The Hustle Behind REAL Full-Time Van Life! | NO-BUILD Van Life Tour

Was like that's the van that I want to get because I it was $3,500. Yep. Wow, that's a great deal Yeah, and it looks like you've done a no-build build essentially no construction My next video today, we're gonna meet Rowan. Hi Rowan. Hi, and you're in a nice Ford van So I'm interested to see there and how long have you been on the road two years? It'll be two years in April Why do you end up living in a van? So I taught for a long time and then things changed in life circumstances events and so I was looking for a way to Reduce my bills, but I wanted to be able to save up money And so I looked at my biggest bill which was rent at that time. My son was 16 So I wanted to keep paying rent at the apartment so that he'd have a place to live But I started planning for a way that I'd be able to save up that money that I would be spending on rent and so I really started looking into Vehicle life van life in particular around that time. It was 2019 as a way to You know have more freedom Mostly financial at that time. So you're still young yet. How are you supporting yourself on the road then right now? I am fortunate that my youtube channel has grown And I'm able to live on that. I do have a few other Streams of income so it's not solely off of that. I do have Hats that I sell online I have patreon and I also have DoorDash and so that When things are slower in one area, I'm able to kind of pick up in another so it's kind of like a cohesive System to make ends meet and the beauty of this lifestyle is that my bills my monthly bills are really low DoorDash I did full-time last year I was doing it full-time before my channel was monetized and That was a really fun way to travel around I had my Honda Pilot and I drove around the country and I love DoorDashing and it helps make ends meet and so even just Last month I picked it up again for a few weeks just to kind of supplement things So so it does, you know, my first thought is they wouldn't work together. Well, but it seems like they work really well together Yes, they actually do and I did take a six-week road trip just to test it out About DoorDashing on the road and that was when I had my Toyota Corolla and I I was able to do it I was still able to meet my bills which at that point were significant because of the rent that I was still paying So I was able to travel Stay in my car DoorDash and still pay on my apartment in Washington And I that's when I kind of a light bulb went off that once I was Not responsible for paying rent anymore that I could travel And that I was able to use the app the DoorDash app and Uber Eats They go from state to state you can it just transfers You just go into an area go online start getting orders and it's as if you were Doing food delivery in your own area So that's a lot of freedom kind of like which city do I want to go and then I could spend a couple days outside Of that city kind of recharging and then go in and work the weekends. And yeah, it's a lot of fun So if people were interested in either your hats that you're making or more on DoorDash How can they get some more information from you? I have some videos on my my channel my youtube channel, which is just Rowan that's the name of my youtube channel and I have videos that kind of go into Specifics about the amount of money and show kind of the process and the pickups and the delivery I call them dash and chats if you go to my channel, you'll see those So everyone if you're Interested in DoorDash and I think you should be if you need another source of income or in hats Make sure you go and check out Rowan's YouTube channel. Okay. Why don't we take a look inside your van? Yeah All right, folks. Let's go do that so tell us a little bit about your van this is a 2010 Ford Econoline E350 series and has 210 I think on its way to two hundred and eleven thousand miles and Yeah, she's going strong. No issues and it looks like you've done a no-build build essentially no construction Yes, there's a little bit, you know, there's a couple screws here that actually are no longer screwed in This is loose but and there's a few places like that where things are screwed in but it's It's it's basically a no-build I got dimensions I that was the first thing I did. I started looking at vans. I saw this one. It's from a school district And they were retiring Some of their fleet they got some new vans and so this was I knew it was had been well maintained because it was part of a school district and so I Was like that's the van that I want to get because I it was thirty five hundred Dollars yep. Wow, that's a great deal. Yeah, and it did have a lot of seats in it. And so I Was looking for more like a work van not a school passenger van but once I got the van, I tried to take the seats out myself and It was a bit of a struggle and then I started thinking what am I gonna do with them once I get them out? And then I thought of the junkyard and so that's actually a good idea to like Go to the junkyard because often they'll take them out for free because then they can resell them Then I think about a passenger van is it's got insulation. Mm-hmm, and it's kind of soft versus The cargo van I had I had to kind of do the walls and everything so that saved on money, too So the first thing I did was kind of the measurements The bed is a big piece and then I just I realized I wanted my a kitchen area I do a lot of cooking when I was designing this one. It's kind of like okay What's my cooking area gonna be it's an upgrade from the other vehicles. I've been in because I have more space here So I had a lot of fun designing the kitchen. I wanted a nice big bed. I have my dog and she sleeps next to me And yeah, I kind of went from there so once I had dimensions in terms of height and everything this stuff's from Amazon and Then some of the more custom stuff like the dimensions of the countertop. I went to Home Depot so I go in with my dimensions and They'll cut it and then I just piece it together the sink. I got also from Amazon and I Just drilled a hole in the plywood I stained the plywood. I drilled a hole in there and I got a Sink drain off Amazon too. How does that go into a holding tank? Yes. It's uh, I got it from Walmart. It's big It's blue. It's seven gallons, right and I got the pipe at Home Depot and Yeah, I'll just dispose of it at Where you dispose gray water, it's just gray water in there. So like campground and things like that They have those stations things have kind of evolved. I knew I wanted my water cooler up here I used to move it and put it on the ground when I drove and then One day I was like, I'm gonna tackle this so everything can stay fixed when I drive I don't have to move anything when I drive Everything stays where it is So this I crocheted You know this this thing I can take this out I can rinse it out and wash it I can also refill it from up here. It holds probably two point two five gallons just over two gallons And I keep extra gallons Under the bed in the back and also under the passenger seat. This is something I made in Eighth grade seventh grade wood shop. So I keep my toiletries in there So in here is kind of just I didn't clean any of this out, but there's a Look at what I carry around. I keep a stove under here. I love this stove. Oh Yeah, you're so handy. Yeah the REI Eureka But there's a lot of different ones and then I have under the bed my pots and pans I have to ask people always want to know. Yeah. How do you go to the bathroom? Yeah Well, it's start what started as kind of like an emergency when I first moved into my car That was like the big question and I had you know different kind of setups and it was like in the emergency usually in the middle of the night of where I was stealth camping and I didn't want to get out of my vehicle and I learned that having kind of like a Tupperware Bucket or a shoebox shape thing at that point worked really well for me and you can just line it You know, that's for like P right and So that's what I use that kind of system an emergency and I'll line it but the nice thing about having the garbage bag Lining is that if I do need to also go number two, I could just deal with it. Yeah, tie it up dispose of it So that's actually in my stool here Inside this I did the lining myself with this I got this off Amazon as well. And again, I had looked up the dimensions. I just pinned the bottom This is actually a an ongoing Project here. I have to sew the bottom around it had a bunch of pins and I'm taking them out And but I did buy this at Joanne fabrics. I love this fabric It just makes it kind of luxurious And goes with the decor. So inside is that bucket? I also have Wipes in there both sanitizing and just like cotton wipes It serves as also my seating area for when I cook and how do you shower then? So shower, I broke down a couple months ago and got a membership at Planet Fitness For that I was just either using campgrounds Recreation centers are a gem. So I'll use the recreation centers. I've loves gas station That's a little pricier. But when I'm like, whoo, I need a shower So, how do you have solar I do there's one actually behind the driver's seat, it's only a hundred watt I do have it set up if I need to and it's the same one that I used when I was living in My Honda Pilot and at that point I had a an eco flow River, I think it is and it charged really well I I used double-sided tape really good double-sided tape and then duct tape and I just Taped it right on the ceiling and I had a sunroof in that car So I put the wire through the sunroof and you couldn't even tell it was on there I would like to get more solar and put it up on top of this van I'm just not sure where I'd run the wire in yet. My power station is under here And it's a that you go flow Delta 2 and then I have a backup battery. I actually have two options for keeping food cold I have Yeti cooler it lives between the seats here and This is not a refrigeration It's just a cooler most of the time what I'll do is get frozen Vegetables and keep it in with my food because the bags of ice I found are really messy under the bed. I have It's an Alpi cool refrigerator And so I can use that and that's got a freezer and refrigerator and it's small But most of the time I don't use stuff that's super perishable or I'll use it right away So this is the back. It's um It's a it's there's not, you know too much to see here. And what you can see is kind of cool So there's a lot of storage space. Yes This is the way I hold my bed up is by these heavy-duty totes and then I got a piece of plywood. That's custom Again from Home Depot with the measurements, so these all have storage some of them are backup like coffee oats rice things like that and then There's four of them one in each one in each corner and That's that's what I've used. That's Worked great. And then I love swans. And so these I got from Amazon the vinyl window covers So after two years on the road, what do you think? Is it something you'd recommend for anyone? I love it There's challenges. There are hidden challenges that until I think that you're living this lifestyle. You don't know and One of them being just you know, the process of finding safe places to sleep every night the amount of driving from those different places that both of those things were Kind of hidden challenges that I didn't know until I experienced them. But even with those The joys of it have far exceeded my expectations. I absolutely love this lifestyle. I love the freedom To go where I want and I love the simplicity of having to be intentional about the things that I have with me in my life the objects that I'm responsible for and I love the feeling of Being more intentional about using stuff of power of water of the foods. I eat everything feels like I'm I'm a little more intentional about it and I love the community The nomad community, so even though I got into it with the goal of Financial freedom the sense of freedom is extended much beyond that and so I would recommend it I do recommend it for me It helped to kind of ease into it Somebody offers if I'm not staying at a family or friends house and they're like, oh you can sleep inside I'm like, I'll stay in like my van Like because this really is home and Rowan if people are interested in learning more about you. Tell us your social media YouTube So I have my YouTube channel it's just Rowan and I do travel vlogs and life vlogs and really just illustrate my journey of You know starting kind of from scratch and working towards my goal of land in a tiny home Rowan Thank you so much for sharing your home with us and you've been a real inspiration I think a lot of people have learned a lot and Will you'll help people follow their dreams. Thank you. So folks. I know you've been inspired You've gotten some great ideas here. Reach out to Rowan at her YouTube and address and We will see you on the next video. See you then