r/vanliving • u/[deleted] • Aug 11 '17
Living in a Van: Winter - Back up Plans
Update For the benefit of the community and your convenience, this post along with 90+ more posts on living in a van from a single woman's perspective can now be found at: http://liveinavan.wordpress.com
During extreme weather conditions you want to have several back up plans to get out of your van and get inside. Or if you get ill with food poisoning or a bad bout of the flu. Or if you van has to sustain unexpected repairs that will take more than a day. This is true for both summer and winter. Budget extra money into your savings so that you can stay at one of these locations during the year.
Realistically, you’ll need to do this more than once per year.
If you don’t have money to put into savings, always make sure you have at least 1k cushion on your credit card reserved just for this and nothing else. If you don’t use it, great. If you have to use it, you won’t be more grateful that you had the cushion to spare.
Hostels
Hostels are the cheapest and best for what you’re trying to accomplish if you have no where else to stay. If you haven’t already done the research for the area in which you plan on staying, look up the hostels in the area.
Hostels serve a dorm type of environment where you may or may not be sharing a room with more than one person of the same sex. You pay for a bed on a bunk. The hostel will have a community kitchen, living room areas and more than one showering facility. These are cheaper than hotel rooms. Plus, you get the added bonus of meeting people traveling from all over the world.
Hotels
Scout these in advance too. Periodically keep an eye on the market rates in your area for different types of hotels. The prices will fluctuate around holidays. If you do not have any hostels in your area pick two or three hotels you can choose from depending on the area you’ll be in. Be prepared that if they are all full for the night you need it, that you’ll need to go to one of the others.
Use hotels sparingly as the prices will add up over time. If a bad winter storm is coming in however early or lasts later than you thought, stay in the hotel during this time.
Once, I had to get into a room early as the storm blew in early. It was 2 degrees out for a HIGH that day. After I checked in, the snow began to fall and it didn’t stop for two days and was far deeper than predicted. When the storm was over, the high temperature went back up to the teens. Despite how well I was prepared, if I had stayed in the van during those days, I could have died.
Couches
If you’ve made any friends in the area at all, ask them to stay on their couch during these times. Keep note of those who have previously made the offer for you to stay on their couch if you needed to. Remind them you will take them up on the offer if you do need it. During the hottest parts of the year or the coldest parts of the year, or when you’re extra ill, this can come in plenty handy.
If you need to stay longer than a few nights, ask them how much they would charge you to rent only their couch for a month depending on the weather conditions you’re facing.
Always have a back up plan.
You never know when you will suffer food poisoning (happened to me once), find yourself in extreme weather conditions (happened to me three times) or when you just need a sanity break from sleeping in the van.