![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/27\/2021\/10\/Pheobe-Horibe-outside-her-home-on-wheels-in-Falls-Park-South-Dakota-photo_-Pheobe-Horibe-995x1024.jpg\")
<\/a>Pheobe Horibe outside her home on wheels in Falls Park, South Dakota (photo_ Pheobe Horibe).<\/p><\/div>\n
Recently there was a big stigma around living full time in a vehicle. Many associated it with poverty or people too strange to be in normal society. With social media, van life has taken on a new life. People of all ages are converting old cargo vans or buses into tiny homes on wheels. Many people document building their homes through blogs and share their travels once they hit the road. That was how Pheobe first found out about the lifestyle. \u201cI saw it on my Instagram feed one day back in like January of this year. I just thought \u2018That. I want do that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
After hours of research, she bought a RAM Promaster and set to work. But it wasn\u2019t easy. Without a carpentry or mechanical background, Pheobe had to teach herself how to make her dream a reality. A friend let her park in their driveway and another lent her a saw. The only help with the actual build she had was having a friend hold up the wooden planks that cover her ceiling while she nailed them in. It wasn\u2019t perfect, but it was home. The sense of accomplishment was empowering.<\/p>\n
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Since leaving New York in June, Pheobe has driven coast to coast. She started with a trip up to Maine. After visiting friends in Portland, she made her way down the East Coast and through Tennessee. From Nashville, she made her way out West to see her family in California before driving north. Pheobe doesn\u2019t have a favorite part of the trip. \u201cOur country is huge and there\u2019s so much to see.\u201d A recent stop in Bozeman, Montana, holds a special place in her heart because of the people she met there.<\/p>\n
Rarely do you see on social media less than a glamorous part of van life. Going for a few days without a shower is common. As is wiping down cutlery instead of washing with soap. Some van builds are luxurious. They have full showers and toilets. But for those on a budget such as Pheobe, they make do with what they can. They rely on gym memberships, the kindness of strangers and baby wipes. When there wasn\u2019t a restroom nearby, Pheobe had to get creative. \u201cI used a pee jar for the first time on Sunday and now it is forever the pee jar. I loved that jar, too. I was sad!\u201d<\/p>\n
Vans aren\u2019t the only vehicles people live out of. Ambulances and old school busses (known as \u201cschoolies\u201d) are also popular when people need more space. Christina Reed and her husband lived in a schoolie for three years. They started their family in a bus they parked on a plot of land. \u201cLiving in a bus let us travel to see family and friends really easily,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd the kids loved it. They see school busses and want to stop for pictures!\u201d The lower cost of living in a tiny home allowed her and her husband to save money to build the cabin they now live in. The bus is parked on their land and used when they want to take a trip.<\/p>\n
When traveling, the family plans accordingly. Because of brutal weather, many van lifers plan their trips around the seasons. In the winter, they\u2019ll go to warmer regions. In the summer, they move up north. \u201cIt gets hot,\u201d Christina recalled. \u201cIn the summer it can get really hot and in the winter it can be cold. It\u2019s hard to insulate a bus. We eventually installed an AC unit.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the future, neither Pheobe nor Christina have any concrete plans. Pheobe knows she has a lot of opportunities opening up to her with the nomadic life. \u201cI\u2019ve been so open to everything on this trip,\u201d Pheobe said when she reflected on the last few months. \u201cI think it\u2019s really rewarded me.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cScary\u201d is how Pheobe Horibe used to describe her first night living out of a van. Sleeping in a Cabela\u2019s parking lot was unfamiliar territory. She didn\u2019t sleep very well that first night. Over the last few months, Pheobe has since become comfortable parking on the street or in parking lots. She prefers to park […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":231,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/231"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6832"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8234,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6832\/revisions\/8234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}