Let's Go, Jane!

In order to determine if #VanLife is for me, I wanted to conduct a little experiment. What if, for a whole week, I did not use the microwave, dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, or coffee maker? No hot water, shower or toilet. Only two pots; a cast iron dutch oven for cooking, and a small stainless camping pot to heat water. One gas burner and an air fryer. These are the conditions I envision for my little home on wheels, and I wanted to see if I could live under them. Here’s what I learned from my experiment:

Lesson #1: Appliances

Everything takes twice as long when you don’t use appliances. I’m used to waking up and pushing a button on the Keurig machine for an immediate cup of coffee. Instead I had to boil water on the stove, add a paper filter and coffee grounds, pour the water over the grounds and let it sit, and press the water through the Aeropress. The whole process took about 8 minutes, including washing the pieces when I was done. But it made a delicious cup of coffee!

Lesson #2: Laundry

Laundromats are everywhere, and I wear a lot of merino wool clothes that can be worn many times before they need to be washed. But I’d like to be able to go off grid, and that means hand washing and hanging dry. I was stuck on how to get the water out of my wet clothes without a spin cycle. I don’t see myself wringing each item out by hand. Then I remembered my mop bucket that has a built-in centrifugal basket. I added a small load of clothes to soapy water in the kitchen sink, then rinsed them in clean water in the mop bucket and took them for a spin. This worked great for all but the largest item, which I had to roll in a towel and stomp on.

Lesson #3: Cooking

One morning I made oatmeal on the stove in my dutch oven. I am used to putting oats and water in a bowl in the microwave for three minutes on high. On the stovetop they took twice as long to cook, and I ate them out of the pot so I wouldn’t have another dish to clean. I made sure to clean the pot as soon as I was done, as hand washing dishes is SO much easier if done promptly! I can only imagine how hard it would have been to clean off the oats once they’d dried. I definitely missed the microwave this week, but I think I can learn to live without it.

Lesson #4: Bathing

I was surprised to learn that I am totally fine without hot water. I heated water on the stove each day to clean my body with a bowl and a microfiber cloth. It was actually quite refreshing. I also washed my hair over the kitchen sink, using water heated on the stove. Now that my hair is curly, I only need to wash it twice a week, so that was not too bad. A lot of vanlifers get gym memberships so they can take hot showers and use the bathroom, but again, I want to be sure I could go off grid.

Lesson #5: Peeing

Ah, the bathroom. I promised my friend Hillary I wouldn’t go into too much detail here, apparently there’s a lot of oversharing on TikTok on this topic. I got a pee funnel, pee cloth, and a glass jar for urinating. Peeing while standing up is awesome! The biggest lesson here is never go to bed with a pee jar that is too full to use in the middle of the night. 

Lesson #6: Pooping
(I know, this should have been #2! But I wanted to ease you in gently.)

I watched a lot of YouTube videos on the different types of toilets for RVs and vans; composting, chemical, and urine separating. I knew I would not have ventilation, so I opted for the last one. I purchased a portable plastic toilet and some commode liners. I was anticipating that this would be the worst part of my experiment, but it actually wasn’t that bad. I used some old potting soil as dry cover because I already had it on hand, but I would pick up coconut coir or sawdust in the future. I intentionally did not mention this part of the experiment to my teenage son who lives with me, and he made no comment about any smells coming from my bedroom, so I think this was also a success.

This week-long experiment taught me that I definitely have what it takes to live in a van. I still want to rent one for the first-hand experience, but there were no red flags this week. Of course, this dream is still 18 months away, and a lot can happen in that amount of time. But for now, my dream of #VanLife continues!