Thinking of trying van life? See inside this couple's converted Mercedes Sprinter – and why they left van life behind
- Austin Shoecraft and Melanie Hershman Shoecraft converted a Mercedes van into a mobile tiny home.
- The couple, both software engineers, spent 11 months traveling and working in their van.
Austin Shoecraft and Melanie Hershman Shoecraft had been interested in working while traveling for a few years. When the pandemic hit, they began exploring ways they could turn this idea into reality.
In June 2021, they bought a Mercedes Sprinter van for about $60,000 and had it converted into a mobile tiny home.
In 2022 the couple spent 11 months traveling and working in the van, visiting Niagara Falls, Montreal, and Quebec City in Canada, and Texas, New Orleans, and Atlanta in the US.
They shared their experiences of working on the road with Insider.
The software engineers spent a total of about $165,000 on the van.
The couple said that they spent close to $60,000 on the van, including taxes and fees.
They paid a builder about $90,000 for parts and labor, and an additional $15,000 for some extras including side steps, a custom pull-up bar, and a new head unit.
"We ensured that we had workspaces where we both could sit, work, and take meetings," Melanie told Insider.
They said they took out a loan to finance the van and the conversion costs.
Their monthly costs were around $3,500 for gas, food, and campsite fees, they said.
The couple said it cost about $30 a night to stay at campsites, but got better rates when staying longer than one night.
They often ate at restaurants or bought food from local grocery stores, they added.
"Our monthly costs were pretty comparable to what we were paying just for rent in Boston or New York when we were living in those cities," Melanie said.
"This is definitely on the higher end of what people do and by no means do you need to spend what we did," Austin said, adding that it was possible to do it "far, far cheaper."
Austin discovered van conversions on YouTube during the pandemic.
Austin became interested in van and school bus conversions during the pandemic.
The couple said they then began exploring tiny home conversions or RVs in which they could work and travel the country.
Their employers were flexible and supported remote working.
Melanie said they spoke to their companies about their idea and they fully supported them.
"Luckily they were flexible," she said, adding that "our working hours remained pretty similar to what they were when we were working in a home office."
She said that their companies were also flexible with meetings, allowing them to join without cameras on or rescheduling if they had a poor connection or if they were driving.
They had three forms of internet connections to ensure they could work with ease.
Austin, 30, and Melanie, 29, had special outlets to run their laptops so that they could comfortably charge them all day without turning on the inverter.
"We had three forms of cellular or internet connectivity. We had a WeBoost for boosting our cell service," Austin said.
"We had two hotspots; one on Verizon and one on T-Mobile and a booster for that as well. We also had Starlink," he added.
They also took a mobile cellular router with them so that they could boost the range of their connection using an antenna.
The van also had external storage for their bicycles.
If they needed power hookups, wanted air conditioning, or just fancied staying in one place for a while, Austin said they would book into campsites.
"If it was hot, it was better to have a campsite where we could actually charge up and run the AC overnight so that we could sleep well and work comfortably," he said.
Melanie and Austin used apps to find free locations to park and stay.
They used different apps to find campsites, check internet connectivity, and find free places to stay.
"We used a really cool app called HarvestHost that allows you to book a night or two on a property that's on the app," Melanie said. "They often were wineries or farms or breweries and it's free to stay, but the only request is that you help support the business. So we got to see a lot of really cool local businesses that way."
The tech-savvy couple said they also used an app called Valley that's like Airbnb for driveways, allowing users to rent them out.
Living and working in a van "didn't help" their work-life balance.
The couple struggled to achieve a good work-life balance because they were on the move "too much," Austin said.
They would often wake up, drive for a few hours, work for eight hours, and then drive another few hours — which "took its toll," he said.
"We never found the perfect balance of work and travel. But I do think it was a really cool experience being able to work a full day and then that night go explore a city," Melanie said.
"It was draining and I think being able to choose your own hours would lend itself certainly more to that lifestyle," she added.
One of their worst days was when their toilet became infested with flies.
The couple faced a few challenges on their travels, including a time the van's composting toilet became infested with flies.
On another occasion, they struggled to get internet connection due to the weather.
"I was on call for my company that week and the website went down so I needed to be online and be connected," Melanie said. "Luckily my company was really understanding and somebody else jumped in to help."
Something always seemed to go wrong in the van.
The couple said the problems they faced, whether an infested toilet or a stuck door, "pushed us to be better," and they became more organized and more flexible as a result.
"There was a lot of problem solving involved," Melanie said, adding that "it's somewhat fun if you like fixing things, but it does grow on you."
But she said everything was "manageable" and there were more highs than lows.
They sold the van for $130,000.
The couple said they loved their van life, but decided to move back into an apartment in Ithaca, New York, after Melanie was accepted onto an MBA program.
"It was important that we be in one place for a while," she said.
"We decided to switch to the comfort of an apartment instead of the van while I'm in that program, but it was definitely really fun while we were doing it."
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