Van life is a lifestyle that revolves around travel in motorhomes or modified vans.
It involves living in a van or camper, typically of your own design, and travelling the country or even the world!
The benefits are many:
- Campsites can be found all over the place at almost any time of day with no reservations required
- Living in an environmentally-friendly vehicle
- Living off the grid with solar panels
- Waking up to everything you need already set up for you.
To offer you some inspiration, the rest of this article will provide a quick list of where to find some of the best camping spots for those living the van life.
What Are The Best Types of Campsites?
In the UK, campsites are fairly common and can range from five caravans or tents right up to the hundreds. The most expensive sites are usually found around the coast and often in the most spectacular locations.
Sites have a mixture of facilities that provide different bathing and cooking options to ensure everyone has a great time no matter what their needs are. Most campsites will have changing rooms, toilets, showers, car parks, and even campsite preparation areas for those who enjoy making their own meals. Many sites will also offer hot drinks, eateries, and other activities such as fishing, cycling, etc.
However, some campsites offer more than this, offering adventure activities such as climbing, kayaking, or dog walking.
What About Wild Camping?
In the UK, wild camping in its pure form isn’t technically legal. However, it can be considered a last resort when official campsites become completely overcrowded. This would include beaches, riverbanks, crop fields, and many other areas where they’ve been abandoned by previous users.
Depending on the location, wild camping may or may not be legal due to local rules and regulations regarding trespassing and disturbance of the site. Many areas are protected by local agencies or privately owned land owners, which restricts access to the public.
This isn’t to say that wild camping isn’t a good idea, and if you’re going to embark on a wild camping adventure, doing so in either a standard camper van or a converted van is a great way to do it.
What Does It Take to Become a Van-Lifer?
Van-lifers are those who have made their lives in a van or camper van and are happy living in their own pocket of the world. It isn’t an inexpensive or quick lifestyle, and it takes time to build up an environment that suits your needs.
You’ll need at least one camper van and some camping equipment: lights, solar panels, fridge, cooker and so on. These items don’t come cheap, but you can find them on the internet pretty easily by researching on a search engine.
You’ll also need to learn how to live off the grid. For example, you’ll need to know how to find campsites for the night, where to get water and how to use nature’s facilities.
