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One Year As a Nomad Entrepreneur

Last week, with my girlfriend, we celebrated the one-year anniversary of the start of our current adventure. Leaving the 9-to-5 lives and join a new community: the digital nomads.

In this post I would like to share with you what it’s like being an entrepreneur in a van and how we got started in the first place.

How did it start?

We started this process at the end of 2018, when we realized our lives were stuck in a routine that was stealing our time and reducing our freedom.

We sold almost everything we had, we bought a van and we made it the most comfortable space for being able to create our futures.

Four months later, on the 13th of March of 2019 exactly, we hit the road with no return date and no exact plan.

Simply a burning desire for freedom.

How much time did it take to build the van? How much did it cost?

It took 80 days to build the van while finishing some work I’ve been hired to do. It was intensive.

Building a van is a wonderful experience. We were faced with practical challenges and had to learn many things to complete this project. I didn’t know I would be able to do such things before.

The total cost was around €12,000:

  • €6000 for the vehicle (a 2005 red ambulance)
  • €4000 for the furniture
  • €2000 for the solar panels and batteries

Where did we travel and where are we?

We started in France and went to Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Spain, Italy then Greece. We are currently near the falls of Acheron in Greece.

The day to day, what is it like?

We often park at the same place for days or even weeks in a row. We look for the intersection of:

  • Quiet
  • Beautiful
  • Connected

Our routine is very simple: once a week, we move the van to get food and water, and we either find a new spot or we go back to where we spent the previous nights. We use an application I created to find the best spot possible.

We rise up early in the morning, read, drink coffee and get started working on our projects. Then we cook, we eat, take a nap, work until we want to work, cook again, eat again, watch a movie or a series and go to sleep. This is a very simple and enjoyable life.

We are very autonomous:

  • Our solar panels generate more energy than we can consume
  • We have generous 4G plans with a great technical setup
  • We have water supply for more than a week

Our schedule (if you want to call it a schedule) is interrupted by sessions of road bike where we go discover the area where we stay. We use another application I created to plan for our trip and go out with the track on a bike GPS.

We find great pleasure in one of the most basic things of life: buying food at the supermarket. Everything is different depending on where and when we are.

How much does it cost to live like that? What work do you do?

Our cost of life is ridiculously low (I would estimate it €400 per month for 2, all inclusive). This allows us to work on what we want instead of what we need to be working on. Big difference.

I’m a software developer, and my girlfriend is an author.

We can work as contractors for:

  • Web development
  • Proofreading/transcription

But as you may guess, spending too much time in these areas would not be very wise in the long term. We wouldn’t be enlightened entrepreneurs if we were selling our time as the main currency of value.

In the last year, I’ve started a new company and discovered the world of Amazon sellers, and I’m currently building a tool for this niche, while my girlfriend could finally find the time to write her first book. This is where we focus our energy and our time.

We started creating products in the hope of delivering value asynchronously.

What’s the worst part of living in a van? Is there any risk?

This is the best part. Nothing is as bad as staying in the same place 47 weeks per year. The continuous discovery and the freedom more than outweighs the difficulties we could encounter.

The worst part of living in a van would be the lack of recurring socialization but frankly to me that’s quite a big relief. You could also see the weekly maintenance as not enjoyable, doing the laundry, refilling water, …

Most of the risk lies in our imagination. Most people are friendly on this planet, that’s a fact.

Any conclusion?

This whole endeavor made me realize how much control we have on our lives. We put too much pressure on ourselves to conform to a general idea of what we should do. Great discoveries and freedom lies behind realizing we can say no to most things in life and choose our path.

If you have any question, go ahead! It would be a great pleasure for me to answer :)

Cheers,

Conrad

  1. 2

    Awesome! I am just finishing up a weeklong boondocking test myself. Made version two of my van and took it out for a hard test. Coming back with some notes and things to tweak.

    Working on getting paying projects is top of list for me. Though as you say, expenses are very low so I can ease into it.

    1. 1

      That's so great! Nice to meet a fellow maker. Thank you for introducing the word "boondocking" to me, I didn't know it.

      Good luck on your search for paying projects, I'm sure you'll find ways to do it.

  2. 2

    Maybe stupid but simple question.

    How do you handle needs for showering and toilets?

    1. 1

      That's a good question!

      For the toilets, that's very easy: we have dry toilets and use wood chips. It works great and it's very easy to manage.

      For the shower, the first thing to understand is that our need for showers is as low as it can be. Since we don't have to meet other people and as we stand each other natural smell, we usually take one shower per week. We either use a camping shower on the outside or we go to a public bath (which is always a astonishing experience).

      Thanks for your question :)

  3. 2

    Congrats on the year abroad! My wife and I just did the same in 2019 with a similar setup (software engineer and project manager).

    We do have so much control over our lives, like you said.

    My big regret is not keeping a regular travel blog (though we did keep a regular travel couples Instagram account: http://instagram.com/dixonaround ). Make sure to log your travels and not let the client work (or your own projects) trump the amazing place that you're visiting.

    1. 3

      Awesome! Are you still on the road? If not, how are you adjusting to your new life?

      You are so right. I feel like for now I'm more leaning into my work than enjoying the places where we're staying. That's a choice as I need to focus on my project (no income at the time).

      I do force myself to stop working at least one day per week and do something else and enjoy the place where we are.

      My girlfriend keeps a blog about our travel ( https://fourgonvoyageur.eu/ - it's in French with automated translations in other languages), along with an Instagram account ( https://www.instagram.com/fourgonvoyageur/ - in French and in English!) , and I'm making some videos on YouTube as I enjoy the process very much (but it takes too much time for me to be consistent on the matter) ( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUSaziRB0BOvuPfJHbnPJ_A - in French).

      We want to remember this awesome time of our life :)

      1. 2

        No longer on the road. We're nicely settled down now, bought a house and everything. On to the next phase of life!

  4. 1

    Thank for sharing. Do you get to do any social events? For me that was a big part of the being a nomad, atleast in the early days.

    1. 1

      You're welcome!

      Social events? Not really, especially not now for obvious reasons :-p but usually no I'm pretty much staying out of urban areas. I enjoy the calm and still managed to have a lot of remote interactions.

  5. 1

    @ConradL Awesome post. Did you find a way to find Amazon sellers to signup for your product? I'm working on a product for Shopify sellers but having trouble finding them for signups.

  6. 1

    Hey @ConradL, any chance you're into real estate as well?

    I'm kicking up NomadLandlord.com as think there is an audience of digital nomads who also want to, or do own real estate (as well as Airbnb Hosts and landlords who want to cater to them).

    1. 2

      Interesting indeed, I'm eager to see what you offer. I added my email to your list ;)

  7. 1

    Have you planned when you finish this project? I mean if you plan to have kids, it will be another life, where all the vans are toys :)

    1. 1

      There is no end date, we will continue as long as we love it. We don't want kid (yet?).
      Living like this, having so much fun being free, it's really hard to see ourselves go back to the "normal" life again. But life is full of surprises ;D

      1. 1

        We traveled for two years before I've gotten the first "surprise" :) Now we have two kids. One men said: "The kids is the best thing what can happen to you". I do agree. Have fun before you are ready for the next level ! :)

  8. 1

    This comment was deleted 3 years ago.

    1. 2

      2020 is an awesome year for mobile internet. I can only speak for the countries where I have been of course in Europe, but the 4g coverage is crazy high everywhere we go!

      One thing that makes a huge difference is having a dedicated 4g router and a 4g antenna. Sometimes our phone won't be able to connect while this setup can. One choice not many vanlifers do that can make a big difference.

      Since we rarely encounter spots with bad coverage, that's not a real problem though. We use an app for finding spots and we go through the comments where people, in general, will scream if the coverage is bad.

      And at some point we stayed in a place where the reception was perfect but the bandwidth was very low. We left soon after, realizing how much we are addicted to the internet.

      If that is a dream of yours, I wish you the best in finding the plan that will work for you to get there. Keep on dreaming and know that this is 100% doable.

  9. 2

    This comment was deleted 3 years ago.

    1. 1

      We usually stay anywhere. We try to find places in natures, such as parking at the start of hiking path.

      As for the legality of it... In Europe, each country has a different set of laws. Most countries will have laws preventing you from staying in a privately-owned land. Other country

      In one year, we've been "kicked out" by the Police two times: once in Belgium and once in Germany. But don't mistake it! Both time they came really gently, told us it was not authorized to stay here and that we had to move in the next hour or so. No fine, no threats of anything. Just checking our identity and telling us to stay safe.
      As long as you acknowledge them as human beings doing their job and play by their rules there is nothing to fear.

      You can also find free camping areas created by municipalities which want to attract tourists, this is pretty common.

  10. 2

    This comment was deleted 4 years ago.

    1. 1

      Thank you :)
      To me that's really easy. I've never been a very social person nor a family person. Both always felt like an obligation to me, rarely a pleasure. I do keep contact with my friends and my family over the internet in frequent one-on-one interactions though.

      One interesting point though is that since we started this, I actually spent more time with my father and my mother, as they currently live separated in Belgium and Germany. I have been able to stay with each of them for a complete week without being "on their toes" as you could say.

      So I guess that's a very personal answer and for some people being in our situation might prove more difficult than for us. The upside of not being constantly in a normal setting, is that when you are, you can actually enjoy it because it is literally exceptional.

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