#Vanlife took the world by storm a few years ago, with living in a van becoming trendy overnight. Many fresh faced millennials quit their jobs and moved out of their overpriced rented accommodation, in favour of starting a new life on the road. This sensation took social media by storm, with many embarking on a van conversion project during lockdown with the dream of living a nomadic lifestyle on the road.
You may be thinking how is talking about living and travelling in a van related to trail running. In many ways, there is no link at all. A van to most is purely a means of travel. Many people travel constantly in their camper vans, barely stopping for breath as they drive through country after country. Often the journey is the holiday, trip or vacation in itself. Others, including myself, prefer to take things a little slower, using a van as a means of transport, but also as a form of physical accommodation, which is much more flexible than booking an airbnb or hostel.
In this article, I’m not trying to convince you to get on the van life bandwagon. Instead, I’m purely intending to draw parallels between the running lifestyle and that of living and travelling in a van, sharing the positive experiences I had after spending a summer travelling in my van and trail running in the European Alps.
Joining the #vanlife trend 🚌
I've always hated following the latest trend, but I have also been desperate to live and travel in a van for years. As a child, we had our annual camping holiday, which was usually full of disasters, but somehow, it never put me off following my dream of a life on the road. I’ve always loved travel, nature, the outdoors and staying active. Camper van life seemed to encompass these things in one.
After taking a break from my job and having a summer of travelling in a roof top tent, I finally took the plunge and bought a van to convert myself over the winter. A 2016 VW Transporter, which was previously used for a dog walking business, and came fitted out with cages to transport up to eight dogs. Sadly, I did not have my own pooch so these were useless, and evidently needed to go before the conversion project could properly start.
The first few days of the conversion were probably the hardest. When your home looks like nothing more than a tin can, it's quite difficult to visualise it as your future home, but nonetheless, I kept reminding myself of my vision. Starting the project in November, was far from perfect timing, with constant rain and cold weather on the horizon for months, but I knew I was determined to transform this empty space into something which at least vaguely resembled a home.
Over the first few weeks, the van began to take shape. I sound proofed the shell, added insulation and built a frame for the floor to sit on. With the shiny insulation, the inside of the van looked like some kind of space ship and even after hours of hard work, it was hard to believe that this would be the space which I would live in the following summer. After fitting a piece of plywood as the floor, I fitted vinyl flooring on top and re-fitted panels to the walls. My future home was starting to take shape.
With the shell complete, I technically had a liveable space, but I still needed somewhere to sleep and store my limited belongings. I could have just added a mattress to the floor at this point, but I had dreamed of more than just sleeping on the floor of a vehicle. I’d watched hours of YouTube videos at this point and bought expensive books on the exact formula to build your home on wheels. Each one, had stressed me out. I got fed up of experts telling me how important it was to have a vapour barrier and how it would be a disaster if my wooden batons holding up the floor, were 1mm different in length. Like I’ve done most of the time in life, I decided to trust my judgement and learn as I go along.
The finished product wasn't so shabby after all. It certainly wasn't perfect, but everything functioned perfectly for what I wanted. This cosy, little space was going to be my home for the summer.
How #vanlife and trail running is the perfect combination:
1. Park and sleep close to trails 🏕️
With your home and accommodation on wheels, you will have the option to park and also sleep at the foot of the trails. Like in the UK, most European countries will have parking places at the start of the trail. Many of these will be free - some may charge a small fee. With everything you need inside the van, you'll also have the possibility to sleep where you plan to start your trail activities the following day too.
Before starting out on the road, it's worth checking the wild camping or free camping rules in the country you're visiting. As the van life trend has taken off, more and more countries have tightened wild camping rules, issuing fines and moving travellers on during the night. Many seemingly good parking spots will now have signs stating that no overnight parking is allowed. In the countries I've visited in Europe, France seems the most 'wild camping' friendly, with many designated free camping spots in villages called aires.
An excellent app to search for camping spots is park4night. You can use filters to show overnight camping spots, and many options have photos and reviews from previous campers, so you'll have a rough idea of what to expect.
If you're not keen on wild camping, then using campsites is a great option. I usually opt for campsites for the chance to meet other travellers and also for a few home comforts like the chance to have a warm shower. Campsites in high season can be a little pricey, but compare to other accommodation, it'll still be a fraction of the price. Park4night is also great for finding a good campsite, although using google maps and searching for 'campgrounds' is just as easy, in my opinion.
Whether you choose to wild camp or stay at campgrounds, no doubt you will be able to find some incredible, remote and picturesque locations, right next to the trail for your running adventure to begin.
2. Total freedom and flexibility 🧘🏽
With your home on wheels, there is no need to plan months in advance, booking hotels and airbnbs before they sell out. Travelling in a van gives you the upmost flexibility and freedom to adapt and change your plans as your trail running adventure evolves.
Some people obviously thrive off planning and having certain things locked down months in advance. For me, this stresses me out and bizarrely, usually leads me to change the plan altogether for a more fluid state of affairs.
Whether you opt to wild camp or stay at campsites, you will have a wealth of options so you can chop and change plans as often as you like. If you find a new trail which you just have to add onto your run the next day, staying a while longer will be entirely possible, rather than having to frantically search around for a last minute hotel which is bound to be overpriced.
The only time I may recommend perhaps booking a few days in advance, is around public holidays in high season. Unlike in the UK, many European countries have quite a few national holidays during the summer months, so it's definitely worth a quick google search to see when these are scheduled in the country you plan to visit.
3. Nutrition 🥗
Travelling overseas can play havoc with nutrition. Many European countries will stock similar delicacies but if you are staying in hotels or hostels, cooking facilities will be non-existant or limited, which leaves eating out firmly a favoured choice. However, if you're planning that long trail run or a trail race the next day, you may know what your magic recipe for success is, but be without the right facilities to create it.
When buying or designing your van, one thing which will be on your mind will be the cooking and food storage space/ facilities. In any van, don't expect a full sized oven with a 4 ring hob, an air fryer and a coffee machine. Some of these things may be possible, but for me, living and travelling in a van is about going back to basics, which includes how to store food and cook meals.
When designing my van, I knew I didn't want to go about installing electrics myself, so I decided on a standalone lithium battery which was large enough to power a small fridge for a few days. I opted for the Bluetti portable power station and an accompanying solar panel, which allows me to effectively re-charge the power station when off-grid. In terms of the cooking, I was happy with a stand alone one ring gas burner. These contraptions are pretty cheap at around £30 and are entirely portable. I chose the campingaz camp bistro, which was sturdy and effective in cooking up my morning coffee and evening meals. Given I would be doing most of my travelling in the summer and happy to cook outside, this seemed like the perfect option.
Having the right cooking and storage facilities means you can rustle up your favourite snack and delicacies, wherever you are on the road. Whether it's a high carb breakfast, an extra shot of coffee before hitting the trail or your favourite snack after a long day on the trail, you'll be perfectly equipped to ensure your nutrition stays on point.
4. Low cost 💰
Any form of camping, will undoubtably rival staying in other types of accommodation, such as hotels or airbnbs purely on cost. If you are travelling in mainland Europe, you can expect to pay at least €50 for a reasonable airbnb and even more for a hotel. Depending on which country you visit, if using campsites you can expect to pay anything between €7 for a basic campsite in a remote area of France, to €35 for a high end camping in Austria during high season.
Of course, you have the possibility to wild camp or use free motorhome camping spots if you have a self contained vehicle, which could considerably lower the cost of your trip too.
The biggest upfront cost, however, has the be the initial outlay for a van or vehicle. The price of converted vans and motor homes have skyrocketed since many jumped on the van life bang wagon. You may pick up a cheaper camper at the end of the season (Sept - December), but you can also expect prices to be slightly inflated during Spring, when many begin to think of their summer adventures.
Buying an unconverted vehicle is a cheaper option and ideal if you have the time to convert the vehicle yourself. On a purely cost basis, however, it is really easy for the cost of converting a van to skyrocket. One completely unforeseen cost during my van conversion was a replacement electronic control unit, which was needed after I accidentally blew the previous one, when gutting the van. By simply disconnecting the battery, I could have saved myself a repair of over £500. Definitely a lesson learnt and something I won't be repeating.
5. Space 🚛
One beauty of running is the fact you need limited equipment for the sport. In fairness, when hitting the trails and venturing into the mountains, you'll undoubtably need to take some equipment for safety, like a whistle, head torch and wind /waterproof jacket, but compared to other sports, such as skiing or surfing, what you need is minimal. When hitting the road, it is tempting to try and pack the whole house into a small van. Although there isn't room for every luxury under the sun, you will definitely be able to fit every permutation of running shoe into your home on wheels.
If you also pack sensibly, there will be plenty of space for other useful fitness equipment, such as a yoga mat or a few hand weights. Travelling solo last summer, I also had plenty of room for my mountain bike, which was perfect for cross training and fitted neatly in the van next to my bed. If you are travelling in a couple or with friends, a bike rack will make this a lot easier.
Spending a summer in my van was enough to convince me that living and travelling on the road, running everywhere in between, was the life for me. If you embark on a van project, combining your love for running with a life on the road, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
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