Vanlife and Dating – “Many men ask more questions about my van than about me”

Many dream of freedom, but when it comes to dating, van life also has its disadvantages. YouTuber Lidia Rico, 32, lives in a Ford E350 6.0 Power Stroke. A van with powerful four-wheel drive – a vehicle like a VW bus on steroids. She has been traveling through America since 2015, initially as a couple with her husband. But last year the marriage broke up and Rico is now traveling solo.

She recently installed the dating app Hinge, she reveals in a new video. Since their marriage lasted about ten years, data via app was previously alien to them. Rico has problems with the online messages: “Stranger men write ‘let’s have a baby’, but they don’t think of a family at all,” she complains.

Slightly damaged by separation

The separation from her ex seems to have taken a toll on her. Rico shows a tattoo that she got: “It’s a snake that pierces my heart. That’s how I felt betrayed when my ex left me.”

Together with their (platonic) friend Logan, who also lives in a van, the two vanlifers answered their fans’ questions. Of course, their profiles say they live in a van, they say. “It’s my lifestyle. I accept it and I’m full of self-confidence.”

Both do not move through the country, but live in a region. People who meet them see the van, but very few can imagine that you really live in a van and not just travel in it. “They think there’s another apartment down the street, but we live on that street in a van.”

Longing for the shower

Logan sees things pragmatically. If he meets a woman with an apartment, he’ll probably quickly ask her if he can take a shower, he admits. Lidia Rico finds enough men who don’t have problems with their lifestyle. On the contrary. “The boys are very excited. They really want to ride in my van. A lot of men ask more questions about my van than about me.”

But so far their dates have not been “promising”, the guys would “lie” and were looking for “nothing serious”. But she also has to admit that in a new place she would first check “if there aren’t some cute boys there”.

There is another problem. As an influencer, Rico is a public figure with strange fans. “I dated a couple of guys who knew exactly who I was, but they lied about it. They just pretended they didn’t know who I was. It was very awkward.”

And of course, the viewers also asked the question of all questions, like if they had already had sex in their van. “Everyone has sex in their van, you know, because it’s so convenient,” Rico replied. After all, the van is always there. Logan gave the advice, “Don’t knock if the van shakes weirdly.”