{"id":12668,"date":"2026-05-16T23:48:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T23:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/12668\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T23:48:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T23:48:14","slug":"sydney-lawyer-was-stressed-out-by-her-mortgage-so-she-sold-up-and-bought-a-van","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/12668\/","title":{"rendered":"Sydney lawyer was stressed out by her mortgage so she sold up and bought a van"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sydney-based lawyer Phoebe Macdougall can afford to rent or even buy a property, but instead she chooses to live in a van.<\/p>\n

In 2021, Ms Macdougall sold her Coogee apartment, before moving into a $600-a-week rental in Manly.<\/p>\n

But she left both, in exchange for life on the road.<\/p>\n

“The stress that came with the mortgage for me was not worth it,” she said.<\/p>\n

The 37-year-old is among a number of professionals who are choosing to live in vans amid soaring property prices.<\/p>\n

In order to afford the mortgage payments on the Coogee apartment, Ms Macdougall said she was forced to forced to rent out a bedroom.<\/p>\n

\"Phoebe<\/p>\n

Phoebe Macdougall has lived in her van for five years. (ABC Mid North Coast:\u00a0Nakita Jager)<\/p>\n

She said there was a lot of pressure to own a house, while working as a lawyer in the city.<\/p>\n

“Once I was in Sydney and in that corporate lifestyle, it felt like that was the goal that you had to get to,” she said.<\/p>\n

“It was more rewarding to be living on my own, even if it is a small tin can on wheels.”Freedom on the road<\/p>\n

Ms Macdougall is based in Sydney, where she works out of an office in the CBD but often travels to regional areas to represent her clients.<\/p>\n

\"Phoebe<\/p>\n

Phoebe Macdougall often travels for work regionally, and stays in her van nearby. (ABC Mid North Coast:\u00a0Nakita Jager)<\/p>\n

She said her lifestyle helped her manage the stress of work.<\/p>\n

“I think in my industry we’re faced with a lot of heavy traumatic content and to be able to finish work, go home and switch off and that home be surrounded by a beach or gum trees is such a privilege,” she said.<\/p>\n

Ms Macdougall lives a simple lifestyle on the road, which includes catching her own fish with a spear gun.<\/p>\n

“I’ve always loved the ocean and diving,” she said.<\/p>\n

“As part of that simple living I decided I wanted to catch my own food and provide for myself, so spear fishing for me is really empowering.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Phoebe Macdougall often spearfishes and consumes her catch on the road. (ABC Mid North Coast:\u00a0Nakita Jager)<\/p>\n

The lawyer said many people were surprised when she told them she was living in a van.<\/p>\n

“They are very shocked to see that, because it’s unconventional; it’s not their normal, it’s my normal,” she said.<\/p>\n

But Ms Macdougall said living in a van did not mean sacrificing financial stability.<\/p>\n

“Travel is a huge part of my life,” she said.<\/p>\n

“To be renting and to not be able to go on holidays, it’s not that I couldn’t afford the rent, but what is your life outside of that?<\/p>\n

“I’ve been able to put enough money away that I have a safety net that I can invest in property one day or whatever I decide to do with that money.”\"Phoebe<\/p>\n

Phoebe Macdougall says she would rather live in a van, than own or rent. (ABC Mid North Coast:\u00a0Nakita Jager)<\/p>\n

At first, Ms Macdougall said she was a bit unsure, especially being a woman living alone on the road.<\/p>\n

“I think that’s a worry for a lot of people, especially solo female travellers. They’re worried about safety and whether or not the lifestyle is for them,” she said.<\/p>\n

“That was definitely a consideration when I first moved out but I got over that quickly.”<\/p>\n

‘Authentic experiences’\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to the Caravan Association of Australia, about 20 per cent of those who live in a van full-time are on incomes of more than $100,000, representing about 2 per cent of the country’s population.<\/p>\n

The industry body’s researcher, Peter Clay, said he had seen a lot more people from younger generations choosing the lifestyle as well as those on higher incomes.<\/p>\n

“At the core of caravanning and camping is this idea of connection; the world is changing and people are searching for authentic experiences,” he said.<\/p>\n

“People are saying it’s more cost-effective as opposed to being in the rental market.”<\/p>\n

\"Hazel<\/p>\n

Hazel Blunden says life on the road is often glamorised. (Supplied: Hazel Blunden)<\/p>\n

Social policy researcher at UNSW Hazel Blunden said it was important this lifestyle was not glamorised, as many Australians had no choice but to live in a van.<\/p>\n

“We might dress up homelessness as a lifestyle choice, or we end up normalising people having to live in a vehicle,” Dr Blunden said.<\/p>\n

Campervan and Motorhome Club of Australia CEO Richard Barwick said it had about 40,000 registered members, but was aiming for 1 million by 2040.<\/p>\n

\"phoebe<\/p>\n

Phoebe Macdougall says she lives a simple life on the road, after returning from a day’s work in court. (ABC Mid North Coast:\u00a0Nakita Jager)<\/p>\n

“People want to get out of the cities; they’re seeing the benefit and the lifestyle benefit,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I think there will be an increase in not just high incomes, but right across the board.”<\/p>\n

Phoebe Macdougall said she believed many others in the corporate world could also thrive while on the road.<\/p>\n

“I hear it all the time from people I work with, who say, ‘I wish I could do that’ and I always say, ‘You can, anyone can do it.'”<\/p>\n

But for Ms Macdougall, the road trip never ends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sydney-based lawyer Phoebe Macdougall can afford to rent or even buy a property, but instead she chooses to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[13328,4362,227,13325,13326,13327,13329,3971,247,13323,13324],"class_list":{"0":"post-12668","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sydney","8":"tag-corporate","9":"tag-cost-of-living","10":"tag-lifestyle","11":"tag-mortgage","12":"tag-mortgage-stress","13":"tag-on-the-road","14":"tag-property-prices","15":"tag-renting","16":"tag-sydney","17":"tag-van-life","18":"tag-vanlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}