Haha no no, no sympathy needed here! It’s all by choice - and it’s a pretty sweet van ;)
And no, I’m a climber so most of my days are spent on rocks, which is a pretty good pairing with van life (and was the inspiration for living in a van in the first place).
If you buy a cheap van, it’s super affordable. If you buy a brand new van, not so much. I’m making $500/month payments so I’m not saving much money at this point. If I lived in it long enough to pay it off, I’d be set! But I’m already making apartment plans for next year, so the van will become an adventure vehicle only.
And if you’re looking to add fruits, I know a girl who CANT ha sleep eating any plants - she eats like a picky 7-year old. So she makes a smoothie every morning to sneak in nutrients. So much tastier and you can pack em in early!
Hopefully your housing you get will be cheaper than you van. $500 is quite a lot. For $500 a month I would probably let a girl move in and borrow my car and maybe even make her some amazing smoothies. lol California is pretty expensive though so you might have to work way more. :(
That reminds me I think I will pick up some cream next time I am at the grocery store. I did make some pretty awesome ice cream with cream and frozen blueberries before. Sounds real good right now but I only have some frozen mixed fruit and no cream.