Hello everyone!
I’m Elisa from Brazil and i’ve been wanting to get a van for 3 years now. Me and my husband are climbers and surfers and really just want to be in nature with our 2 dogs.
we are organizing ourselfs financially and we beleive we only have 1 more year of 9 to 5 before starting our journey.
We are still unsure if we are gonna do our trevelling in the america continent ( patagonia to alaska) or in europe.
Does anyone have experience being a vanlifer in brasil?
Althought we have gourgeus landscapes we do not have a lot of camping infrastructure and close to 0 public bathrooms , making it a bit hard to process how everything would work out.
Any way, if you are passing by sao paulo state and want a place to stay for a bath, dinner or beer let me know!
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These are all minor concerns everyone faces. At the end of the day everything ends up working out to be honest. But, it’s a good thing you guys are planning ahead from now.
I think all will work out fine!
Greetings!
The lack of public bathrooms just adds an exclamation point to why you want your own.
Camping infrastructure isn’t too big a deal, I can park my window van almost anywhere.
Cheers!
"I can live like a king because I work like a dog." ~ An anonymous vandweller
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Hey how do you have your own? What kindda tec?
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Greetings!
I have a handicapped style bedside toilet, (basically a bucket toilet with a sturdy frame, and an odor proof lid), and then my shower is a hula hoop for the shower rod, regular shower curtains, and a storage tote to catch the water. For water delivery, I use a weed sprayer with the original wand replaced with a kitchen sink sprayer nozzle. The shower curtain is hung from a spring tension luggage bar. The hula hoop, shower curtains & hooks all came from a dollar store, so really cheap, and is also used as my toilet enclosure.
It can also be taken outside and hung from a tree or between the back doors. My current van has standing room, but even in low top van, I just showered while seated. Lots of flexibility.
I have the weed sprayer painted black, so I can sit in the window in the sun for free hot water, but I can also heat water on my stove easily. The important part is no power is needed for this setup to work. You can get battery powered weed sprayers, but mine is hand pumped. It gives a great shower while using minimal water.
Cheers!
"I can live like a king because I work like a dog." ~ An anonymous vandweller
You know what is the bad thing about vanlife? You don’t have proper toilets and baths.
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Thank you for your very long and thoughtful comment! you help a lot! never seen this ideia! i´m gonna consider it…=]
My first choice is a portable composting toilet, but for the shower I had no ideias…
best reguards!
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no shit? god i had nooo ideia, so glad you told me, gosh i’m gonna have to rethink this project that i´ve been working for 3 year now… 
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Greetings!
I guess that all depends on how you look at it. I have a toilet, a shower, and an inflatable bathtub/hot tub. While they aren’t the same as in a house or apartment, they are fully functional, and I can sit out under the stars in my hot tub, even with snow on the ground if I choose to. I actually enjoy more amenities than I would probably have in a house or apartment, and I get to pick the view.
While things work differently in a camper van or an RV, other than space constraints, I have every luxury that I’d have in a house or apartment, maybe more, just in a smaller and easily movable space. I can have a lake or river in my backyard, and take my inflatable boat out for a spin, or park or a forest. I’m mainly a city dweller, but having the ability to move my house whenever and wherever I want is totally awesome. I just moved 1800 miles from Florida to Minnesota, and was able to take my home with me, and had no motel or camping fees along the way.
Done right it can be a marvelous life, but it isn’t for everyone. There is no shame if it isn’t for you. Some people prefer camping in tents, and some people want a 40 foot RV with 4+ slide outs, and everything in between. Some people prefer a house or apartment. It’s all good. If we can do what makes us happy without infringing on anybody else’s rights, while protecting our environment, then we can all be happy.
Cheers!
"I can live like a king because I work like a dog." ~ An anonymous vandweller
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