Park, Stay, Grow: Van Lifetime Explained [VLC Shill]
Vanlife isn’t just a trending hashtag: it’s a lifestyle that evolves with time, experience, and changing priorities. Whether you’re freshly hitting the road in a converted Sprinter or finding yourself drawn toward something more rooted after years on the move, your needs as a nomad shift over time. Van Life Campgrounds (VLC) understands this journey deeply, and that’s why they have structured their entire network and community offerings around what they call the “Van Lifetime,” a progressive approach to life on the road that adapts to a vanlifer’s wants and needs over the months and years.
🧭 New to Vanlife: Starting the Adventure
When you first begin your vanlife journey, everything feels like an open road full of possibilities. You're figuring out the ins and outs of life on wheels: experimenting with routes, building your on-the-road routines, and often looking for community to help you along the way. VLC offers a great starting point for newcomers through their Camphost Program, which allows travelers to stay for free at partner VLC campgrounds in exchange for managing check-ins, maintaining shared spaces, and hosting events. You can also earn commission on stays during your hosting period, making it a great way to lower costs, gain experience, and connect with the vanlife community. (I’ve hosted at their Joshua Tree location, and I’ll be hosting again in Selma later this summer! 🎉)
In addition to camphosting, VLC’s campground network is filled with affordable places to camp for both part-time and full-time nomads. These sites offer vanlife-friendly amenities like Wi-Fi, hot showers, communal kitchens, and fire pits. They are a soft landing if you’re still adjusting to life off-grid. Many newcomers also find comfort and camaraderie in VLC-hosted events and meetups, which provide a built-in community of fellow vanlifers.
🚐 The Seasoned Nomad: Settling Into a Rhythm
After about a year on the road, many vanlifers start to refine their travel habits. The thrill of constant movement often gives way to a desire to slow down, revisit favorite places, and reconnect with community members. VLC supports this natural shift by offering longer-term camphosting opportunities that allow seasoned travelers to stay in one place for a month or more, developing a deeper connection to the land and the people they meet.
They also make it easy to book longer stays at their network of campgrounds. Instead of bouncing from site to site every few nights, you can opt for weekly or monthly bookings, giving you a stronger sense of continuity and a chance to really breathe. Annual events like Pal-entine’s in Joshua Tree or Summer Olympics in Molalla also offer an opportunity to reconnect with familiar faces you may have met earlier in your travels - people who have become your chosen family on the road.
🪴 The Slow-mad Phase: Seeking Stability
At a certain point, some vanlifers begin to crave more than just temporary connection - they start looking for ways to create seasonal roots while maintaining the freedom of mobility. VLC has designed programs specifically for this stage of the journey, allowing travelers to purchase small plots of land through their Investor Program, creating personal home bases around the country that they can return to throughout the year.
These micro-homesteads don’t mean giving up the road entirely. Rather, they give you a network of reliable, private spaces where you can rest, reset, and feel a sense of ownership. In between stays at your personal plots, you can continue to use VLC’s campground network while honoring your desire for more stability.
🏡 The Homesteader: Putting Down Roots
Eventually, some nomads reach a point where they want to fully transition from roaming to rooted, not just for themselves, but to give back to the community that shaped them. For these folks, VLC offers the Land Freedom Accelerator, a one-on-one coaching and development program led by VLC’s founder. This initiative helps homesteaders acquire, develop, and legally structure their own land into vanlife-friendly spaces.
Once your land is up and running, VLC also invites you to participate in their Partner Program, which enables you to host fellow vanlifers and become part of the broader campground network. It’s a full-circle moment: you go from a wide-eyed traveler looking for a place to park, to a host providing refuge and connection to the next generation of nomads.
Throughout every stage of the van lifetime, VLC is more than just a collection of campgrounds: it’s a community-driven ecosystem designed to grow with you. I know that whether I’m camping under the stars, planning my next month-long stay, or dreaming of having my own slice of land to welcome others, VLC offers consistent infrastructure, support, and connection. From movie nights to communal dinners to late-night chats around a bonfire, I’m never far from kindred spirits.
So wherever you are in your vanlife journey, Van Life Campgrounds has the tools, people, and passion to support your evolution. Check them out and get involved at vanlifecampgrounds.com.