best and worst

before i left santa fe, a reporter contacted me through this blog and asked me for an interview. he was a former and future vandweller and wanted to do a story on the viability or maybe just the reality of this lifestyle. talking to him helped me articulate why i'm doing this and what this way of life has given to me and taken from me.
what's the best part of vandwelling? the ability to live on very little money, go wherever i please, and not have any financial commitments. i chose to stay in one place for a while in order to clear up my debt, and now that it is gone, i feel more possibility in my life than ever before. being on the road and not worrying about where i'm going to stay at night, or where i will live when i get where i'm going is a huge difference. i never needed to worry anyway, but the van life has opened my eyes to how easy it is just to exist.
what's the worst part of vandwelling? the lack of a bathtub. i sure do love 'em. and the larger context they usually are a part of like a house, a kitchen, a garden, a spot on the earth. i do miss these things and living in my van has not provided much in the way of entertaining opportunities for guests, not many homecooked meals, definitely no baths. but this con is also a plus in that i am able to have a savings account for the first time in my life which i believe may translate to owning some land and a house someday. so perhaps i'm closer than ever to actualizing my home based dreams.
there are many other pros and cons like--meeting people has been easier, but dating has been rough. paying bills is a breeze, but having an address has been a challenge. some minds have opened when they found out about me, some people have written me off.
all things considered, i don't regret a minute of this adventure. the reporter asked me if i plan to continue living in my van in the future. i said that although i will surely live in an apartment or house at times, i will come back to van life when i need or want to, and now that i've done it for this long, i know how easy it is. that can't be forgotten.