Skip to main content

My Van Needs

Ry, a 2022 Thor Rize

In January 2025, I bought a campervan, a 2022 Thor Rize that I named “Ry.”

After 18 months of ownership and 50 nights together on the road, I have concluded that van life, at least in this van, doesn’t work for me.

Now that it’s time to sell my campervan, I thought I should first catalogue what went wrong. In truth, the dream of van life is still very real for me and this experiment with it was full of positive experiences. But there are some things that need to be different before I can live my van life dream.

  1. My Van Life Dream
  2. My Van Needs a Permanent Bed
  3. My Van Needs a Separating Toilet
  4. My Van Needs a Gasoline Heater
  5. My Van Needs a Recirculating Shower
  6. My Van Needs to be Maintainable
  7. My Van Needs to be Stealthy
  8. My Van Needs External Storage
  9. My Van Needs Four-Wheel Drive
  10. My Van Needs a Parking Space
  11. My Van Needs a Copilot