Since embarking on this adventure 8 months ago, we clocked up just over 8000km, camped in or drove through 7 countries, had 3 different jobs and broke down once. Returning to Austria has been a bit surreal, especially since we’re staying in a flat in the exact area where we lived last year, in a room that one of us lived in for a while a few years ago. We’ve definitely come full circle, and it’s led to some assuming that we’re back now after a few months of van life. We have done the rounds of friends and family over the last week, and have heard some of the same questions a few times. Therefore, why not answer them here for anyone else wondering the same things!
1. Are you done now?
No way! Not by a long shot. We haven’t got much of a plan; in fact, we tend to have rough hopes for where we might be and what we might be doing generally for a month into the future, but not much further ahead. However, the general plan is to live like this for as long as we’re able to. Sometimes it’s a bit nerve-wracking to not know where we might be, what job we might have and how we will get an income, but those nerves just add to the excitement of living like this! So no, we’re not done and hope not to be done for a while.
2. How do you finance it?
We work! When you are traveling, of course it’s assumed that you’re on an extended holiday, something that you have saved up for and will continue to do until the money runs out. That’s not what we’re doing. We’re constantly on the look out for jobs and projects of any kind that we can turn our hands to, whether it’s for a few days, weeks or months. It has to be something we can drive to of course, but other than that we’re pretty open to any country too. Oh, and it has to be enjoyable. Those are the only rules.
3. Where do you find jobs?
We look anywhere and everywhere! We keep an eye on general job ad websites, search for seasonal work, look at the work-for-food-and-accommodation websites and mention to everyone that we know and meet that we’re available for any short-term projects. Between us we’ve got a pretty wide skill set, so aren’t very restricted in the kinds of jobs we look for. So far we’ve been organic chicken farmers, carpenters, social media managers, bloggers, pet-sitters, lumberjacks and land-scape gardeners.
4. Isn’t the van a bit small to live in?
Well, yes it is small. So far, we’re always the smallest camper on any campsite, in any parking spots or on the road. But our van is perfect! It has a living/dining room, kitchen and bedroom – we just have to do a bit of building up or dismantling to create the different rooms. We always have to be in the same room of course, which wouldn’t suit everyone but is working out rather well for us. The warmer, dryer times of the last 3 months mean that we’ve always had a pretty large garden to utilise as an extra room too – home is where you park it after all.
5. What about toilets and showers?
Traveling from project to project means we have so far always been living somewhere with those facilities just next door. Or, we have stopped at parking places or campsites that include a toilet at least. Or, we use the nearest tree for a toilet. Or, a saucepan in the back of the van when there is nothing else around, which seems to be more likely to happen in cities so far. Safe to say, if nice toilets and daily showers are important to you, we wouldn’t recommend moving into a van :o)
6. Where to next?
We’re off to Slovenia! Stay tuned and we will keep you updated.
If you’ve got any other questions, leave us a comment here, or pop them into our guestbook. We love to hear from you!