Recently, I had the opportunity to travel in a B-Adventure van for nearly two weeks — 12 days, to be exact. As a career travel writer on two different assignments, one in Colorado and one in Wyoming, I had some unique and very specific requirements for my van.
If you’re a digital nomad who can truly work remotely, and you’re wondering if van life is a realistic option for you, you’ll want to read this.
B-Van Expectations Versus Reality
Internet
First and foremost, reliable Internet connectivity was an absolute must. This trip wasn’t a vacation; it was work. Not only was I traveling to destinations for my job, but I had to meet deadlines along the way.
My route, a big loop from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City to Laramie, Wyoming, to Telluride, Colorado, and then back to Las Vegas, meant a lot of mountain passes, rural roads, and deep backcountry campsites. The likelihood of finding coffee shops or libraries with Wi-Fi anywhere other than the major cities was practically zero. Plus, we wouldn’t have time for those detours anyway. Being able to work from the road was non-negotiable.
Fortunately, some B-Vans, including ours, are equipped with Starlink Gen 2 Satellite Internet. I was, admittedly, skeptical (anxious is more accurate — I was terrified of missing a deadline!), but Starlink was rock-solid and reliable. It doesn’t work well in congested cities, but it’s not designed to; it’s meant specifically to provide Internet where there’s only limited connectivity or even none at all.
We had strong Wi-Fi everywhere we needed it. This included a very cloudy night and deep in Wyoming’s Medicine Bow National Forest, where neither of us had a single cell phone bar. I’m proud to say I didn’t miss a single deadline and I even had two successful Zoom meetings and a few FaceTime calls.
Self-contained
Largely because of my career, I’ve experienced all sorts of camping and spent time in a variety of RVs. I knew that having a self-contained van was the only way to go for this type of trip. I didn’t want to stress out about onboard battery levels or have to plan campsites around where we’d find hookups.
B-Vans are entirely self-contained, so this wasn’t a problem at all! Solar panels generate power all day, providing enough juice for light daily use and even charging up the inverter batteries. Even during a span of a few overcast days, we never ran the battery down unexpectedly. More importantly, we were able to camp anywhere, without any worries of the nearest electricity or water hookups.
Adaptability & Space
Next, the van needed to have plenty of storage and be truly adventure-ready. For many of the same reasons I listed earlier (mountain roads, backcountry campsites, working from the road), no two days were alike.
I might be hiking or off-roading in the morning, have a lunchtime meeting at a brewery in-town, be on a lake kayaking by sunset, and have a deadline to finish up in the evening. It wasn’t at all uncommon for me to change clothes twice a day. I brought a lot of gear on this particular trip. As it turns out, it’s frowned upon to wear dusty hiking clothes into a professional meeting! It was important that the van be versatile and spacious.
Our Adventure B-Van, which I named Laramie in honor of its maiden voyage, didn’t disappoint. Even with two of us in and out of the van on various adventures and both working remotely (i.e.; two laptops, countless cords and charging devices, plus camera equipment), we never even came close to running out of space. We had enough food and drinks to last for about a week, and heck, I even had four pairs of shoes including a bulky pair of hiking boots and a pair of tall cowboy boots!
Needless to say, our B-Van checked all of our “boxes” — and then some. We learned several things on the trip.
Takeaways
Traveling in a B-Van makes it easy to “go with the flow”
When you’re tent camping, there’s pressure to get to camp with enough daylight to set up. Similarly, a lot of times in a traditional RV, you either have to reserve a campsite well in advance or you need one that has hookups. With a camper van, though, those concerns simply don’t exist. Since you’re self-contained, you’re not reliant on hookups. You can roll into camp at literally any time because there’s no setup. In fact, we did roll in to a campsite one night after midnight, and everything was fine!
B-Vans have so much more storage than you probably realize
Thoughtful little touches, like extra-deep door panel pockets and cubbies above the beds, ensure that there’s more than enough space for two adults.
Things we thought would be a huge deal, weren’t
Before the trip, we both had so many concerns. Where would we do laundry? How do you cook on an induction stove? How would we dump and/or refill our water tank (we used this helpful website to find legal dump stations on our route!)? We even worried about how to actually drive the van! But the Bemyvan team really has designed these vans with everyone in mind, regardless of how much experience you have (or don’t have) in RVs.
A B-Van redefines “work-life balance”
For the longest time, it’s been the norm for digital nomads to work from public libraries, coffee shops, or wherever else they can find solid Wi-Fi. But let’s be honest: if you’re on an epic road trip, who the heck wants to be stuck inside? The addition of Starlink completely changes the game, enabling nomads to work from those amazing sights. At one point, we were working outside at a campsite in the mountains in Telluride, sitting near the campfire! That’s real work-life balance, allowing you to immerse yourself in nature and the experience while still getting work done. And isn’t that the very reason most of us choose a nomadic life in the first place?!
If you’re considering getting a B-Van, I can’t recommend it highly enough — particularly if you can work from the road. It combines many of the benefits of tent camping, like freedom, solitude, and connecting with nature, with the comforts of RV camping and the flexibility of a smaller vehicle. Contact Bemyvan to get started. You won’t regret it.