Used to live in a van down by the river. First of all, it's cramped. You can't just get out of your van at all odd hours, out of fear that someone trying to launch their boat might see you, and call the cops about some suspicious dude living in a van, as opposed to them just seeing a possibly abandoned van that's always there. Because of this, you actually have to go park your van somewhere else, using up gas you can't afford, and a 1989, Econoline is not gas efficient.

Bathing, though achievable, is difficult. During the summer, the nights are warm, so you sweat really bad when you sleep, and wake up sticky and gross, meaning that you either have to use baby wipes, or sneak further into the woods to bathe with your bucket, rag and stinky hotel cosmetics that you got that one time you had bit of extra money to stay in hotel, and hope that some random hiker or jogger doesn't see you and call the cops.

During the summer months, you can't run your AC, because of gas, and during the winter, you can't run your heater... because of gas. You have to find ways around this by doing things like walking around in the woods during the hottest part of the day, or laying in a subarctic sleeping bag during the cold of winter.

Even if your van is a camper van, you still need to replenish things like propane, so you can cook. Though propane is cheap, there is probably a reason you are in a van down by the river, and that's because you don't have any money.

The social life is nonexistent. Even if you were lucky like me, and had a job, people still don't want to hang out with you because there is a fear, deep down, that you may steal from them. Also, you can't just invite people over for a couple brews and a movie.

you're nit always in the van, sometimes you're sleeping in a lonely national forest, and after a while, your mind begins to fuck with you. You begin swearing you saw a ghost, or heard something, when you're really just alone and petrified.

All of these issues combined add together to cause a subtle feeling of inferiority which leads to drinking. This is how it is with most people in this lifestyle, drinking is just how you deal with it, and it makes things feel so much worse.

That being said, there are definitely pros. If you have job, you have plenty of money to do whatever you want with, so nothing is expensive. Me, I ate filet mignon every night for a month, and got tired of it.

You get a lot of reading done and become well versed in many books, while expanding your vocabulary. You have little access to media, so you're not burdened by the stress of being constantly bombarded by terrible things in the news. You have a lot of time to widen your musical palette, and there is nothing more amazing than sitting under the stars, listening to the Killers to a good steak.

You learn to become extremely resourceful. You learn how to cook without electronics, how to be a chef, and how to repair all your own equipment. You learn what you actually need and don't need and learn how to work with nature to help you live better.

You make good friends with the police and homeless. I found a homeless camp and began helping a bunch of homeless folks who would have died protecting me, as I brought them food. The cops also helped homeless people find new places to live, when the got evicted, and would bring them food and blankets.

You can even get lucky and find some fantastic squats. I would park my van at work sometimes, and trek a couple miles to a patch of woods, where I had a nice creek and hammock. No one disturbed me, and I really could relax there.

You find crafty ways to make money by doing things like standing on the side of the road with a sign, or scrapping metal and recyclables.

If I had to go back to living in a van, I'd want more money and a better van, one made for actually traveling. It wasn't as bad as one would think, but it had its downside.