A FAMILY man has revealed the lessons he learned that will save van lifers from blowing their savings.
He said many people blindly follow the advice given to them by someone with minimal experience living in a vehicle.
Isaac Turner, 37, from Oregon, has a whopping 92,000 subscribers on YouTube, where he shares life with his partner, Jaylena, and their daughter.
After documenting the process of making a bus liveable for a friend, he became known as the “king of 30-day builds” as vehicle transformations typically take over a year.
He has built and sold nine vehicles including a converted school bus that he and his family were living in before buying a house.
Speaking to The U.S. Sun, Turner revealed the things aspiring van lifers should know.
“A lot of people think that they need to build a bus that has this and that,” he said.
“And that’s not true at all.
“It really comes down to how it’s going to be used and how the person is going to use it.
“Are they going to be traveling on the road full-time?
“Living in it full-time in your parent’s driveway?
“That’s a question people should ask themselves before spending $20,000 on electricals they don’t use.
“I see that all the time.”
Turner said the cost of living in a school bus was dramatically higher than when he was living in a van.
He wanted a toilet similar to one you’d use in a house, and when decorating the interior he spent an eye-watering $2,200 on just renovating the ceiling.
Wood for the walls and cabinets was another huge expense before fitting other essentials.
He said it takes money before people start to reap the benefits of saving by living in a vehicle.
“The bigger the space is, it’s gonna cost you more money, there’s just more material,” he said.
“If you’re broke, I wouldn’t recommend building a 40-foot bus.
I see some people who build a van and go live in it and they absolutely hate it.
Isaac Turner
“There’s all these people on the internet telling you everything you need and what you’re supposed to do.
“Like there’s some cut and dry, black and white thing.
“Every bus build needs this every van needs that, which is just not true.
“My biggest thing I would always recommend to people is: Don’t spend a dollar.
“Take whatever you’ve got, whether that’s a car or a minivan, and go sleep in it.
“Go get a taste of it and make sure that number one, it’s something you actually want to do before blowing $30,000 of your savings.
“Maybe go to an event and walk into a school bus, go walk into a van and feel the stuff in person.
“I see people all the time who will go buy a brand new Sprinter van and spend all this money because someone told them they needed to
“Or they’ll buy this bus and think it needs all these things because somebody said that’s what they need.
“I think people get a little too crazy on their first one.”
“Go to an event where there’s all these different layouts and rigs and ideas and people, they’re not trying to sell you anything,” he said.
“You can experience and see and feel in person all the different things, all the different spaces.
“A lot of people are very concerned about a toilet and a shower.
“Then they might go to an event and they’ll walk into 30 rigs where they don’t have a toilet or a shower and they’ll ask them why and they’ll be like, I just go to Starbucks.
“Everyone is turning to social media for their answers or their phone when they should have real-world, real-life experiences and answers to their questions.
“If you’re watching YouTube videos, they’re trying to get views. There’s always an ulterior motive.”
“I remember walking into this guy’s bus and he had spent like $20,000 on an electrical system,” he continued.
“The first thing he said to me is, ‘I didn’t need it.’
“You could buy and build a whole van for $20,000, but some dude on the internet told him he needed it and he didn’t know any better.
“So somebody made some money.
I’ve seen all the mistakes and I’ve made a lot of mistakes.
Isaac Turner
“I guess he could always sell that van but it’s gonna be hard to recover a $20,000 electrical system.
“You’ll lose money on that deal.
“I’ve seen all the mistakes and I’ve made a lot of mistakes.”
Turner said people shouldn’t focus on how “fancy” they can make their living space.
He believes living in a van has become a “daydream” for a lot of people as an alternative to working and paying for an apartment.
“It just seems like this magical thing, like a movie and it ain’t,” he said.
“It’s real life, just like anything else.
“It has its own problems and benefits, just like everything else.
“I see some people who build a van and go live in it and they absolutely hate it.
“That’s why I always encourage people to experience it before you go all in.”
It isn’t uncommon for van lifers to be asked to move their vehicle when camping in cities.
Turner said problems can be avoided if people choose to stay on BLM land, where they’re allowed to park for up to 14 days.
The YouTuber said his school bus wasn’t “stealthy” but he didn’t have any issues with parking because he often chose nature spots.
Sharing his experiences on the internet has helped him to connect with strangers who are living similarly.
“I’m a very social person so I like meeting up with people and hanging out,” he said.
“Vans were too dang small but even the short buses, I liked to build them to where I had some entertaining space typically all that needs to be is the couch.
“That’s the cool thing about this community.
“You all share this love for a bus, a complete stranger can be your best friend over the course of an Instagram DM.
“And the next thing you know, you’re hanging out in the woods somewhere making creme brulee.
“A lot of people are traveling and your friends on the internet.
“You’re always messaging each other and when they pass through Oregon or wherever you’re at, you meet up and you make dinner together.
“I think that’s one of the coolest things about it.
“As adults, outside of high school or the workplace where do you meet people?
“I think that’s part of the draw of van life, it’s just a way for people to connect and find community and meet people and be a part of something.
“I’ve met some rad people because of it.”
Turner said he misses living on the road after buying a house for his family because his daughter has motion sickness.
Alongside being part of the community, he longs for the creative outlet that comes with building and decorating a vehicle.
“I miss being like, I wanna try a cedar ceiling this time or I wanna try a shiplap ceiling, I wanna try a concrete ceiling.
“I miss being able to creatively explore these ideas.
“It does give me content but even if I didn’t have a YouTube channel, I’d still do it honestly.”
