Statistics show that over 75% of people give up `van life not realizing what they were getting into. I highly recommend renting a van before committing to buying or building one to get a feel for what you want.No, you are not wasting money renting it but saving money knowing what you're getting into and what you want. Also for some, it's cheaper and easier to rent as there are a lot of details of owning a van as you see from this website below.