People think van life is cheap, and the honest answer is that it depends. Here are the real monthly costs from our years in a Chevy Astro and a Sprinter van, what has changed, and where we save.
Free camping is disappearing from some of America’s favorite public lands. Here’s the running list of closures, why they’re happening, and where you can still go.
Every national forest sets its own stay limit, and the newest orders add a second number: a cap on days per year. Here is every order we could read, by forest, with its dates.
I’ve lived in a van since 2018, and for me the hardest part is deciding where to sleep every night. Hundreds of van lifers told me theirs: 3 AM bathroom runs, breakdowns, the knock, and fitted sheets.
Legal beach camping in a van is a short list: ten U.S. beaches where you can sleep on the sand, each with its permit, fee and night cap, plus how free camping on a Baja beach really works.
Only four vans sold new in the U.S. come with all-wheel drive: the Ford Transit, Mercedes Sprinter, Toyota Sienna and Chrysler Pacifica. Here is how AWD differs from 4×4, what each costs, and the used AWD vans worth hunting.
One reader in the Virgin Islands shivered at 68 degrees. One in Newfoundland had ice inside the windows. Hundreds of sailors told me whether they could live aboard through a winter, and what would stop them.
Living on a boat is cheap. Owning one never is. Twenty-two moves that keep our life aboard small, from anchoring out and DIY boatyards to parts on sale, each with a real figure from our ledger or a rate card.
Since a 2024 Supreme Court ruling, hundreds of cities have restricted sleeping or living in vehicles.
Hundreds of sailors answered one question on our sailing Facebook page: would retiring aboard save you money? Most said no.
I live in my own van and have never rented one in the U.S., so this is the list I would hand a friend: 21 campervan rental companies, what they include, where they pick up and what the fees are.
Overnight parking is closing in three places at once: state rest-area rules, city two-hour limits, and store lots overruled by ordinances.
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