Before beginning our odyssey, we contemplated different ways to travel, such as by motorcycle, bus, bike and hitchhiking. A big part of our trip is staying for periods of time in communities outside of cities. That’s why we liked the idea of a van because it gives us a place to sleep. And who hasn’t dreamed of traveling in a VW bus? This ideal didn’t quite work out for us, but for the beaten path we are going down, Terra (our van) is the best.

Living in a small rolling home also has its ups and downs, like everything in life. Below are some of our daily realities while living in a very small space.

No personal Space

At all times the 3 of us (Aidan, Johanna, Semuc) are inevitably together. Semuc is so used to being next to us that he’ll whimper if he doesn’t see us (but if we leave him in the van alone, he doesn’t make a sound). We cook, sleep, change, drive and do everything in the same space. Luckily, Semuc has been an extremely well-behaved dog since the day we adopted him. He’s never gone potty inside the van which is a big relief for us since that was one of the reasons we weren’t sure about getting a dog.

It can get messy

I think it’s impossible to have a cookie-cutter clean van like the ones on social media, especially if you are living full time in it. We’re always climbing in and out of the van and hence a lot of dust makes its way in. Each time we look for something, we have to take out a bunch of things and there goes the mess again. It’s a challenge trying to keep the van clean and orderly!

Living in a capsule

We can be parked anywhere from a beach, to a mechanic shop, a plaza, or parking lot, but when we climb into our van we feel at home. Sometimes our van is like a cave, especially when it’s night time and we try to not be noticed by people on the street. We keep our lights dim and our curtains well covered. Inside we have everything we need: food, bed, kitchen, and our dog. Stepping out onto the curb in the morning, we return to the ‘normal world’. We get the impression that some people who see us feel sorry or think we are living a ‘bad’ life, but we are extremely happy and comfy in our Terra as we make our way through Latin America.

Showering infrequently

When we DO shower, we enjoy it to the fullest because we know it’s not always easy for us to find. Thankfully we have been able to park many places with access to a shower thanks to Couchsurfing, friends we make, or we rent a shower at a hostel if it gets really bad. After filtering vegetable oil or a really hot afternoon, we miss being able to go to sleep nice and clean.

Bumping our head daily

We have a pop-up roof that we use when we are parked. This way we can stand up straight inside the van. We got this adaptation done in Tijuana, using an old VW van roof. It’s made our home-on-wheels much more comfortable to live in. Because the pop-up roof is smaller than our van, we still bang our head unexpectedly all the time, although much less than initially. When we first started the trip, we each bumped our head about 5 times a day!

Mechanical issues

Sometimes (and in our case, often) we need to pause our daily endeavors to solve mechanical problems.  It may just take a day or in worst case scenario up to a week or more. When it takes a while to fix an issue, it means spending all day at the mechanic shop and sleeping in the van there overnight. The bright side of this is that we tend to become friends with the mechanics and have more time to work on cultivating patience.

We feel very free

Everything in life has certain limitations and so does living in a vehicle. However, we absolutely love waking up in the morning, turning on the van and driving off. The landscapes, the people, and the experiences make us forget the little details that can make it uncomfortable at times. We know this type of living isn’t for everyone but if you have what it takes, I’m sure you would agree that there is nothing better than living this way.

- Johanna S.

• Making room Making room
• Stationed Stationed
• Mechanical problems Mechanical problems
• Landscapes Landscapes
• Closing up the roof Closing up the roof
• The family The family
• Cooking Cooking
• Improvising when necessary Improvising when necessary
• Cooking with wind Cooking with wind
• View in Guanajuato View in Guanajuato
• Oaxaca, Mexico Oaxaca, Mexico
• Inside of Terra Inside of Terra
• Power in the van Power in the van
• Reality Reality
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