I sold everything to live in a van – people who hate it throw rocks at it, but I don’t work and it’s cheap

A WOMAN has revealed she felt hatred for her van life but “never looked back”.

Nine years ago, Kathy Adamson, aka Gypsy Kath, thought that “there has to be more to life than working hard, paying bills, and then dying.”

Her response was to buy a van online that she had never seen before, “pack [her] home”, and sell or donate all your belongings.

But during the pandemic, her van life was far from smooth.

Kathy, who is Australian, had rocks thrown at her van in a New South Wales town.

In another town, she was isolated and forced to live under a pole where cows were kept.

She was approached by an “incredibly rude” person and thinks “everyone just got out of control.”

Kathy says this hatred was far from logical, as nomads like her rarely encounter other people on their travels.

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Despite outward aversion to her lifestyle, Kathy claims the move to van life was the “best gift [she] could have given [herself].”

Before living in a van, Kathy had a “very, very good income” but worked 12 to 16 hours a day, 5 to 7 days a week, finding this regular routine monotonous and “mundane.”

She was in a “spiral”.

Although she lived in a beautiful house with “everything [she] might have needed to,” Kathy was much “lonelier and more isolated” than she is now.

While we might assume that high income gives us freedom, she says it actually takes away freedom because you’re stuck working long hours.

The death of her beloved pet was the catalyst for her lifestyle change. The life she was living “just didn’t work anymore.”

Kathy stands firmly by her decision, noting all the positive aspects. One of them is “the privilege of truly living in the present.”

Kathy even cries at times while driving, realizing the freedom and connection to natural beauty she can enjoy while inside her van.

She recognizes that part of her success is due to the fact that she is single, without dependents or a pet, so her decisions do not affect anyone else.

Despite his lack of van mates, his van is stocked for many meetings. While other van dwellers she knows have a small demand for food “full of two-minute noodles,” Kathy claims her pantry is always fully stocked and “would feed half a dozen people for three or four months.”

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She doesn’t need to visit stores very often, only requesting occasional visits to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, which she buys seasonally.

Kathy has four water tanks, carrying a total of 250 liters of water, allowing her to shower and wash dishes for “an incredibly long time”.

Although Kathy loves this lifestyle, she thinks people who “are very, very nervous” and “don’t like being alone” “shouldn’t do it.”