10 Surprises About Living A New Zealand Vanlife!

Pretty cool 2 for 1 special...a car and a home

Are you thinking about living in a van? Do you love surprises? Are you following Patrick and me on our trip around New Zealand? If you answered yes to any of these questions then this blog post is for you !

1: The van is smaller than you think. When we viewed our very first van we were super surprised at how small it actually was. I think the pictures can be a little bit deceiving and naturally you envision this ideal van. But the truth is you probably won’t be able to stand and that’s ok, because after a long day of hiking all you want to do is lay down!

Climbing down from the summit, thinking about resting my feet!

2: You get used to it super fast! I feel like I can’t even remember what it feels like to live in a regular size apartment or at home. Everything is fairly convenient and with a few tweaks the van really starts to feel like a home. Also you can have breakfast in bed literally everyday!

3: You don’t shower as much as you think you would. I think we showered about once a week for the first month and surprisingly we didn't feel that gross. Maybe it’s just that we’ve gotten super comfortable or maybe it’s that we’ve been swimming in the ocean a lot but you don’t have a full shampoo conditioner, soap shower very often. Some people get gym memberships and a few times we went into a public pool to shower but once we were on the road and in the ocean, showering became less important. That’s not to say that when a free shower is available we don’t take it! Anytime we go on an excursion and they offer a free shower we definitely bring the shampoo!

Always taking free showers when we can get them!

4: Actually driving the van! The roads in New Zealand are super curvy and super hilly. Patrick has been the only one to drive the van for any extended period of time. He is super comfortable driving but I know if I were to take the wheel we would be free falling off a cliff. Patrick also said that the speed limits are pretty slow. Although to be fair we are constantly being passed when we’re on the road in a big van. As a side note the majority of the vans that we looked at were manual so if you were looking to buy a van and didn’t know how to drive manual definitely be prepared to learn. I know for me personally it can be super intimidating to get behind the wheel of such a large car and I have been putting off my manual driving lessons.

Patrick remembering to stop and smell the roses!

5: Cooking is easy washing dishes is not. We found that cooking has been fairly easy and we have been eating well! A classic staple of our meals is black beans they go great on tortillas, they are delicious by themselves and beans on toast... a classic. Plus they are only $1 a can! Sometimes we use beans to rationalize prices, for example, prepackaged pasta for $10, that is 10 cans of beans, Ben and Jerry's for $12, that is 12 cans of beans, although sometimes you have to treat yourself (side note: Ben and Jerry's is actually $12 here so that is a bonus surprise, ice cream is very pricey over here haha). Canned food is definitely your friend when you’re living in a small space. It’s nice because you can have something easy to cook and healthy for you and you don’t have to worry storage or about keeping it cold. Now washing dishes is another story. We have an electric sink which is awesome. And our sink hasn’t caused us too much grief but somehow all of our dishes are just a little bit too big so we always end up with water spots all over. It’s not the end of the world but it’s definitely not the sought after household (vanhold?) duty.

It is snack time!

6: We generally have a great cell service. We got an unlimited plan and it has been the greatest decision. We have good signal pretty much everywhere unless we are right in-between mountains! Having service has been great because after a long day we can watch Netflix and we can always look up new places to eat or places to fill up with gas or a dump station or a water fountain or just check the gram!

7: Lack of structure is fun, but can be overwhelming. Having just graduated, both Patrick and I are used to busy days. The change of pace has been great and we feel so lucky to be on such a crazy adventure but sometimes the lack of structure or goals can be intimidating. We created small goals to work towards like improving surfing, applying for jobs and meditating daily. This has really helped with feeling a lack of purpose. We also take entire days to plan what we want to do next, budget and make improvements on the van. This helps to give the trip some structure and routine. We also started setting an alarm to wake up. The first little while we allowed ourselves to sleep in but after a while our days were feeling way too short. The sun sets around 6:00 pm so if you have a late start to the day it can feel like a little bit of a waste. Also some people might really thrive in an environment with no structure! But I know personally for me routine is key to my sanity!

When we feel like we are in a slump, taking a hike usually does the trick!

8: Your personal style is weekly. Because accessing clothes isn’t the easiest thing in the world and sometimes you want to leave the bed set up as a bed instead of a couch you end up wearing the same clothes multiple days in a row. I would say we choose an outfit for about 3 to 4 days, wear it out, throw it in the laundry and then switch into new clothes for the next 3 to 4 days. We are definitely working our way through our wardrobe just a little bit differently than we would if we were living in a house.

This campsite was beside a graveyard and we woke up to this black cat! Pretty spooky stuff, not as spooky as a risking a parking ticket though!

9: Campsites fill up fast! Depending on where you are camping sometimes the campsites can fill up super quickly. When we were in Rotorua we found that the campsites filled up by noon and so we stayed a little bit outside of the city. With freedom camping you can camp anywhere that is labelled for camping. This means as long as it’s not private land or government land you should be able to camp there. Although we found it’s best to stay at the designated campsites that we find on the app CamperMate. Our first five days in Raglan we stayed at an unmarked spot. Then we realized camping was prohibited when we received a big ticket. Since then we have only camped at places that are 100% approved.

10: Lazy days happen and they are needed. Living in a van you are not always parked mountainside overlooking the entire country (although sometimes you are!) Other times you are just in a car lot haha! Lots of days you spend doing crazy adventures but other days you need to sleep in and rest. We have had more than our fair share of naps and early nights. It is important to embrace and enjoy these chill days as well as the action packed ones. I’ve found that posting each day on Instagram has become a little ritual that allows me to find something great or something I would like to share in each day!

That’s all 10, which is the most surprising to you?