"You'll end up in a van down by the river" if you do drugs, don't go to college, etc. advice never includes the warning: "Don't suffer major Depression that gives you complete apathy for existence."
That's if you buy one new, which is only gentrified relabelling of RVs. I just converted a bus myself for 25k, which is what most people who actually live in them full time do. Anyone buying one is likely using it as a "second home" aka RV.
Absolutely. In 2020 (early days of the lockdown) I picked up a "new old stock" 2019 4x4 Sprinter Passenger van for $46k. I spent $5k Minimally converting it, and it has been my travel vehicle ever since (my wife and I do not fly).
The point of my response was that assuming that someone choosing to live in a van is because they can't afford a house (as the previous comment implied) is incorrect. There are a tone of those Revel vans out there. Some people are choosing to live the van life because they want to, not because they have to.