive but less mobile alternatives to the earlier traveling houses. [18]
In the US, individuals who lack a permanent address and stable living situation, including vandwellers, are technically considered "homeless". [20] Of the 60,000 homeless people in Los Angeles, approximately 25% were living in a vehicle. [21]
Many municipalities have laws prohibiting overnight parking and/or sleeping in vehicles. Even in such areas, some retailers in the US such as Walmart, Cracker Barrel [22] and The Home Depot often allow people in RVs and other vehicles to stay in their (private property) parking lots overnight. [23] In Los Angeles, living in a vehicle is prohibited on most streets. [21] The city has municipal codes regarding times and places where someone is authorized to live in a vehicle. [24] Non-profit organizations in a number of California cities sponsor "safe parking" intitiatives, which offer limited facilities and some security in designated Safe Parking lots. [21] In the Western United States, the Bureau of Land Management allows vandwellers and other campers to remain in many areas of their vast administration for up to 14 days at a time. [22]
The vandwelling lifestyle can allow for significant autonomy and a lower cost of living than having a mortgage or lease as in a more traditional living arrangement. Assuming they have the means, vandwellers are free to travel as much or little as they would like. Some vandwellers choose to remain in one general area, and work full-time or attend school while living in their vehicles. Others travel full-time while working remotely via the Internet or finding seasonal or short-term employment opportunities in various locations. [25]
Since vandwelling consists of living in a vehicle with a footprint no larger than a parking space, there is usually little to no space for bathing or doing laundry. Some vandwellers in the US use gym memberships to access showers at establishments such as Planet Fitness. [22] Others rely on campground or truck stop showers, or, when no other options are available, cleaning wipes. [26] For washing clothes they may use a bucket and the van's vibration to agitate the water, or will go to a laundromat or use friends' or family members' washers and dryers. [27]
Various depictions of the van dwelling lifestyle are presented on YouTube and Instagram, using the hashtag #vanlife — ranging from starkly realistic appraisals to heavily idealistic depictions.
The hashtag #vanlife was first used and popularized by a photoblogger named Foster Huntington in 2011. [28] Many depictions illustrate idyllic natural scenery, sometimes framed by the open back doors of the van, or with the van prominently visible in the landscape. Others depictions feature spotless, stylized interior views of the living space. The people pictured in the images might be young, attractive and outdoorsy millennials. [22] The depictions are often set in natural areas, particularly in the Western US. [29]
Other notable contributors to the #vanlife movement included the Vanlife Diaries blog and Instagram account. In 2019, the founders of Vanlife Diaries would release a book called vanlife diaries: finding freedom on the open road which pulled content from its blog and Instagram. [30]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, some social media users promoted the #vanlife lifestyle as a way to stay safe and avoid illness. [31] The movement attracted many newcomers to the lifestyle including younger and more diverse people than the initial promoters of the lifestyle. [32]
A less idealized, more stark depiction was presented in the 2021 film, Nomadland . [33]
Van conversions consist of a wide range of possibilities. A conversion can be as simple as a few personal items thrown in the back, such as a sleeping bag or folding bed along with a few pieces of clothing, while using only the engine battery for power. [9] It escalates all the way up to vans that function like micro-apartments on wheels with complex power setups, a kitchenette, and even simple plumbing. Vehicles like the Volkswagen Westfalia, a regular passenger van, or a cargo van, can be modified for day-to-day living by a professional conversion company. Upscale van conversion can provide most of the amenities of a conventional home including heating, air conditioning, a house battery system, a two-burner stove, a permanent bed, and other conveniences that make the vehicle fit for full-time living. [22] School bus modifications ("skoolies") are also common among vandwellers. [34]
Since many vandwellers lack a permanent address, they sometimes use mail forwarding services, instead of a simple post office box, in order to receive packages and other mail. This is beneficial because the forwarder can then send packages to an address which the vandweller can access. Vandwellers often pay their bills and conduct business online through the use of public Wi-Fi, [35] which they can access at libraries or in eateries such as Starbucks. [22]
Vandwellers will usually work seasonal jobs, ranging from national parks to warehouse jobs. Some vandwellers work only part of the year then use the money earned to travel.
Vandwellers have been known to be digital nomads who work remotely from workplace or have a job that does not require working at location. [36] Some of them are self-employed entrepreneurs, photographers, youtubers, writers or translators, or do arts and handcraft-related work. Their job sometimes can be related to travelling or work done at location wherever they currently are. [37] Some of them work normal day jobs and occasionally travel. [38] Alternatively, some vandwellers have permanent employment at Silicon Valley tech companies and choose to live in a van to both save on high rents and take advantage of generous company perks that include free food, on-site showers, and laundry service. [9]
Actor Chris Farley's character Matt Foley would often describe himself "living in a van down by the river" in Saturday Night Live sketches.
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. Houses use a range of different roofing systems to keep precipitation such as rain from getting into the dwelling space. Houses generally have doors or locks to secure the dwelling space and protect its inhabitants and contents from burglars or other trespassers. Most conventional modern houses in Western cultures will contain one or more bedrooms and bathrooms, a kitchen or cooking area, and a living room. A house may have a separate dining room, or the eating area may be integrated into the kitchen or another room. Some large houses in North America have a recreation room. In traditional agriculture-oriented societies, domestic animals such as chickens or larger livestock may share part of the house with humans.
A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully- or semi-sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be performed such as sleeping, preparing food, eating and hygiene as well as providing spaces for work and leisure such as remote working, studying and playing.
A recreational vehicle, often abbreviated as RV, is a motor vehicle or trailer that includes living quarters designed for accommodation. Types of RVs include motorhomes, campervans, coaches, caravans, fifth-wheel trailers, popup campers, and truck campers.
An apartment, flat, or unit is a self-contained housing unit that occupies part of a building, generally on a single storey. There are many names for these overall buildings. The housing tenure of apartments also varies considerably, from large-scale public housing, to owner occupancy within what is legally a condominium, to tenants renting from a private landlord.
A dacha is a seasonal or year-round second home, often located in the exurbs of post-Soviet countries, including Russia. A cottage or shack serving as a family's main or only home, or an outbuilding, is not considered a dacha, although some dachas recently have been converted to year-round residences and vice versa.
A campervan, also referred to as a camper, caravanette, motorhome or RV in North America, is a self-propelled vehicle that provides both transport and sleeping accommodation. The term describes vans that have been fitted out, whereas a motorhome is one with a coachbuilt body.
Urban sprawl is defined as "the spreading of urban developments on undeveloped land near a more or less densely populated city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growth in many urban areas of housing, commercial development, and roads over large expanses of land, with little concern for very dense urban planning. Sometimes the urban areas described as the most "sprawling" are the most densely populated. In addition to describing a special form of urbanization, the term also relates to the social and environmental consequences associated with this development. In modern times some suburban areas described as "sprawl" have less detached housing and higher density than the nearby core city. Medieval suburbs suffered from the loss of protection of city walls, before the advent of industrial warfare. Modern disadvantages and costs include increased travel time, transport costs, pollution, and destruction of the countryside. The revenue for building and maintaining urban infrastructure in these areas are gained mostly through property and sales taxes. Most jobs in the US are now located in suburbs generating much of the revenue, although a lack of growth will require higher tax rates.
The car-free movement is a broad, informal, emergent network of individuals and organizations, including social activists, urban planners, transportation engineers, environmentalists and others, brought together by a shared belief that large and/or high-speed motorized vehicles are too dominant in most modern cities. The goal of the movement is to create places where motorized vehicle use is greatly reduced or eliminated, by converting road and parking space to other public uses and rebuilding compact urban environments where most destinations are within easy reach by other means, including walking, cycling, public transport, personal transporters, and mobility as a service.
Homeless shelters are a type of homeless service agency which provide temporary residence for homeless individuals and families. Shelters exist to provide residents with safety and protection from exposure to the weather while simultaneously reducing the environmental impact on the community. They are similar to, but distinguishable from, various types of emergency shelters, which are typically operated for specific circumstances and populations—fleeing natural disasters or abusive social circumstances. Extreme weather conditions create problems similar to disaster management scenarios, and are handled with warming centers, which typically operate for short durations during adverse weather.
A bedsit, bedsitter, or bed-sitting room is a form of accommodation common in some parts of the United Kingdom which consists of a single room per occupant with all occupants typically sharing a bathroom. Bedsits are included in a legal category of dwellings referred to as houses in multiple occupation (HMO).
Single-room occupancy (SRO) is a form of housing that is typically aimed at residents with low or minimal incomes, or single adults who like a minimalist lifestyle, who rent small, furnished single rooms with a bed, chair, and sometimes a small desk. SRO units are rented out as permanent residence and/or primary residence to individuals, within a multi-tenant building where tenants share a kitchen, toilets or bathrooms. SRO units range from 7 to 13 square metres. In some instances, contemporary units may have a small refrigerator, microwave, or sink.
Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on affordable housing refers to mortgages and a number of forms that exist along a continuum – from emergency homeless shelters, to transitional housing, to non-market rental, to formal and informal rental, indigenous housing, and ending with affordable home ownership.
Multifamily residential, also known as multidwelling unit (MDU)) is a classification of housing where multiple separate housing units for residential inhabitants are contained within one building or several buildings within one complex. Units can be next to each other (side-by-side units), or stacked on top of each other (top and bottom units). Common forms include apartment building and condominium, where typically the units are owned individually rather than leased from a single building owner. Many intentional communities incorporate multifamily residences, such as in cohousing projects.
Housetruckers are individuals, families and groups who convert old trucks and school buses into portable homes called housetrucks and live in them, preferring an unattached and transient lifestyle to more conventional housing. These vehicles began appearing around New Zealand during the mid-1970s and, even though there are fewer today, they continue to travel New Zealand roads.
A carriage house, also called a remise or coach house, is a term used in North America to describe an outbuilding which was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages and their related tack. Carriage houses were often two stories, with related staff quarters above.
The tiny-house movement is an architectural and social movement promoting the reduction and simplification of living spaces. According to the 2018 International Residential Code Appendix Q, a tiny house or "micro-house" is defined as "a home with a maximum floor area of 400 sq ft, excluding lofts". Proponents suggest that tiny homes could offer low-cost, eco-friendly alternatives within the housing market and serve as a transitional housing option for homeless individuals.
William Warren Riggs or "Billy" Riggs is an author, city planner, entrepreneur and professor of Management at University of San Francisco, and an international expert in the areas of sustainable transport, technology, urban development and the future of cities. He is the author of the book, End of the Road: Reimagining the Street as the Heart of the City and Disruptive Transport: Driverless Cars, Transport Innovation and the Sustainable City of Tomorrow. He has worked as a professional planner, in venture capital for Just Business and a strategic consultant for various technology firms and startups. He also has experience as a successful recording artist and music producer, having worked on award-winning projects with Frances England, Gabriel Riggs and Carlos Villarreal.
Jessica Bruder is an American journalist who writes about subcultures and teaches narrative writing at Columbia Journalism School.
Safe parking programs provide parking sites where people experiencing homelessness can legally park and stay in their cars overnight. Some safe parking programs provide support services and hire private security guards to make the facility more safe.
Bob Wells is an American YouTuber and author, known for his advocacy of nomadic vandwelling as a form of affordable minimalist living.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)