Van Simply was created by van lifers with real experience on the road.
Welcome! My name is Robert Johnson and I lived in my converted camper van for eight months, traveling around the US visiting national parks, seeing the incredible nature that the US has to offer, surfing, paddle boarding, and meeting wonderful people along the way.
I learned about van life in 2018 and got immediately excited. The idea that I could have the freedom to go wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted, was incredibly appealing to my sense of spirit. I had always enjoyed camping and I approached van life as a sort of spiritual adventure to see if I could be content while living simple. I immediately started researching how to make it happen.
I did a ton of research and realized that the information available was often difficult to find and didn’t exactly suit my needs. So I got on the road and learned along the way.
I traveled over 20,000 miles staying at the highest-end RV parks right on the coast of California, campgrounds in the wilderness, boondocking on BLM land, and even the occasional Walmart parking lot. I still use my van to this day for weekend and multiple-week trips to get away from the routine of daily life and enjoy the open road.
I wouldn’t trade the experiences I’ve had in my van for anything in the world. The feeling of having complete freedom to go anywhere at a moment’s notice is incredibly empowering. If I woke up and decided that I wanted to go to that incredible festival that a friend told me about the night prior, I could get behind the wheel and go. If I felt like I needed some peace and distance, I could head towards the beach for a few days of surfing.
My purpose with this website is to put together the information that I would have wanted before I got on the road. I want this to be the number one resource online for people interested in trying out van life for themselves.
What To Do Now?
If you’re here it means you’re intrigued about van life or are ready to hit the road and want to learn more. I’ve prepared everything you need here:
I hope you enjoy the content here and would love to hear suggestions about how to make it better or content you’d like to read. I’d love to hear from you!
Robert Johnson
Founder of Van Simply