Ever dreamt of a nomadic lifestyle? VAN-LIFE VS YACHT-LIFE

As I sat in the cockpit of a 30ft vintage sloop I often pondered the differences, the pro's & con's between "yacht-life" and "van-life in which I lived full time for 9mths traveling around NZ. This story is about wanderlust, freedom and adventure and the prices we pay to experience an alternative life-style.

Have you ever dreamed of a nomadic, transient lifestyle? Well, this is something I’d always felt drawn to, it tugged at my heartstrings for as long as I remember, as a child I collected memories of beautiful wooden gypsy buses, gazing at their beautiful glistening stained glass windows where they parked up alongside the beach… Where we launched our boat in and out of the water, anchored yachts flying flags from foreign counties in bays where we would spend days playing, swimming and rock hopping in the sunshine. my family spent time away from our “urban” home every chance we could. My parents would load my sisters, our cat the boat and head to our caravan where we would live a simple life for weeks at a time. This lifestyle was one I had been absorbing since the first summer of my life as a newborn till my early teens. The freedom we had, now looking back, was what I searched for on a deeper level than that I had been able to maintain throughout my life bringing up a young family of my own.

At the age of 41 my children were grownup and independent and after some heavy life events I found myself facing a new chapter to write. The pull for an alternative lifestyle was still a constant within my being, I had begun downsizing a good three years prior after discovering a passion for bike packing. Every trip in which I returned home from I would find myself overwhelmed with what seemed to be an excessive amount of “stuff” I would go through my clothes and donate as much as I could manage, I would rifle though my kitchen cupboards and draws getting rid of what was no longer really needed, I became fixated on downsizing, my life was changing, I was changing, always seeking places which were remote and wild, surrounded by nature and beauty.

New year's Eve 2018 I purchased my first van a 2010 jumbo Toyota Hiace this was the beginning of that new chapter, opening the door to the freedom I had craved. Fast forward a year. I decided a smaller adventure buddy would be a better fit, so I sold my van to a friend and picked up a 2010 4x4 Toyota Hiace in which felt more my size, while giving me extra freedom being able to venture a little more off road, without getting it stuck - which had happened a couple of times with my previous van. Being that I was traveling solo this was annoying and potentially a dangerous game, in which I didn't want to play.

During New Zealand’s first big lockdown, I found myself out of a job and fed up with everything. I needed space, being that I wandered, and then forced to stay in one place was torcher, my wings had been clipped, I felt suffocated. My van at this time was my weekend warrior not completely kitted out for full time living. So, I decided that once lockdown was lifted I would shift full time into her and float about the country at my own pace, seeing where the road took me.

I spend 14 days straight working from dawn till dusk in my brother in laws shed creating my new home. Now, prior to this attempt to start building… I had come up against many road blocks both internally and externally… wondering how to go about this, if I was capable of even building this thing. I could see in my minds eye how I wanted it to be, how I wanted it to feel. but did I have the skills to pull in off… A good friend of mine offered me some advice, “Just start Rhonda and the rest will follow"…. So thats what I did, I started and to my surprise, it did… I found myself not being able to stop, I could barely sleep due to the creative juices and excitement flowing through me… every morning thriving and inspired, I couldn’t wait to build more… seeing my vision come together filled me with strength and confidence. When I finally finished and pieced her all together I lay there inside my nest, my safe place, my home, full of a pride I had never felt before, so deeply proud of myself for what I had achieved, she was beautiful and she was all mine.

July 14th 2022 I drove South of Dunedin leaving normality behind, armed with my surf board, two bikes, my sewing machines, clothes a few books, food and water. I cranked up the sounds and shed tears of joy at the unknown path in front of me… I was finally doing this… I was finally following my heart, my own way.

That first night I pulled up at a beach with the sun setting on a stormy evening, the ocean roaring, waves crashing on the beach, and had the best sleep… I awoke to an incredible sunrise, made coffee and headed to the beach, laid out my yoga mat and settled into some practice. Remote and all to myself, with the cool morning air kissing my face, I felt home.

I think one of the things I am most drawn to about these nomadic lifestyles is that you are so much closer to nature almost apart of it, that feeling of rising out of bed and stepping out onto the earth in remote locations, being connected on that intimate level, is something I am so deeply drawn to, It’s where I feel most home. Being in harmony with nature, going to bed when it begins to darken, waking as it slowly becomes light to the sound of bird song, the rustling of leaves in the treetops or the ocean breaking on the beach it all feels so right. Moving slowly in the mornings, not being forced out the door to sit in traffic to then sit inside all day behind a desk in a concrete building. I was in control with my time, my days and how I spent them.

Life this way, traveling with your home on your back means you don't have to be anywhere… you can choose your home for the night or nights… there of course are some restrictions as to where you park up, you also need to think about safety. New Zealand for the most part has many different options from freedom camping, doc camps, holiday parks and for a fee you can join the NZMCA a motor home/camper-van organisation in which offer places to park up all over the country or if your game you can just wing it and park up anywhere.

Fast forward a few years ….. August 2024 - I found myself in Australia, 6 months deep, living full time on a 9m vintage sloop “Triteia” a new level of freedom unlocked. Sitting on the foredeck looking over to a tiny kay in the form of a pile of sand in which grows smaller and smaller as the tide rises. This impromptu stopover, lead us to one of the most memorable experiences I had had during my time here, I often find these to be the case… as back on land I was always drawn to “take the path less travelled” or check out what was at the end of that gravel road. We arrived to the anchorage around 2pm, promptly threw on our wetsuits and dove into the clear blue reef water straight from the boat, we swam over to the shallows to explore the underwater world that is the Great Barrier Reef, I spotted many enormous clams, a huge box fish and a number of other wonderful reef fish, an army of parrot fish moving in uniform munching coral as they stayed tuned into each others next move, making our way over to the kay to explore a little before returning to the water to swim back to the yacht. After dinner found us back ashore, swimming naked in the warm ocean as the sun begun to dip, our very own remote inhabited island…. Once back onboard we closed this magical day with Cacao as we watched in awe as the sun set behind the dramatic landscape in the distance with the most intense array of yellows, oranges, pinks, violets and blues. This…. is my kind of vibe… this was a good day.

When it comes to van life and the fit out… believing I was actually capable of achieving this was a major hurdle I faced, I constantly questioned my ability to be able to pull it off as much as I deeply wanted it, but I did …..  whereas learning to live aboard a small yacht while also learning how to sail, learning how to read and plan for the weather and how to navigate. Over coming breakdowns and repairs, the never ending to do lists just the keep the boat in safe working order and this is only the start... We were faced with an engine breakdown only a couple of months after I arrived, luckily we were tucked safely away in a lake, this provided an incredible training ground for me, gaining many merit badges… during this time I learnt how to sail off and on anchor, how to dock via sail, how to drop the anchor and pull it up, how to raise the main and drop it, I sailed off a mooring and all the way to another by myself… without any help other well, other than raising the main and picking up the mooring…

I often thought about the comparison and transition between “van life” and “yacht life before I moved aboard, I find myself thinking about the similarities the differences and cross overs there are.

My van was a much smaller and compact space than the yacht, even being that there were two of us. I can stand up…. thats a bonus! I have an oven, woohoooooo I can bake again!!! in the van I ran a two burner gas cooker, my fridge space was a fraction smaller but then again it only had to cater for me. The freedom onboard the yacht is much broader as we can travel country to country via this vessel, whereas in a van you are bound to one country - well, unless you ship it. Home is where we anchor or as we like to say “drop the hook” instead of park-up or ‘home is where you park it” both allowing access to vast amounts of nature based outlooks, with little to no other humans nearby if this is what you crave.

Space is limited in both…. Onboard we carry EVERYTHING…. As much food as we can, tools, spare parts, toys, clothes for all seasons. Its our lounge, dining room, kitchen (galley), bedroom, bathroom (head), garage, workshop, deck… when we are on passage our dinghy (car) comes up to stow on the foredeck eliminating any forward deck activities. In a Van… its a little the same however you can step out and onto the earth to extend your living space with ease, for us at times land wasn't overly accessible so being confined in a space becomes your reality.

But, with all these challenges come rewards, massive rewards! We get to travel to places only accessible by boat we are learning and pushing ourselves daily physically and mentally with each sail. We are free to explore at a pace set by us…

The reality struggles/differences...

Feed me!

Van-life / Swinging into a carpark, jumping out, locking up and making a quick dash into a store, boom done, if they don’t have what you need, easy jump into the van and head to the next store just around the corner… Yacht-life / locate a store via maps before you even get to shore, can we anchor safely, can we access the beach via dinghy, where can we leave the dinghy, whats the tide doing, how far is the store, how big is the store, will they even have what we need, is the store open, is there an egg shortage, how much can we carry… etc etc…

Fuel

Gas stations on land are EVERYWHERE… its never far to the next… by rule when I was in remote places say on the West Coast of the South Island, any time I passed a gas station I’d fuel up, they are pretty stretched out along that Coastline and me being me and having a tendency to meander I didn’t want not having enough fuel to restrict me from my adventures.

Water

Van-life Most gas stations had taps where I could top up my 20 Litre container along with this a couple of drink bottles for drinking on the move… Yacht-life We carry in our tank 15 gallons along with 35 gallons in jerry cans, water 35 gallons in the tank, 20 gallons in jerry cans… refilling these can be a challenge, most marinas have a public fuel dock, that supply fuel (if working) and water, some require booking and others are a just rock up and tie up. These can be fun and far between so maintaining levels are of high importance… knowing how much we have and how long till we reach the next location in which we can access is all part of the administration process onboard, running out of water would be a major problem. We have a few ideas for water catchment but of course this requires rain… no fuel dock? This requires some “research” sometimes in remote places you’ll find water taps, its extremely important to know that its drinking water as contamination is something you never want to have to deal with.. especially with limited access to water… on Magnetic Island, drinking water taps were scattered along the beachfront, this involved loading the jerry cans into the dinghy x4 for a 200 metre motor to the beach, a walk across the sand and along the beach 200 meters to fill them, then walk back with full water container (yes they are bloody heavy) drag the dinghy back into the water… load them in drive back to the boat, lift them up onto the boat, empty them into the tank and repeat… it takes 6 to 7 jerry cans to completely fill our tank from empty and of course we want them all full before heading back out into the wild. Its a major job… and this brings me to.

Exercise

Van-life Easy! Get out and go… who cares if its raining smash the pins, I carried two bikes and my surf board, when it was fine I’d roll out my yoga mat on the doorstep…

Yacht-life Onboard, space is limited, I don't have my bikes or my surf board, and with access to shore not always possible or just simply not having time as we need to get underway, exercise for me has fallen short, however I am on a mission to think outside the box and make what little space I do have work.. swimming of course when its accessible is great however its been a bit shark-y and now with crocs being a danger this really hasn’t been an option at the moment and I kinda like my limbs… maintaining the boat, sailing, pulling sheets, cranking the winches all fall into this category but once the boat is going sometimes theres not a lot to do on that front. So, this is still is a work in progress for me…

Sleep

Van-life Finding a place to park up on land isn’t to difficult so long as you have a plan, freedom camping I find is much like anchoring… some places you simply are just not allowed for either… Yacht-life by boat there are factors the effect where you can anchor WEATHER is the big one… wind and fetch… this can determine whether you get any sleep whatsoever… I don’t think I ever had a bad nights sleep in the van, I was woken by thunder a few times but that was it… the boats monition can be torcher, the small creeks and noises from up on deck can also play havoc on your thoughts, as you lay there trying to figure where its coming from an if its of any apparent danger.. this all comes down to research and knowledge, understanding the weather and choosing an appropriate anchorage. Sometimes you just have to deal with it… its all part of the “adventure tax” we say.

Friends/Family

Van-life (in your own country) they are only drive away… Yacht-life When you set sail you leave them behind as the horizon fades and the time zone stretches out your only mode of contact as you travel further away from home becomes text messages, postcards, and the odd phone or video call… as course they are all keeping up to date on your socials of all your incredible adventures.

In closing

There are going to be many frustrations and sacrifices made to live either life but, the experiences, the knowledge gained, the conversations shared, the new people you met, the places you see the animals the nature all make it worth it…. The epic sailing days, the snorkelling over beautiful fish and turtles, spotting whales and dolphins from the bow, the star filled skies, the native forests, the long beaches you’ll walk, the lone trails, the waterfalls, the sunrises and sunsets you’ll witness… the hard as fuck days followed by absolute pearlers…. Its all worth every second of what you think you might be giving up on … or missing out on…

Thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts, have you experienced either for a stint of time? if so id love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. and, if your interested in seeing more on my van fit out head over to my Youtube channel (link below) where you can find a wee series I put together. happy to answer any questions.

https://youtu.be/rJtQmbYAytY?si=qVS_B5Qk8R_lLyED

Much love, rhonda x