Welcome to #VanLife. The hashtag has been used over 6.3 million times on Instagram alone where the top photos are suffused with light, dreamcatchers and thin, blonde women sprawled atop Mexican serapes. But like anything on social media, the reality is a little more complex.

#VanLife isn’t limited to elective poverty and prohibitively expensive Sprinter vans draped in Tibetan prayer flags. It never was. People live in vehicles for a variety of reasons that can include homelessness, downsizing to pay off student loans or to save money, or an attempt to chase the endless summer and live life on their own terms.

Summer may be over, but #VanLife definitely is not. To learn more about how you can diversify your feed, follow along with our #VanLife series. Our first feature is climber Clara Soh, who survived two accidents and 22 reconstructive surgeries before downsizing into 72 sq ft.

Clara Soh (she/her/hers)

Clara Soh has been traveling and living in her 72 sq ft 2018 Dodge Promaster high roof while she rents her house for a modest income. Her motivation for downsizing from her house in Bend, OR was to travel, climb and live life to the fullest.

Growing up, Clara wasn’t allowed to play sports so studying became her sport; she was even gifted her first SAT book in the third grade! Clara didn’t begin climbing until she spent a season working at Mammoth following a stint in the Peace Corps. Not long after, in 2003, she broke every bone below her knee during a climbing accident. The injury was devastating and Clara spent the next six years on crutches while enduring 22 reconstructive surgeries.

“I had run out on an easy route,” she explained during a phone interview. “I was above my (protective) gear; it was raining, the rock was really wet and I slipped and fell 50 ft. and hit a ledge.” Her doctors’ prognosis was daunting: 10-15 years remaining before they might have to amputate her foot. Recently, that deadline pushed her to quit her job and move into her Subaru with the goal of living life to the fullest. After a rollover accident totaled her car (a friend was driving), Clara decided to purchase a van.

She did the conversion herself, relying on YouTube videos and a shared working space in Bend, OR called the Auto Cave. “I did the floor and the insulation,” said Clara, ”and it was really slow because I was always outside rock climbing. And my van would not build itself.” The biggest challenge was the electrical which she did in the parking lot of a local battery store. Swapping out her house for a van wasn’t just a one-time event. She is constantly working to adjust her lifestyle to fit her small living space. Clara recently purchased a t-shirt to support the Gunks Climbing Coalition and her first thought was “okay, well, something has to leave now.” Her goal is to maximize her time outdoors and simply live her life on her own terms.

Keep scrolling to read an excerpt from Clara’s interview with Melanin Base Camp!

Q: How did you get into #vanlife?

A: It was mostly about maximizing my time outdoors and simplifying my life. The idea that we need more house, more cars, more stuff—I don’t really need that. So, I was motivated to decrease my footprint a lot. 

During my time in the Peace Corps, I lived in West Africa with a family. I came back to the U.S. and I didn’t even really want a cellphone. Then you get sucked into everything, and I bought a three bedroom house and I filled it. It’s been a little bit of a struggle. After 15 hours sitting in front of a computer at work, Amazon is hard to resist.

Q: Did you do the build out by yourself?

A: I had seen some prefab ones where the lay-out didn’t meet my needs—I have two snowboards, a bicycle and my climbing gear—so I went back and forth between doing it myself and hiring someone. There are fewer off the shelf solutions for the Promaster. More stuff is geared towards Sprinters. 

The build out was intimidating at times. For example, I cut a hole in the top. It was terrifying. I got up there to do it and then I got back down and watched the YouTube video again. I cut a huge hole in the side for the window and that was terrifying too.

I did the conversion really slowly over time. The big stumbling block was the electrical. I was like, I studied quantum physics at Yale, I should be able to figure this out!—but it was still challenging. There’s a local store called Bend Battery in Bend, OR and I literally did my electrical in their parking lot. They are real battery nerds and they were happy to help. There’s also a cooperative working space in Bend called the Auto Cave. I bought a membership there. It’s super affordable. We all sort of helped each other out. 

Q: What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of #vanlife so far?

A: Disadvantage: everyone asks me—well, if I were to write a book on van life, the question that comes up most often is ‘how often do you shower?’ (the answer is once every four weeks) and ‘how do you use the bathroom at night?’ (I have a pee bottle). Also, ‘does it get cold at night?’ (yes it does). And sometimes it’s hard to find level parking so stuff starts sliding around in the van. The advantage is that I have EVERYTHING with me. If the weather is terrible, I can drive a few hours and try something different. I always have somewhere to stay. I don’t have to pack a bag ever because everything in my van is within arms reach.

I did consider adding a compost toilet or Casey toilet which create a lot of waste. The reason I didn’t install one is because the compost toilet has to emptied. Prior to the build out, I spent three months living in my climbing partner’s van in Europe, and we would dig a really big cathole to bury waste. 

Have you had any interactions with police?

No. Actually not on this trip. Years ago, I was with an ex while road-tripping through Mexico in his van. We woke up to find that we were surrounded by police with guns drawn. They just saw a big white van with US plates parked in an arroyo. I can imagine what they might have been thinking. #VanLife apparently hadn’t reached peak saturation yet in Mexico.


Do you know a #VanLifer of color that we should feature? Send us an email and let us know!