“It’s Not Like I Love Living in a Car”: Alex Honnold Once Opened Up About Living in a Van for 14 Years

Rock Climbing might be one of the most adventurous sports out there, but it’s definitely not something one can earn bags of money from. In fact, when one is starting out, it is mostly not a moneymaker. Even Alex Honnold, the rock climbing extraordinaire, started out living in a van, now, his hard work has finally paid off.

When Honnold was starting out he was almost broke and had to live economically. Since he couldn’t afford a house, and because he lived the life of a nomad, he decided to start living in a van.

Alex Honnold Lived in a Van for 14 Years

In his first year of college, when he was studying civil engineering at UC Berkley, Honnold’s life turned upside down. According to TheNetline, his parents got divorced, and soon after, his father passed away due to a heart attack. While his father used to be an advocate of staying in college, his mother was more of a free spirit and allowed him to drop college to start rock climbing.

As a dropout, Honnold did not have a lot of money to sustain himself. So he borrowed his mom’s minivan. When his mom’s minivan gave out, he decided to live in a tent. He finally saved up enough to buy a 2002 Ford Cav, and that Ford Van became his first official home.

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Alex went on to spend the next 14 years living in a van, even though his finances got a little better later on. When asked about it, he told the Outside magazine, “It’s not like I love living in a car, but I love living in all these places. I love being in Yosemite; I love being basically wherever the weather is good; I love being able to follow good conditions all over. And be relatively comfortable as I do it. And so that pretty much necessitates living in a car… If I could, like, miraculously teleport a house from place to place, I’d prefer to live in a nice comfortable house.”

Honnold turned his Van into a Cozy House on Wheels

After starting out in a 2002 Ford Econoline E150, Honnold upgraded to a 2016 Dodge Ram ProMaster. The van saw a number of updates as well. He got a better bed, and a bigger kitchen with a stove, oven, sink, and fridge. Though there have been some upgrades, Alex Honnold still likes keeping the setting as simple as possible.

With the kind of life he lives and the kind of mindset he needs for climbing, he doesn’t want to get too comfortable. Honnold finally graduated to a non-portable house in 2017, when he bought a property in Los Angeles. Funnily, he kept living in his car because there was no furniture in the house. Honnold’s residences have mostly been about practicality rather than comfort. However, that might change now that he is going to build a family.

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What do you think of Honnold’s extraordinary journey? Let us know in the comments.