Because apparently, working remotely from a van still means some actual work has to be done. Who knew, right?
So there is this vanlife idea: buy a van (nowadays with the crazy prices also not so easy, but still), find a beautiful spot by the ocean, open your laptop in the morning, do a few hours of work, go surfing, cook something delicious on your little gas stove and watch the sunset with a beer in hand, and repeat. What could possibly go wrong? Well, quite a lot, actually, I have been able to find out myself over the past years (and yes, this was before the toddler-interceptions).
The Wi-Fi doesn’t reach the beach spot you had so nicely set up to be your office for the day (it´s ok, you can still take that Insta picture and pretend). Your phone has one bar of reception, which disappears the moment you actually need it (of course). Your laptop battery is dying. It’s raining sideways right inside your little ventilation window in your van and you are now suffering heatstroke. And the beautiful, peaceful spot you found last night turns out to be right next to a construction site, or mudhole, or both.
Welcome to working remotely from a van. It´s so much fun, I promise.
I’ve spent plenty of time travelling with our van, Furgamor, and combining work with being on the road is one of those things that sounds wonderfully simple until you try to fit actual work into it. The freedom is fantastic, but the logistics don’t magically disappear just because your office has a sea view. So, if you’re thinking about combining remote work with vanlife, here are a few things worth figuring out before you start sending emails from what you thought was the middle of nowhere.
1. Your office has a view. Your office also has problems.
One of the best things about travelling by van is being able to wake up somewhere beautiful without having to check out of a hotel at 10 am. You can have your morning coffee overlooking the ocean, go for a walk along the coast and decide that today, this is where you’ll stay. And then you remember you have a deadline. Suddenly, the important questions aren’t whether the beach is beautiful or whether the waves look good. It’s whether you have phone reception, somewhere to sit comfortably and enough battery to get through the morning.
A beautiful parking spot doesn’t automatically make a good office. Sometimes it’s windy, sometimes it’s too hot to sit inside the van, and sometimes your only available workspace is a slightly wonky camping table that seems determined to send your laptop flying.
My advice? Separate your workdays from your adventure days whenever possible. If you’ve got an important video call or a deadline that absolutely cannot wait, choose a spot where you know you can work, or potentially even a coworking space or at least a rather quiet and decent cafe. Save the remote, spectacular, potentially-no-signal locations for when your schedule is a bit more forgiving.
Because the worst example of work-life balance is watching perfect waves roll in while you’re stuck inside answering emails.
2. Internet: the least exciting thing I expected to be very grateful for (and how I feel the most Anno 2026 ever)
Let’s be honest: researching mobile data plans is not the reason most of us want to travel by van. We’d rather spend that time looking for surf spots, planning road trips or figuring out where to get really good coffee. Unfortunately, if your income, like mine, depends on working online, connectivity matters.
There are several ways to get online on the road, and the best option depends on where you’re going, how long you’re staying and whether your work involves answering the occasional email or spending half your day on video calls.
Your phone’s hotspot
The simplest option is often to use your phone as a hotspot. No additional equipment, no complicated installation, no need to turn your van into a mobile telecommunications laboratory. It works well for emails, research, messaging and plenty of everyday tasks, provided you have a decent mobile signal and enough data.
The obvious downside is that you need a network to connect to. Which is slightly inconvenient when you’ve deliberately driven somewhere remote to escape everyone. Still, if this is what you want to do, and you are out of Europe, the routing issue becomes apparent. Because no, you do not want to use your European SIM card as a phone hotspot, or.. be prepared for a very, very shocking phone bill at the end of the month.
A local SIM card
If you’re spending a while in one country, a local SIM card can be a good option. You can compare local plans and choose something that suits your data needs. The downside is that if your road trip takes you across several borders, you’ll have to figure out the mobile-data situation all over again. It’s not exactly difficult, but it is one more thing to sort out when you’d probably rather be doing something else.
An eSIM for travelling between countries
So, weirdly enough, I had not heard of this before traveling to Canada end of 2024, but this is amazing! An eSIM is a digital SIM that you can install on a compatible phone. Depending on the plan, it lets you access mobile data abroad without having to buy a physical SIM card in every country. This can be particularly handy if you’re travelling internationally and want to get online as soon as you arrive, whether that’s to check directions, find your accommodation or figure out where you’ve accidentally driven yourself.
One option to look into is HolaFly. You can check the available destinations and plans here (yes, this is an affiliate link. Yes, I´ve used them before, no, you will not pay anything extra). Before buying, check that your phone supports eSIMs (most modern Android and Iphones do) and that the plan covers your destination. Also check the data allowance, hotspot restrictions and other conditions, particularly if you intend to use your phone’s connection for work.
And, perhaps not needed to say but still, an eSIM still needs some sort of connection so it won’t magically give you reception in a secluded valley or on a remote beach where the mobile networks haven’t quite caught up with your adventurous spirit. If there’s no usable signal, you’ll need another plan.
Café Wi-Fi: your temporary office away from your temporary office
Sometimes, the most sensible solution is to drive to the nearest town, order a coffee and work from a café. It’s not the most glamorous part of vanlife (or well, all of a sudden sitting with a nicely created Latte and perhaps even a Cinnamon Bunn is!), but neither is trying to explain to a client that your video froze because you parked behind a mountain.
Just don’t assume that every café or campsite has excellent Wi-Fi. If you’ve got an important call, check beforehand (another reason to have another Latte the day before) or have a backup option. And perhaps order more than one coffee if you’re planning to occupy a table for three hours.
3. Always have a Plan B. And maybe a Plan C.
If you’re working remotely, you don’t want your entire working day to depend on one mobile connection. Before heading somewhere particularly remote, check the coverage maps of the networks available to you. So here is what I do: download offline maps, save important documents locally and make sure you can access what you need without an internet connection. It also helps to know where the nearest town is. Not because you necessarily want to spend your day there, but because it’s useful to have somewhere to go if your connection disappears five minutes before a meeting (though if you really only have 5 minutes, I would depend to already be in the city, really).
And then there’s electricity. A laptop, phone and assorted gadgets can consume a surprising amount of power. Make sure your setup can keep your devices charged, whether that’s through your van’s electrical system, a power bank or another charging solution that suits your setup. We ourselves have solar panels on our van as well as an extra battery and always make sure everything is fully charged overnight.
The goal isn’t to prepare for the apocalypse. It’s to avoid having to drive around desperately searching for reception while your battery drops from 12% to 3%. Although, if you’ve travelled in a van for long enough, you probably know that sometimes the best-laid plans are just suggestions.
4. Plan your work around the surf. Or at least try to.
For me, one of the biggest attractions of combining work and travel is the possibility of organising your day around the things you actually enjoy doing.
If you surf, that might mean checking the forecast, getting a few hours of work done and heading to the beach when the conditions look good. If you’re travelling through the mountains, it might mean working on a rainy day and going hiking when the weather improves. Of course, this depends on your job. If your calendar is full of meetings, you can’t simply announce that the waves are looking great and disappear for three hours. Well, you can, but don´t keep me accountable for whatever happens next to your remote working career.
The trick is to plan ahead. Identify the days when you need a reliable workspace and try to keep your schedule flexible where possible. If you can work asynchronously, even better.
Also, remember that vanlife involves a surprising amount of admin. Finding somewhere to park, filling up with water, buying groceries, dealing with the occasional mechanical issue and figuring out where to empty your grey water all take time. Somehow, the fantasy of working four hours a day from paradise rarely includes spending an hour trying to find a place to refill the water tank. Been there, done that.
5. Your van doesn’t need to become a fancy coworking space
It’s tempting to think you need a perfectly converted van with solar panels, an elaborate electrical system, a clever folding desk and enough gadgets to launch a small satellite. You don’t necessarily need all that. What you do need is a setup that works for the way you travel and the kind of work you do.
A stable surface for your laptop, a comfortable seat, decent lighting and somewhere to keep your equipment organised can make a huge difference. If you work inside the van, ventilation is important too, especially when the weather is warm.
Think about where you’ll take video calls. Your colleagues might appreciate not having the sound of howling wind, crashing waves or your camping stove competing with your voice. And you might want to consider a standard Zoom meeting backdrop.
And if you’re working from the van regularly, try to create some separation between work and downtime. When your office is also your kitchen, living room and bedroom, it can be surprisingly difficult to switch off. Even something as simple as closing the laptop, putting your work things away and going outside can help.
You don’t need to optimise every square centimetre of your van for productivity. Sometimes a comfortable chair and a bit of common sense are enough.
6. Sometimes, the best thing to do is go offline
Here’s something worth remembering: just because you can work from anywhere doesn’t mean you have to work from everywhere. Something I absolutely still have a hard time understanding and doing well.
One of the nicest things about travelling by van is being able to spend time somewhere without constantly rushing to the next destination. You can go for a walk, explore a little village, spend an afternoon at the beach or simply sit outside with a coffee.
If your workload allows it, protect some of that time. Download the documents you need, get your work done and give yourself permission to close the laptop. The whole point of having some flexibility is being able to enjoy the places you visit, not just relocate your desk every few days.
And if you find yourself sitting inside the van on a beautiful sunny day, staring at a spreadsheet while the surf is pumping outside, it might be worth asking yourself whether that email really needs to be answered this very second.
Sometimes it does. That’s life. But sometimes it can wait until tomorrow.
So, can you really work from anywhere?
Technically, you can work from a lot of places. Practically, some places are considerably better than others.
Combining remote work with vanlife can be brilliant if you enjoy travelling independently, don’t mind a bit of uncertainty and have a job that allows you some flexibility. You don’t need a perfect van conversion, the most expensive internet setup or a laptop-friendly beach in every destination. You need a setup that suits your work, a bit of forward planning and the ability to laugh when things don’t quite go to plan.
Some days you’ll work with an incredible view. Other days you’ll sit in a café in a random town because your mobile signal has decided to take the day off. And occasionally, you’ll discover that the best solution is to shut the laptop, grab your surfboard and accept that work can wait. Which, when you think about it, is probably part of the reason you wanted to work remotely from a van in the first place. Happy travels, and may your batteries stay charged and your Wi-Fi signal strong.
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