VanDweller - as used in this sub, refers to someone whom is living in their vehicle as their form of residence be it permanent, temporary, by choice, or by circumstances. While we do refer to vans in general, VanDwelling is sort of a catch all for most sorts of vehicle dwelling, be it van, car, pickup, school bus, step van, etc. Since there are several RV-related subs on Reddit, we do not necessarily include (or exclude) RVs.

Part-time VanDwellers – living on the road for weekends & holidays, while also keeping their current place of residence.

Full-time VanDwellers – permanently living life on the road, and not returning home.

Nomad – describes a person moving from place to place frequently, often for work. Travel photographer, traveling nurse, some computer/network positions, programmers, and writers/authors are often nomadic. Their employment is conducive to frequent relocation.

Stealth Camping - is typically when you stay in your vehicle in an suburban or urban environment or some other place that is not an approved campground or where you try not to be noticed. Example of common places are neighborhood streets where street parking is acceptable or perhaps a random parking lot.

Boondocking - also known as “dispersed camping”, is typically when you camp off grid in a location which is not a campground, but it’s not an unusual or unlawful place to camp. Camping on BLM, state or national forest are often considered boondocking. These locations do not have any amenities, no water or bathrooms supplied.

BLM - is the Bureau of Land Management.

Work Camper or Workamper - is a person who works in exchange for their parking place at a park or place of business. Workamping has become very popular in recent years, and now is a very competitive job market. Some locations will give you a parking place, some will subsidize your parking place, some will give you a parking place AND pay you a small wage. Its a good idea to keep in mind the usual hourly wage for the position vs. parking rental price charged to the public to verify you are not being “underpaid”.

Black Water - is sewage, toilet contents. This bio-hazard needs to be disposed of in a safe manner at a dedicated sewage receptacle. Sanitary Dump Stations are available for public use at many parks, RV settlements, campgrounds, etc.

Gray Water - used water that was not toilet related. Dishwater, bathwater, etc. is Gray Water. It is not necessarily a “bio-hazard” but because of the soap, food debris, etc. contained in it – it cannot be simply dumped on the ground. This can be disposed of in a regular toilet in small quantities, or dumped in larger quantities at Sanitary Dump Stations.