Van life doesn’t suck.
Okay, fine – sometimes it does suck, but it is also fun, challenging, weird, and totally worth it.
I drove to Arkansas on the morning of my third day of van life. I needed to keep traveling, but I wasn’t positive heading south was the right choice. To top it all off, I had it in my head my next campsite was only 2.5 hours away. Turns out, it was 5.5 hours away, and I was SO SICK of driving.
About 3 hours in, I was ready to call it quits and find somewhere random to crash for the night. But it was only 11:30 in the morning, so I kept driving.
When I finally made it to Arkansas, I started to get even more worried that the next campsite was going to be worse than the previous two. The roads got narrower, curvier, and rougher the closer I got to my spot for the night, and I was losing my last bit of optimism.
I usually don’t get motion sick, but driving through those hills me a little nauseous.
The last 5 miles of my drive was so rough it seemed like the van was going to fall apart. I couldn’t drive faster than 20 mph. The road was a solid bed of limestone and used to be an old logging road. No wonder it was so damn rough.
About a lifetime later, I turned the last corner and found myself staring at the most beautiful lake I have ever seen.
In my own self-pity and exhaustion, I had completely forgotten why I wanted to do van life in the first place. It wasn’t because I wanted to be comfortable all the time. It wasn’t because I love driving 5+ hours a day (I definitely don’t). I wanted to do van life to see all the beautiful places the world has to offer. All it took was a huge lake in the middle of Arkansas to remind me of that.
The next few days of van life were unexciting in all the best ways. I spent my days staring at Ouachita Lake, chatting with other campers about the area, and hanging out with Theo. The campers have been coming to the lake since it was dammed in 1952 and had stories to tell. We couldn’t get too close because of the pandemic, but hearing their stories, even from 20 feet away, was incredible.
I spent my nights photographing the sky over the lake, reading, and listening to the rain on the roof of the van. I was only there for three days, but that campsite helped me settle into van life. This spot made me realize that van life doesn’t suck, I just needed to give myself some time to adjust.
Arkansas is a beautiful state that should definitely be on your list of places to visit. I’m not exaggerating when I say it blew me away. Between all the state parks, picturesque little towns, and Hot Springs National Park, I could have spent months there without ever getting bored. To be honest, I could have stayed at my lakeside campsite for another month or two without any complaints. I can’t wait to go back.
Even though there are parts of van life that suck, the freedom it gives you to travel and explore new places far outweighs the bad. I’m so glad I kept driving after my first two days of van life. Had I never made it to Arkansas, I may have never remembered why van life was so important to me in the first place.
Some other ways van life doesn’t suck, just in case you aren’t convinced:
- Having a real kitchen with real kitchen cabinets while camping in the middle of nowhere is a luxury.
- Running water. Does your tent have running water? I didn’t think so.
- Even on bad days, I still got to climb into my own bed and cuddle with my dog at night.
- My entire wardrobe got to come with me. I don’t own a lot of clothes, but not having to choose which clothes to pack was GREAT. I just packed them all.
- Because of all my storage space, I was able to bring enough food and water with me that I wouldn’t have needed to go back into town for a month.
- I’ve never had access to a fridge and freezer while tent camping. Ice cream for breakfast, anyone?
- I could charge my phone without turning on the van.
- I knew that, at any given moment, I could jump in the van and drive anywhere I wanted to. Want to visit the beach? No problem. Want to escape the cold weather in Iowa? Time to start heading south.