Top 10 Reasons Van Life is WAAAAYYY Better than Boat Life After spending two years sailing around the Eastern United States, the Bahamas, Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama - we have over 7000 nautical miles under our belts. In a van we've travelled the United States from Atlantic to Pacific, from Prudhoe bay to Guatemala, spending over two years living in a Promaster 1500. Of course, we firmly believe that either life is highly preferable to living in a house.... But you know that or you wouldn't watch this.