Vanlife and Mental Health: How to Keep Your Sanity While Living on The Road

Wondering how you can prioritize your mental health while also living on the road? We’ve got you covered with our top tips for maintaining your wellness while traveling full-time.

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📍- Somewhere on the Road

Progress has always been a difficult thing for humans to conceptualize. Day by day, it seems that nothing is changing, yet if you look back at the state of your life a year ago, you may barely recognize it. 

Thoughts of progress have consumed my days after this past year of full-time travel. My husband, Drew, and I started this journey wanting to see the deepest corners of the country, but as we checked off sites from our bucket list, it seemed this list was only getting longer. Thoughts of everything that remain to be seen are an enormous distraction from how much we’ve already experienced, and the effort of planning our next stop often separates us from being present in our current location. 

This is the privileged predicament of those who choose to live on the road. A journey often meant to quench our thirst for adventure can make us crave it even more. There is this plaguing illusion that the journey has just begun, but for us, this could not be further from the truth. It has been a year since we set sail to travel the country, yet even after having explored 27 states together, I still often feel like the same eager girl who just wanted to see America the Beautiful with my own two eyes. Of course, I am no longer that girl who dreamed of climbing the red rock vortexes of Sedona or feeling the mist of the towering waterfalls in Yosemite. I am the woman who has seen all of that and more, so why don’t I feel satisfied with this progress?

Many people start vanlife hoping that it may bring them satisfaction and happiness, but I will warn those optimistic individuals that it may not be that easy. While a mobile life will grant you memories beyond what many people will experience in their lifetime, true contentment is only found from within. It requires presence, and the willingness to accept things exactly as they are today. In fact, I would argue that the chaos of this type of life can make it even harder to find time to devote to keeping your sanity. 

We can tell you through first-hand experience, that no matter what your favorite influencers may make you think, full-time travel is not a substitute for self-care. Balancing wellness and travel can be a bit of a challenge, but after some volatile trial and error, we’ve discovered some of the best things that keep us grounded while we are still on this grand excursion of ours. If this sounds like something you’d benefit from learning, then keep reading to find our top tips for how you can care for your mental health while living the #vanlifedream.

In this Article:

1. 12 Tips to Maintain Your Mental Health While on the Road
2.   Keep a Routine
3.   Set a Limit on Travel Days
4.   Move Slower
5.   Soak in the Sun
6.   Cook Your Own Meals
7.   Get Regular Exercise
8.   Document Your Journey
9.   Stay Social
10.   Check-in on Each Other
11.   Plan Date Nights
12.   Take Time off Social Media
13.   Listen to Music

12 Tips to Maintain Your Mental Health While on the Road

Keep a Routine

Even before living in the RV, having a consistent daily routine was essential for both my and Drew’s mental health. It is true that keeping a routine can be difficult at first, but it gives your body and brain some much-needed stability when you are on the move frequently. While your days will likely vary depending on what your work and chore schedule demands, we recommend giving yourself a reliable way to both start each morning and end each evening. For us, this means getting up at the same time every day, making a strong batch of coffee, enjoying our first few sips while reading a few passages from our Bibles, and hopefully fitting in some exercise.

Your routine may look quite different, but what is important is that you are consistent with it, no matter how much you may feel like the day demands your immediate attention. Over time, your routine will become second nature and every morning will feel like you're starting the day on a step toward victory.

Even if your home has wheels now, it is a home nonetheless and you are still a human. Even travelers need to take care of their health and wellbeing.

Set a Limit on Travel Days

What is the longest amount of time that you are willing to drive on a particular day? Find that number, etch it in stone, and treat it as law. If you don’t, then you may find that the allure of destinations off in the distance will convince you that traveling hundreds of miles every week is a great idea. This phenomenon is called “road fever”, and it's very contagious to those of us who live on the road. While not excluding the two of us, I must admit that we once drove from Key West, Florida to Alabama on one extremely draining Sunday. We left our campground and drove several hours before the sun even rose, and landed at our next accommodation after the sun had set. The experience was so exhausting that we vowed to never do that to ourselves again, or risk immediate burnout.

If you’re one of those brilliant few who take others’ warnings to heart, I encourage you to learn this lesson from our mistakes.

Move Slower

Much like the last point, the desire to see everything and anything in whatever country you are currently exploring will leave you thinking it’s a great idea to move locations every other travel day. Drew and I used to travel every three to five days, but balancing this speed between work and planning proved to be too much after a few untimely adult tantrums. We now move every seven to 14 days and even consider that to be a bit speedy when life feels extra hectic.

We all need days to simply be human beings. Being full-time travelers does not absolve you of that need, so don’t let what appears to be non-stop action from other vanlifers on the internet convince you otherwise. Take your downtime. Take it greedily, unapologetically, and without guilt. You are still human after all.

Sometimes, just stopping in a town with no plans can help you explore at your own pace and without expectations. This photo was taken from Orange Beach, Alabama where we did just that.

Soak in the Sun

It’s crazy what a little bit of sunlight can do to brighten your day. I obviously can’t speak for anybody else, but I have found it surprisingly easy to stay inside our tiny little home all day long. Perhaps it’s the privacy we sometimes lack at some of the more non-glamorous campgrounds stays we’ve had, but when I’m feeling introverted, the last thing I want to do is go outside my home and see a bunch of strangers. Still, I do it anyway because I know that avoiding it sets me on a path straight toward hobbit-ism.

Drew and I owe a lot of credit to our trusty pup, Charlie, on this one. Without him asking for his daily walk, we surely would have missed out on several opportunities to enjoy a beautiful day outdoors.

If you were at all nervous about bringing along a pet on your vanlife adventures, let me assure you that they absolutely add to the experience. Check out a whole blog about life on the road with pets here.

Cook Your Own Meals

I think that there is this massive misconception that people who travel full-time are always on vacation. Even after living in a home-on-wheels yourself, it can be a seductive idea that will reel you into almost believing it. For our first few months on the road, we caught the vacation frenzy and couldn’t resist the urge to eat and drink through every new city we found ourselves in.

As a couple of foodies, we feel the urge to try every local dish and recommendation that meets our ears, but believe me when I say that this type of lifestyle is not sustainable. Cooking your own meals will give you routine, more control over what you are putting in your body, and be a heck of a lot easier on your wallet. Eating poorly is one of those factors that you don’t really recognize as having a negative impact on your overall health until it has significantly deteriorated, so staying ahead of the game and continuing to fuel your body correctly is really the kinder thing for your overall health.

Of course, if you love eating out as much as we do, I still encourage you to treat yourself from time to time.

Get Regular Exercise

I know, I know, nobody wants to be told that they should exercise more, but I feel like this may be one of the most important items on this list, so it needs to be said. Our bodies are complexly interconnected, so one of the best ways to help your mental health is by taking care of your physical health. Just this morning I woke up feeling anxious and irritable, a feeling which didn’t subside throughout the day. Eventually, I set aside my to-do list and took 30 minutes to practice some yoga and release a good bit of that built-up tension in my shoulders.

The thought of regular exercise can be intimidating if you don’t already have an active lifestyle, but don’t let the fear of starting something new stop you from progressing. My advice to you is to start small by simply going on daily walks which you should aim to slowly increase in length over time. Then, start experimenting with different types of movement until you find something you enjoy doing enough that it will motivate you to continue to do it. For me, this looks like power yoga, biking, and scenic hikes. Many travelers that I know also purchase a Planet Fitness Membership because of its affordability, gym centers all over the country, and access to free showers.

One of our favorite hikes on this journey was Devil’s Bridge which we enjoyed during our trip to Sedona, Arizona.

Document Your Journey

I would never say that there’s such a thing as too much travel, but there is definitely a maximum capacity of memories that our brains can accurately retain. After traveling for a year, I sometimes have flashbacks to memories that I have trouble placing in a particular location. I will scroll through our collection of travel photos, and be reminded of an incredible excursion we took only a few months ago. Without our frequent documentation, it would be easy to forget how far we’ve come in this incredible journey of ours, and it would be even harder than it is now to remember everything that we’ve experienced.

As full-time travelers, I think that too many of us get caught up in the anticipation of whatever’s next. Don’t get me wrong, the excitement of an approaching adventure is something we should embrace, but don’t let the thought of what is to come to prevent you from reflecting on what you’ve already accomplished. We have found that carefully documenting our experiences allows us to share our stories with family and friends, reminisce on our memories, and have more time to spend focusing on the present moment instead of ruminating on trying to remember details of the past.

Stay Social

As two introverts, Drew and I sometimes forget to socialize with people other than one another, a problem that has only perpetuated since living in the RV. Humans are social creatures who crave human connection, even if the anxious parts of your brain are telling you to hide from your campground neighbors. Even for us introverts, some of our favorite memories have involved scenarios where we’ve been forced to interact with other people. During our recent trip to Austin, Texas, for example, we waited in line for several hours to try what is arguably the best brisket in the country at Franklin BBQ. While waiting, we met a couple from Idaho who we still keep in contact with, and plan on meeting up with again when we eventually roll through their area.

Believe it or not, there is more to travel than mountaintop views and days in nature. Oftentimes, the communities are what makes a particular destination special in the first place, so don’t overlook the experiences you can have by simply acknowledging the people around you. It can be incredible how refreshed you feel when you get a bit of human interaction after not having much of it in a while.

We were even able to meet Aaron Franklin, the BBQ master behind Franklin Barbeque on this outing!

Check-in on Each Other

This one is more geared toward those of us who are traveling with a partner, but it could easily apply to solo travelers who have similarly traveling friends as well. Invest the time to check in on one another. How is everybody feeling? Have you been moving too fast? Too slow? Are you burnt out? Eager to get going? What stays have you loved? Which ones could you have done without? By checking in on each other, you also force yourself to reflect on how you have been feeling about your travels in the process.

As much as we try not to, we all have preconceived ideas about how travel is supposed to be done, how it is supposed to look, and how it is supposed to feel. In reality, though, there is no right way to live any kind of lifestyle, and a traveling one is no different. Do not let your ideas about what you should be feeling distract you from what you actually feel. That is a recipe for pent-up frustration. We recently spent a few months boondocking through the midwest, convinced that finding free camping in rural areas was the recipe to a worry-free lifestyle. It was only once we finally asked each other how we were feeling about our travels that we realized the constant water rationing and insecurity about where we would sleep every week were causing us more anxiety than enjoyment. After realizing that extended boondocking wasn’t our thing, we were able to correct the problem and get back to fully enjoying RV life together.

We still love to boondock, but we are happiest when staying at free spaces in between some more comfortable campground stays.

Plan Date Nights

If you live in a vehicle or small RV with your significant other, you may think that your constant close contact with one another should give you all the quality time you could ever need. I’m sorry to inform you, though, that this is an incorrect assumption. Looking over at each other from above your computer screens all day does not equate to any significant amount of bonding.

It surprised Drew and me how frequently we lost touch with each other when we didn’t take the time to prioritize just being together. Living in a small space with one another does not excuse you from the obligation of prioritizing your relationship. In fact, the lack of personal space can mean many partners end up pushing each other away in an attempt to get some personal space.

In the beginning, it took us a few months to figure out why RV life was making us feel extra irritable toward one another, but once we figured out the culprit, we now make an attempt to go on a specially planned date night once a week. This doesn’t have to be something extravagant. Even a day spent outside, with a bottle of wine and some music is enough, but taking that time to connect will ensure that you stay strong as a team and as a reliable support system for one another.

When we passed through Napa Valley, we planned a date to taste our way through some popular wineries in the area.

Take Time Off Social Media

Please allow me to be the lucky person to give you your weekly reminder that social media is not real. A person’s Instagram account is not an accurate representation of their life. It is a cherry-picked highlight reel of the beautiful moments that fill in the gaps between the overwhelming majority of the time that makes up reality. Especially true if you have gotten involved with the online traveling community, it is important to keep this in mind. While your online friends allow you to create a broad support system while always on the move, looking at their lives through their own version of rose-colored glasses can do more harm than good.
Do not compare the full picture of your own life to somebody else’s highlight reel. This is an unreasonable expectation and usually ends with you putting an enormous amount of pressure on yourself. Of course, this is easier said than done, and even the most sensible of us can fall into this comparison trap.
If you ever feel yourself falling victim to this counterproductive train of thought, it’s pretty safe to say that it is time to take a break from social media. The online community will still be there when you come back, and if they provide any type of support worth keeping around, they will understand if you take a brief leave of absence.

Listen to Music

I’ve never been somebody with any degree of musical ability, but I can still appreciate the potential of a good song. The power of music has always amazed me in its ability to inspire emotion and trigger strong memories in listeners. It’s a phenomenon not completely understood by modern science, but music can stimulate parts of the brain that other types of communication just can’t, and as far as I can tell, it is the closest thing we have to magic here on earth. Music will transport you to different countries, walk you through your inner thoughts that you’ve had trouble traversing through on your own, and dissolve those stubborn thoughts of worry.

Although I saved it for last, this may be the tip that has helped Drew and me the most during our worst travel days. So on those days when you start to contemplate your life choices, I encourage you to listen to music. Listen to music that you genuinely love. Listen to the songs that you have memories with, ones that remind you of your childhood, or a loved one, or a summer at camp. Listen to them while you cook. Listen to them while you clean. Listen to them while you drive. Listen to them instead of turning on the television for an afternoon, and notice the difference in how you feel at the end of the day. Satisfaction guaranteed.

And, if you happen to need some inspiration, check out our road trip playlist on Spotify which we made on our coast-to-coast journey.

12 months after starting our journey, here I am after seeing the Pacific Ocean for the first time. As you can tell, happiness and fulfillment are absolutely possible while living on the road.

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We hope you enjoyed and learned about how to prioritize your mental health while also living on the road! If you have any questions, or perhaps a tip of your own, please leave a comment so that we can help other travelers together!

Thank you for joining us at Discovery Detour, where the destination is always unknown.