I moved out of my flat to start full-time Vanlife

It is time to move on and at the same time to move out. I left my flat in Graz after about 3 years to move in a van and travel around Europe.

It wasn’t an easy decision for me to leave Graz to move in my van, but it was necessary to fulfill my dream. I really love the city, I have a lot of good friends there and I will really miss this. For sure I could keep the flat and wouldn’t get into financial troubles, but would I go all in with my plans? I don’t think so, and that is why I moved out because, with no Plan B, I have to make sure to go after Plan A as well as possible. And I also can spend the rent and invest it in the van or on my travels.

aerial view of buildings during daytime — Photo by Daniel J. Schwarz on Unsplash

So on the 29th of March 2021, I handed in my keys and moved into the unknown.

Back to the roots

I am not moving into the van directly, because I have a lot to do at the van before starting the trip. So I moved back to my parents where I have enough space to work on the van to get it ready. It may look like a step back, but It saves me money and I wouldn’t have a place to park the van to work on it in the city. So this was the best decision.

It is also only temporary, my plan is to work about 1 month on the van and start traveling afterward.

My plans for 2021

I am very optimistic that my plans are working out and I can hit the road in May. The van is already converted, and I traveled a lot with it last year, so every new addition to my build would be just luxury. But I want to add some solar panels for sure to be more flexible when working on the road and I can also stay longer if I find a great spot.

My plan is to travel around Austria, South Tyrol, Switzerland, and Germany in May. In June my buddy Tim will join the journey with his van and we want to drive to Norway in June and July. I always dreamed of visiting Norway, and doing some hikes, and take some photographs of the stunning landscapes there. Also, we are trying to escape the “extreme” heat here in middle Europe, because in a Van without an AC, everything above 24°C turns the van into an oven.

If our plan works out and our vans haven’t broken down by then, we want to head south to Greece to spent August and September there and enjoy the late summer. But we don’t want to rush to the different destinations and also want to enjoy the different countries we are crossing on the way.

Streets of Greece — Photo by Yifat Sheffi on Unsplash

At first, we wanted to go to Portugal, but unfortunately, they changed their laws regarding camping outside of campsites and parking lots. So we are also thinking about going to Portugal instead of Greece but we have to wait for reviews of other vanlifers or some official statements to change our plans.

This plan also depends on the COVID situations in the different countries. But we hope for the best.

Personal concerns

I don’t know if this decision is the right one for me, but I want to give it a try. I already dreamed a long time of owning my own van and do full-time vanlife. I bought my van in September 2018, spent the whole year of 2019 to convert it, and finally traveled a lot with it in 2020. So I am no newbie in terms of living in a van. I traveled some months last year, my longest Journey was 2 weeks. I really love it, but I don’t know how it will work out when leaving my safe harbor and dealing with all the new challenges.

But I think I will get used to the lifestyle fast and will enjoy it. I already mentioned that Tim will join in June, but I have no one traveling with me in the van. But I am currently searching for someone who will join me.

Concerns of others

“Wouldn’t it better for you to get a real job and work first?”

I don’t know how often I heard this question since I decided to move in my van to travel Europe. Nowadays society is so concerned about their work and careers that they totally forgot to live their lives. But I am good, I am self-employed and work only as much that I can afford my life and to safe enough for hard times. I love what I do and don’t really get the point why I should rip my ass of for someone else, only to earn a little bit more to answer the question “How are you?” with “Thanks I am good, just a lot to do at work.”.