365 days of living in a truck camper

One year ago, I packed up my life and moved into a truck camper. What started as a decision to travel quickly became a full immersion into a different way of living, a different way of seeing the world, and a different way of seeing myself.

Living in a camper for 365 days isn’t just about small spaces or the logistics of cooking, sleeping, and storing your life in a vehicle. It’s about slowing down, noticing the ordinary, and learning to hold space for yourself and the world around you.

The Joys

There’s something profoundly freeing about waking up in a new place almost every week. One morning it might be beside a still lake, the next on a windswept coastline. Sunrises become your alarm, stars your ceiling. You start to appreciate the small details: the scent of the forest, the rhythm of the waves, the silence in a small town at dawn.

You learn flexibility, adaptability, and gratitude in ways that stationary life rarely teaches. Every plan is tentative, every day a little unpredictable, and every challenge a chance to problem-solve creatively.

The Challenges

It’s not always romantic. Small spaces can feel claustrophobic, and every decision—water, fuel, groceries—requires thought and effort. Weather becomes a factor in everything. And for someone used to a more conventional life, there are moments of missing stability, comfort, or routine.

But these challenges teach resilience. They teach patience, humility, and resourcefulness. You learn that you are capable of more than you realized, and that simplicity often carries unexpected richness.

What I Learned About Life

Living on the road for a year teaches you to slow down, notice your surroundings, and reflect on what matters. It teaches you to hold space for yourself—your thoughts, your fears, your joy—and to live more deliberately.

I’ve learned that freedom isn’t just the ability to go where you want. It’s the ability to sit with yourself wherever you are. It’s finding comfort in small rituals, in the routines you create, and in the moments of stillness between the chaos of movement.

Looking Forward

A year in a truck camper has changed me. It’s taught me that life can be lighter, more flexible, more present. It’s shown me that home isn’t just a place—it’s a practice, a rhythm, and a mindset.

Living like this has made me appreciate not only the vastness of the world but also the expansiveness of my own capacity for curiosity, adaptability, and presence