> I would totally hate the lack of space and comfort.
I have 12 square meters and my bed is super comfortable. Most of the time I'm outside. Works perfect for me.
> I'd sleep really poorly at night when it's super hot in summer and cold in winter.
That's the whole thing about a van: If it's too hot in the mainland, you drive to the beach where you always have a chill breeze. In the winter you drive down south where it's warm. I actually feel bad for the people who have to stay in cities when it's hot and humid in the summer or freezing cold in the winter.
> I'd hate it to have to look for a good internet to work.
In Europe the 4G network coverage is amazing. Within the last five months I had less issues with my connectivity than some of my co-workers using a cable internet.
> I'd miss my friends all the time.
Yes, I do miss my friends. I guess this is a valid concern. But sometimes I meet my friends when they are on vacation nearby and for Christmas I will fly back to my hometown to see family and friends.
> I'd dislike having to socialize with random van neighbors every time I want to not dine alone.
I guess that's personal taste. It's very easy to socialize with travelers: they invite your for dinner right away. Sometimes you even don't have to approach them actively. I've also spent a couple of weeks with the same people and we had dinner together every evening. Once you life in a van you often meet people who do the same. So basically you have friends near by.
To expand on this based on my and my parents experiences, we have friends from ~10-15 years ago when they were full time RVers that we still stay in contact with. They often go travel around the US and meet/stay with them.
I try to make it a point to remember that, regardless of who people are or how you meet them, you never know when you're going to make a lasting friendship. I think, paradoxically, it's sometimes easier to make friends in a situation where everyone doesn't have high expectations.
Also we made acquaintance with a guy who traveled with an entire array of fantastically high quality whisk(e)y. Yes, we did stay a little longer there as a result, and yes, it was totally worth it.
Same experience for me. I've got a 4G dongle that I use for travelling and it's both faster and more reliable than my home broadband connection (no fiber available in my area). Just keeping an eye out for a cheap 4G data SIM so I can switch to the dongle full time.
Recent EU roaming regs are also a boon, buy a data SIM in your country of residence and get coverage across the EU at no extra cost!
Do you get enough data volume? Most sim cards for use with computer are quite restricted. Or can you live off 10GB/month?
Apparently it can also vary at any given moment, depending on equipment failures and access to equipment issues.
I'd recommend getting a couple of cheap-ish pre-loaded data SIMs from EE and Three, and have your main data SIM with someone else.
I carry a 500MB/month EE 4G SIM that was cheap in Argos, in an unlocked 4G EE wifi router dongle. I have an O2 (MVNO) SIM in my phone.
Plus an assortment of pre-loaded (but not activated) SIMs in the event I need Three, or need more data.
I've not had any luck at all with Voda, but should I give them another shot?
Where do you plan on leaving your van while you are away? Are you worried about security?
But even if I leave the van somewhere unattended: I take my laptop and wallet with me. Other than that I don't have much valuable things in my van: If someone wants to steal my underwear that I've been wearing for ten years: fine go for it.
At the end everything in my van is replaceable. Including the van itself ;)
The fresh air and the much less polluted environment will allow you to sleep like a baby.
In reality while I was living at the middle of nowhere, I never had any issues sleeping. And i think the too worm/ too cold thing is just an excuse to yourself. There are other things in your mind, like stress etc that won't allow you to sleep well.
When I moved to London, I had quite a lot of trouble sleeping here and there, as I am having more stress etc.
Hopefully everything will be over in less than a month when I am moving back to the middle of nowhere and the new job I got is much less stressful etc.
Some of the best experiences of my life!
It was an amazing experience, and you learn a lot about people, culture, and yourself. One of the things I realized is that life always offers you options to complain about: I think the greatest inconveniences and discomforts of our ancestors of 200 years past have now been solved, but then taken for granted. We just adjust, become jaded and move on to new things to feel uncomfortable, complain about, and fear.
The experience was about making a story in my life that was more than just going back and forth between the same office, restaurants, etc. Getting out of my comfort zone and going on an adventure and exploring what is out there.
In winter, you head north; in summer, south. The weather is great. You meet nice people, and rude. Generous and benevelont, but also some rotten and even dastardly. There's no escaping the realities of our world; but what can maybe be done for ourselves is to try to escape our human nature to be spoiled with what we have, go outside our comfort zones and on the adventures we dream of. At minimum, it at least offers a lot of perspective.
But while all of this said is fair, to be honest: without the hedonism aspect--if I didn't so much enjoy surfing, the outdoors, and meeting new people--I would have quit such a long trip.
TL;DR if you have a good reason to believe you would enjoy it, being uncomfortable might not be a reason to avoid it.