I spend months at a time in my RV traveling in Europe. Here are the 6 most important things I’ve learned about van life.

Van life allows me to go where I want, when I want, while working on the road. Heidi Fuller-love I’m a Europe-based travel writer who has lived in and worked in an RV for nearly 30 years. Through van life, I’ve visited Turkey, Morocco, Spain, Montenegro, and Greece for months at a time.

I’ve learned key lessons anyone considering van life should know, such as how to find good Wi-Fi. I’m a Europe-based travel writer who has lived in and worked in an RV for nearly 30 years. With my first van 27 years ago.

Since then, I’ve visited dozens of countries in my RV including Turkey, Morocco, Spain, Montenegro, and Greece. Heidi Fuller-loveAs a lover of highways, byways, and slow travel, I’ve always been a huge fan of RVs and van life. I bought my first van 27 years ago so that I may go where I want, when I want, while working on the road.

Even before I bought my van, I used to travel far and wide in my old 2CV car, parking in truck stops and curling up for the night in my well-worn sleeping bag, before working in roadside cafes during the day.  Since purchasing my first van, I’ve visited dozens of countries, including Turkey, Morocco, Spain, Montenegro, Greece, and many others. I’m currently based between France and Greece and travel in a larger RV.

 I typically spend three to four months at a time living out of my RV in every country I visit to get a real deep dive into each place’s culture and meet lots of locals.  In doing so, I’ve learned some important lessons that have helped make my life as a digital nomad and travel writer easier, such as choosing to travel out of season to avoid crowds. I’ve also made costly mistakes such as not installing reliable Wi-Fi.

 Here’s what I think anyone considering van life should know before they hit the road. Van life has allowed me to have some truly unique experiences I would never have had otherwise. My favorite thing about van life is how much freedom this lifestyle allows for exploration.

Heidi Fuller-loveOne of the best things I’ve learned about van life is how much freedom this lifestyle allows for exploration. In Turkey I traveled along the Turquoise Coast, and then headed inland, stopping to standup paddleboard in lokantas. I also visited spectacular cultural sites such as Aspendos and Cappadocia, and wallowed in mineral-rich hot springs near Koycegiz Lake.

In Spain, I spent the night near Salvador Dali’s home in Portlligat, danced in Granada, and crossed over to explore Gibraltar. While in Croatia, I parked near Dubrovnik, visiting the marble-lined city’s hip shops and wall-top bars after work, and then traveled the entire coastline, hopping on and off ferries to visit Split and other glorious islands.  None of this would have been possible, or affordable, had I not been living and traveling out of my van.

As a travel writer on deadline, I can’t live without Wi-Fi. After a few years and plenty of trial and error, I found the best way to get online while working and traveling in my van. Holding my hotspot in Spain.

Heidi Fuller-loveSince my first van all those years ago, I’ve upgraded several times and now have a larger RV with bathroom, bedroom, and cooking facilities. But, as a freelance travel writer and podcaster, my biggest essential has always been a decent working space and really good Wi-Fi. If you only work occasionally in your van, you probably won’t worry much about these things but if, like me, you spend months at a time working on the road, you’ll need to invest in a few essentials.

 Getting online is one of the most important things to sort out. While many countries have internet cafes, I work too often to rely on them and prefer to be in my own space on the road without having to wait to find a cafe.  I used to rely on hotspots and new sim cards when I changed countries.

But I often found myself without a signal, even though I always used the speed test app to check if the connection would be good enough before deciding to stay somewhere. Recently, I’ve found it’s much easier to use a SolisWiFi hotspot, which is a Wi-Fi hub shaped like a large orange disc that provides internet access. It’s slightly more expensive than a sim card.

I bought the hotspot for €142,95 and then I purchase day or month passes. The unlimited global monthly pass I use costs €100,95 per month, but it’s half the price if you buy the Europe pass. I find that this option provides an advantage over sim cards in that it works 24/7 via satellite rather than a phone signal.

I’ve experienced a better, faster, more stable connection in most countries around the world with it. Although I’m a hard worker, it can be very tough to stay disciplined when all I want to do is go explore. Creating a set schedule for days to sight see and days to work has proven very helpful, as has investing in a comfortable workspace.

The hardest thing about traveling and working in an RV is often staying disciplined to finish my workload. Heidi Fuller-loveFor me, the hardest thing about traveling to amazing places in my RV is to stay disciplined and keep up my workload while I’m on the road.  When I first started travelling, I spent four months in Greece where taverns often let me park my van for free if I ate in their establishment.

It was an amazing and immersive way to travel to isolated beaches, tiny villages, or anywhere else that I wanted. The problem was that it was so exciting to arrive in so many new places that I forgot I needed to work to pay my bills. As I got used to life on the road, it was sometimes a struggle to stay focused when I wanted to be out exploring instead of hunkered down in my van.

For me, what works best is balance. I discovered that if I left the first day that I arrived somewhere new for exploration, that it made it easier to stay inside the van on the following days to get work done. This is how I now structure all of my travel.

And once I’m online and ready to work, I’ve learned I need a proper space to get it done. I used to work at my RV’s built in dining table but found it was too low and I’d get a stiff neck. Now, I use a folding desk that I can set up wherever I like.

It’s kind of like a breakfast tray, and it’s made my working life much easier. An RV can often be smaller than most bedrooms. At times, I’ve found it challenging to travel, work, and share my van with my partner.

I learned that honest communication is incredibly important when sharing such a small space. Me and my partner. Heidi Fuller-loveThere are times when it can be especially difficult to share and work in the same small space as another person.

I live in my RV with my partner and our cat, and if the weather’s bad, it can be a problem as I can’t expect my pet or partner to sit outside in the rain so I can concentrate in silence. When I’m only working occasionally in the van, noise doesn’t bug me too much, but when I’m working long hours, which I often do, I can easily become irritated by the cat howling to be let out, or my partner breezing in and out of my tiny office area. I quickly learned how important communication is so I can let my co-travelers know when I need the van to be out of bounds so I can complete my work, before it becomes a miscommunication.

 I also invested in a pair of QuietOn 3 earbuds, which are the world’s smallest noise canceling earplugs, so that I can work if there is no way in avoiding a full house. Living off grid in an RV is sometimes free, which is good for my budget. But I’ve learned to factor in the cost of a proper campsite at least once a week.

I usually live off grid in my RV but sometimes I need traditional campsites. Heidi Fuller-loveOne of the things that I love most about traveling and working in an RV is that I can stop and park more or less whenever and wherever I want. I’ve watched the snow fall over the mountains of Kosovo from a cute cafe’s parking lot.

I’ve seen Santorini’s famous sunsets for free from the remote seaside resort of Vlychada, and I’ve spent nights under the stars with my RV in Spain’s wild and wonderful Cabo de Gata nature reserve. I’ve done this by looking for places that are truly off grid and choosing free or very cheap campsites. The free ones are bare bones and come with no amenities, which can work for a few days since I have solar panels for electricity and gas bottles for cooking.

However, there’s always a point, usually once a week, when I’ll need to stay in a proper campsite to wash clothes, empty and refill my water, and charge the solar batteries. Luckily, in my experience, many of the countries I visit including Morocco and Turkey have plenty of cheap campsites from 5 euros a night. I also use apps like park4night to find places where I can fill my water tank or get an electric hook up for the night within my budget and route.

 One of the best things I’ve invested in for van life is a generator. The best investment I made in RV life was a generator. Heidi Fuller-loveEven though I have solar panels, there have been plenty of times where I needed additional or replacement power, and wasn’t able to hook-up to a power source at a proper campsite.

In those instances, I’m glad I invested in a small generator. The best ones tend to be fairly noisy, so I’ve learned to make sure to place mine away from other people when I need it, and use a long extension cord so that the noise won’t disturb me when I’m working, either.  It was one of the bigger expenses of van life, but one I’m always grateful to have that I think is totally worth it for anyone considering this lifestyle.

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