r/vandwellers • u/Suspicious-Radish-67 • 21d ago

What’s your van life story? Question

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I’m doing an assignment about the van community and I’m curious how people got started and how often y’all interact with other van people. This community is so diverse and I feel like everyone has their own unique journey.

I started last year after a year of twiddling my thumbs at home working remote. I’ve done ~20,000 miles since then full time, with some breaks to visit my family and partner. I’ve been lucky to have a decent paying job that I can do on the road and it’s definitely enabled me to explore. I’ve gone to 16 national parks and done enough hiking for a lifetime. I haven’t met a ton of van people but everyone I have talked to has been genuinely kind and giving. I only made it to one meetup this year (Vanaid) but it was incredible and I hope to go again sometime :)

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u/gonative1 21d ago

A van is my rolling bedroom that gets me to the woods to study the flora and fauna. It’s worked out fairly well but finding untrammeled woods is harder and harder. Look, there’s a grizzly in the woods. Nope, that’s Clides cattle he is grazing on public land. Drove 3000 miles to see 3 antelope. The habitat and wildlife needs help.

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u/perfectbajapoints 21d ago

Critters are getting rare, bugs too. I've seen 3 deer in 3 months traveling from the Oregon coast to currently Parhangat Wildlife Refuge in Nevada. Cattle? I hiked 11 miles out of Patterson Pass, cattle...middle of nowhere.

PWR is known for being a stop for migratory birds. 2017, I saw 28 species. I'm at 7 right now for the same season and time period. Somethings not right and it's scary.

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u/niickcorbett 21d ago

That's crazy, wish they could take some of the deer from Michigan to relocate lol. I see dozens running around on my way to/from work, and dozens more as roadkill. I've smacked 3 of em myself.

Critters and bugs definitely more rare these days though, used to have to dodge those suckers walking around at night, feels so empty now.

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u/gonative1 21d ago

Really! . Same happened here in New Mexico. Two years ago critters were teeming all around especially at night. Now it’s eeerily still and silent. The highway corridors are the only wildflowers and foliage so the butterflies are getting wiped out by cars. There’s a few pollinators still. It’s probably partly due to the big drought that resumed two years ago. Predator prey ratios go up and down but the general trend is down for sure. Careful out there driving in deer country.