10 best books about living the van life
More and more people are discovering the van life. Whether you are living in a van full time or love to hit the road with your camper on the weekend, these van life books are written for you.
They are full of van life ideas, amazing itineraries, or interviews with people who know everything about camper van life.
Although they might not be considered as van life must-haves, we believe these books are essential for some van life inspiration. And they are great gifts for RV owners!
Take a coffee or tea, sit down, relax, and dream away with one of these beautiful camper van books.
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The van life companion – Lonely planet
This book is all about how to live on four wheels. It’s an inspiring guide about customizing and choosing the best vans to live in. How do you sleep, cook, or even stay safe in a van?
In the second part, the book has some great road trip itineraries. They have 20 classic campervan routes advised by people who live on the road. 20 route trip ideas across Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, the United States, West Africa, Nepal, Australia, and Canada.
Van life diaries – Finding freedom on the open roads
If you want to be inspired, you should check out the Van Life Diaries guide. The book is filled with amazing photography as a tribute to the nomadic lifestyle and van life community.
Through interviews, you get the best van-life tips for living on the road or van-life conversions.
Written by people who are living full-time in a van, you get a good idea about why you should consider this lifestyle. For more tips, you could check out their van life blog as well.
The culture of van life – The Rolling Home
This book is about celebrating alternative living! How to create your dream with a very small van life budget and a lot of imagination.
Let yourself submerge in the world of the creators of the Rolling Home.
Learn the basics of compact van live interiors, follow van conversions, and read about some inspiring camper van road trips.
Walden on wheels – On the open road from debt to freedom
When Ken Ilgunas graduated from University, he had $32000 in debt. This is his story of how he got out of debt as fast as possible.
Debt-free he enrolled in a master’s program at Duke University. He bought a van parked at the campus parking lot. What began as a simple mission now became a life-changing social experiment.
Like Thoreau said: “live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.”
Van Life: your home on the road
Marc Twain once said: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.”
With this said Foster created the hashtag #vanlife. This book showcases the best van life photography: stunning beaches, forests, and mountains from Foster’s social media account. Some of them have never been published.
The book also includes some interviews with people traveling in a van and families who talk about van life with kids.
The Campervan Bible
This was the first campervan book we ever bought about van life. Long before we even had our van. Martin Dorey is a campervan expert known from BBC2.
The book covers most of the aspects of the camper van life. You can find information about the best van to live in, which van life gear you should use, and last but not least, a lot of campervan recipes.
One of our favorite books!
Project Vanlife
Get inspired and come along on the adventure of a lifetime! Two young people enter into the world of entrepreneurship to keep their dreams alive.
They chase the largest professional mountain bike series in the north of America. Meanwhile, they live in a used van for 90 days and drive almost 15.000 miles on an almost zero van life budget.
They dedicate their lives to a purpose greater than themselves!
How to live in a van and travel – Mike Hudson
Live everywhere, be free, and have adventures in a campervan or motorhome.
Mike quit his job, made his home on wheels, and set off traveling. He was on the road for more than 3 years.
Living in a van is more than possible and after reading this book you’ll understand how. Whether you want to plan a short road trip or start a new life on the road, this book will show you how.
The camper van cookbook
If you like van life cooking, this is the book you need. The author, Martin Dorey, lived the VW van life and wrote this campervan cooking bible with over 80 tasty campervan recipes you can cook on just two rings and a few barbeque feasts.
The camper van cookbook will show you how to make the most of every single meal on the road.
Watch here how Martin prepares mussels!
Epic Drives of the World – Lonely planet
This book is the follow-up to Epic Bike Rides of the World. It is a beautiful hardback with 50 of the greatest roads in the world. From classic roads in America, Australia, and Europe to incredible adventures in Asia and Africa.
They are organized by continent with maps and illustrations.
From Hawaii’s Hana Highway and Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh Road to Utah’s National Park Circuit and Germany’s Black Forest High Road
We hope this list has given you a lot of inspiration to start your next van life adventure.
Did you read any of these? Or did we miss any of your favorite Van Life books? Let us know in the comments!
Related articles you might find interesting:
- Van Life Essentials: RV must-haves for 2021
If you’re traveling with kids: