Basically, everyone I told that I was thinking of trying out one-month full-time vanlife with my cats officially declared me ´crazy cat lady´. And sure, I was having some serious doubts myself as well but figured I´d give it a try.
I read a bunch of blogs to prepare myself for what was to come, but most I could find was on people traveling with a dog, or with just one cat. However, how much difference would there be between one, or three cats? Right?
We made it through one entire month in which I loved their company, it was in some ways easier than expected but still decided that it would be best for them to not take them along on my four-month travel that was to come afterward. Below I will explain the main reasons why, what I have learned, what I recommend others doing and above all, what you should really take into consideration.
I loved the company!
Sure, vanlife sometimes can be a bit lonely when traveling solo. And having my fluffies with me all the time made for really nice company. I loved seeing how they were exploring and getting used to the van as their new house. It also opened many conversations as my cats would go off and visit my van neighbors and of course, the many curious questions of passerby’s.
Let them get used to the van before you take off
I had parked my van in the garden of my old house. Sometimes I would sit inside, work or just read a book, and wait for my cats to join me. This way I was hoping that they would start to feel comfortable with being inside the van before we would actually take off. In the beginning, I would move around a maximum of 15 minutes, and slowly increasing this. The longest I ended up driving with them (though taking small breaks in between) was 4 hours.
GPS devices saved my life!
I used a specific GPS device that connects to the collar of my cats and weighs nothing. This Weenect device connects to my phone and shows where my cats are hanging out with every 15 seconds update. This seriously is like Strava for cats and really saved me! The only downside: the battery only lasts about 24 hours. I would put them on at night, and when my cats would return during the day, I would put them to charge. However, one day, one of my fluffies decided to not return for another three days and due to the low battery, it was impossible to find him. Quite a disaster!
Using a leash or harness
My cats have never used (or even seen from up-close) a leash, harness, or even collar. When I tried to put it on them it was a huge disaster, they tried to get out, run away when they saw the thing coming, and just looking at me that helpless that I felt bad for them. If you will be using a leash or a harness for your cats when traveling, make sure you take the time to slowly make them get used to this before you start traveling.
Leave the window open
I would always leave the side window open. I had created a little system with a piece of wood behind the window which meant that my cats would be able to jump in and out, yet no human could enter and/or reach far enough to open the entire window.
My cats are outdoor cats
My cats are very much outdoor cats as they have all been rescued from the streets at one point. This was a plus, in the sense that they are ok with exploring outside. They were also really great at finding their way back to the van, no matter where we were.
I was really nervous about this in the beginning, whether they would be able to find the van. But this was absolutely no problem. I would leave my side window open during the night and they would come in and out.
However, the problem was that there´s three of them: two of them would take off during the night, explore, and come back in the morning. The third one, would take off in the morning, hide somewhere in a bush the entire day and come back at night. This basically meant that I could rarely leave with my van because there would always be a minimum of one cat wandering around somewhere. And it was exactly this, that limited the freedom of vanlife for me. Especially when you considering that I like to find some waves; potentially meet up with other friends or simply go to a grocery store (though the last one was easy to solve as I had a bicycle). But this required some serious puzzle logistics
They hated the driving
There is one thing they did just not get used to the driving part. They hated the leash and the harness as they had never worn one in their lives. Also, it is forbidden to have an animal sitting in a cabin without a cage in Spain. So I found some soft cages for them, had them next to me in the main cabin, and basically tried to calm them down. But this was a very stressful event, both for them, as for me.
I hated the lack of sleep
I am a very light sleeper and a big worrier for my fluffies. So basically, every time they entered or left the van, I would wake up. Also, during the night, I would often wake up, counting the number of cats I had inside the van and where the others were wandering around.
What to do with heat (and I guess with cold in the winter)
My main issue was the heat. A van heats up quite quickly and since my trial month in May was already having some hot days, I couldn´t even imagine August. Even with leaving the window open (with my self-made anti-theft device), it would get hot quickly, especially in places where it´s hard to find some shade.
I did not try vanlife with my cats in the winter and/or colder regions, but I imagine this might be a similar issue.
Conclusion: I would be moving around too much for them (and me) to be happy
So, as you might have guessed from the title of the post ´one-month full-time vanlife with my cats´: I tried it for one month. And though it wasn´t as bad as I thought it would be, I knew that I´d be moving around a lot more in the months to come (such as going to Albania and Bosnia) and that the temperature would rise again. Though I did love their company, I was afraid it wouldn´t make them very happy in the end. So, I was able to rent a little house in my hometown and some lovely friends that would take care of my fluffies.
So, in conclusion: I definitely think it can work. It involves slow travel, it involves going to destinations and/or months that aren´t as hot. I know it can be a beautiful experience to share this adventure with your cat.
