Letting go is hard. In late 2022, I had come to the realization that not only did I develop a habit of holding onto material things, but I also was still holding onto my past. Realizing that these often unhealthy and unnecessary attachments exist in your life is the first step towards freedom. As I daydreamed and fantasized about eventually living out on the road in my custom-built van, I reminisced about how free I once felt while living on a small sailboat in the Florida Keys.
One of the things that made me feel so light and free during my sailing days was that I didn’t have a ton of useless stuff weighing me down. During that period of my life, I was living according to the principles of non-attachment. The more you have to carry around in life, the heavier you will feel. This is true of both things and emotional baggage. This is my story about letting go of things to prepare for vanlife, with some useful tips for others thinking about or gearing up for the same type of lifestyle.
Need it, Love it, or Lose it
Living in a tiny space like a campervan means you only have room for the things you absolutely need, and a few items that you really love. Everything else has got to go! After all, this lifestyle is all about minimalism, practicality, and abiding by Leave No Trace principles.
To start getting rid of things, I went by the rule of thumb that if I don’t need it for living in a van, hiking, camping, or scuba diving, and I don’t absolutely love it, then it needs to get lost. In October 2022, I started sorting through my stuff and making piles of things I wanted to sell and things I wanted to donate. I wanted to make sure I was being responsible with my items and not throwing a ton of reusable or salvageable items into the trash.
I also wanted to make some money and put that towards the cost of my campervan build. The first few rounds of elimination were easy because they were the items I had no issue letting go of—the “junk drawer” toys, sheet sets that I never used, blackout curtains I never needed, and somewhere around 30 empty photo frames that were pretty useless to me since I had a digital photo frame.
I gave myself several months to continue saving money and slowly get rid of things by listing them on OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace so that the transition into vanlife wouldn’t interfere with my full-time job, my business, or my ability to enjoy life and relax. Selling things like my beautiful paddleboard and my spear gun were hard, but there just wouldn’t be room for those things in the van and once they were gone, I hardly noticed.
In March 2023, after purchasing my Ford Transit, I paid off my existing vehicle loan and sold my practically brand new blue Subaru Crosstrek. I was lucky enough to sell my car for a great price before the used car market crashed. Immediately after that, I had a big yard sale and got rid of all of my furniture and more than half of my clothes, shoes, and bags. I felt lighter already, and the money I made thus far meant I had enough for the custom van build and would be able to hit the road with a healthy pile of emergency savings.
Is Storage Worth It?
A big question I ran into during this process was whether or not it was worth it to store keepsake items that shouldn’t be thrown away, but weren’t necessary for living nomadically. These were things like photo albums, family Christmas ornaments, my sea glass, sea shell, and sea bean collections, and some artwork and other custom or hand-made décor that held special value to me. Once I got everything packaged into boxes, I realized that the items I wanted to store took up such a small amount of space that paying for storage didn’t make any sense. Luckily, my parents were able to just take the three boxes off my hands and store them at their house for safe keeping. However, if you don’t have a free place to store your keepsakes, then paying for a storage unit while you’re on the road might be your only option.
Create a Final Packing List
Once you’ve whittled the pile of clothes and camping gear down to what you think you will need, it’s time to ask yourself the final question: Do I REALLY need it? The reality is that even some of the things you think you’re going to need at some point will likely just end up taking up precious real estate in your van.
“Okay Rachel, you probably don’t need two emergency blankets, so just let go of the second one.”
“Do you really need four pairs of shorts? NO. Okay, so just pack three.”
“I know you love that mermaid mug, but you already packed your two favorite mugs and you only need one for you and one for a guest.”
Yes, those are real conversations I had with myself. As harmless as an extra pair of shorts may seem, packing your van in this way eliminates clutter and leaves space for adding things that you realize you do need while you’re out on the road. Take a look at my vanlife packing list to get an idea for how you can narrow your items down to just the essentials.
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