Ever wondered how people who live in their vans, campers or RVs manage their mail and other important services? If so, you’re not alone! These were things we wondered as well prior to moving in to our van. We were lucky enough to have some friends who were transitioning to a full-time travel and nomad lifestyle before us, and had found the perfect solution. Become a South Dakota resident! Have more questions? No worries, let’s get in to why and how to become a South Dakota resident as a digital nomad!
THE CHALLENGES OF LIVING A NOMADIC LIFESTYLE
The COVID pandemic changed a lot for a lot of people. Positively and negatively. For many, like ourselves, our (previous) employers closed down their offices and allowed us to work remotely from home. This changed EVERYTHING for us and is one of the things that contributed to us deciding to transition to vanlife, to quit our jobs, and start our own business. But some of the constant nagging questions for us were:
- What do we do about our mail?
- Where does our mail go?
- How do we get our mail?
- What address do we use for our mail and drivers licenses and other important things?
Our parents and families were constantly asking (and still do) where they can send us cards or packages. And while accessing our mail seemed like somewhat of a trivial thing, we know that when it came to banking, finances, taxes and other things, that this was not a trivial thing. We needed to find a solution. Because simply having all of our mail sent to a relatives house only to be shipped to us when we needed it without knowing what was in the mail… Did not seem like a viable solution.
THE PROS OF LIVING A NOMADIC LIFESTYLE
While some of the logistics of living a nomadic lifestyle can seem painful and troublesome, they don’t need to be. Being able to travel freely, to be able to on a whim decide we want to alter our course and spend more time in one place, or leave to go somewhere else, is honestly one of the best parts about living a nomadic life. We have woken up inside of State Parks, National Parks, and simply walked outside to beautiful views like the one below. And while we get to choose our own schedule and work on our terms, we have plenty of friends who live a nomadic lifestyle who love the fact that when they sign off work at 4:00pm or 5:00pm, they are already at their destination. The freedom and the journey are the best part.
WHY SOUTH DAKOTA?
There are a combination of reasons why South Dakota is the perfect state to become a resident of, especially if you are living a nomadic lifestyle. We’ll jump in to who would benefit from this, and the finer details below, but the general list of reasons are these:
- Get a South Dakota physical address online
- Easy to obtain a South Dakota drivers license
- Easy vehicle registration
- Virtual mail forwarding services
- Lower personal and business taxes
- Lower insurance rates
- Mail-in (absentee) voting
WHO WOULD BENEFIT FROM THIS?
While we noted above people who live in their camper or RV permanently, there are a number of other people who would benefit from this as well:
- Full-time travelers
- Vanlifers & RVers
- Traveling nurses
- Truck drivers
- Military living abroad
- Remote traveling workers
- And more…
Do you feel like you fit in to any of the above categories?
To have the freedom of being wherever you want to be, or need to be, and not having to worry about getting your mail, or needing to be physically present in your “home state”, is priceless. Not being tied down to a specific place, is very freeing. Once you have your address, drivers license, and/or vehicle insurance, you literally never have to step foot in the state ever again. Disclaimer: we spent almost two weeks in South Dakota, and trust us, you’ll want to go back.
“To have the freedom of being wherever you want to be, or need to be, and not having to worry about getting your mail, or needing to be physically present in your “home state”, is priceless.”
THE SOLUTION? DAKOTAPOST
One of the main components to making this all work, is where does your mail go? And how do you get your mail? The answer: DakotaPost. DakotaPost has thought of everything. They will literally help you get your address, your drivers license, vehicle registration and more. But the main thing, is your mail.
DakotaPost has a virtual mail forwarding service where you can log in to your online portal, and see every piece of mail you receive there. They photograph the front of every piece of mail you’ve received. From there, you can choose to have them do a number of things:
- Recycle specific pieces of mail
- Shred specific pieces of mail
- Open and scan the contents of specific pieces of mail
- Or have them physically ship you specific pieces of mail
This makes it incredibly easy to know what you’re receiving, what’s is important and what’s not important. And no matter where you are in the world, they can ship you the pieces of mail that matter. The rest can be discarded. Safely and securely. They literally take all the hard work out of the equation for you. Say goodbye to junk mail!
And their customer service is INCREDIBLE. It is a relatively small team of people, so you can truly get to know the people who are handling your mail. Have more questions? Call them. I promise they will go above and beyond to help you.
WHAT’S THE COST?
The million dollar question, what is this going to cost me? The answer really depends on the exact service you want, but the range is from $180-$300 annually. The only costs not included in this, are the costs of having your mail opened ($1 per piece), scanned ($0.50 per piece) and the cost to ship the mail to you (subject to pricing from FedEx and DHL). How often you have mail opened, scanned, shred, recycled or shipped is entirely up to you. Even on the higher end, $300 is well worth the ability to access your mail virtually 24/7.
WHAT DOES THE ENTIRE PROCESS LOOK LIKE?
Ok, intrigued still? Curious what the actual process looks like? Perfect, let’s get in to it!
Disclaimer: since we’re covering mail forwarding, residency and vehicle registration, our steps are slightly different than what is shown above.
STEP 1
First thing is first, you will need to sign up for an account with DakotaPost. You can do that HERE. Once you’ve signed up for your account, you’ll be sent a form (USPS Form 1583) to fill out and send back to DakotaPost. The hardest part of this process, is that you have to fill out the form, have it notarized and mailed back to DakotaPost in order for them to get you your address. You can do this at any USPS, UPS, FedEx or other mailing/shipping location. The good news, once DakotaPost receives the form, the turnaround time is typically less than 24 hours before you’ve been emailed your new physical mailing address!
STEP 2
Ok, you have your account and your mailing address, now what? Now you need to get your drivers license and/or your vehicle registration. This is the only part that requires that you be physically in the state of South Dakota. Once you have your address from DakotaPost, all you need to do is spend 1 night at a hotel, Airbnb or campground using your new address on the reservation. After checking out, you can literally drive to a DPS (or DMV for other states) and:
- Fill out the appropriate paperwork
- Show them your receipt from the lodging accommodation
- Show them your proof of address which you’ll receive from DakotaPost
- Take an eye exam (and hopefully pass!)
And boom! That’s it! You’ll out walk with your fancy new South Dakota drivers license. You are now officially a South Dakota resident!
STEP 3
We are reserving this spot for vehicle registration. Our vehicle registration in California hasn’t expired yet, and we’re waiting until we get closer to that point before we register Savannah (our campervan) in South Dakota. Once we’ve gone through this process, we’ll update here with all the steps and how easy the process was!
What we CAN tell you, is that we do not need to physically be in South Dakota to do this. We can handle the entire process online, over the phone and by mail. Win! The one caveat, is that since we live in a van, we will need to have it weighed here in the California to confirm the GVW (gross vehicle weight).
In the meantime, if you have questions about this, you can view FAQs HERE. You can also call or email DakotaPost:
- Phone: (605) 332-3711
- Email: office@dakotapost.net
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Still have questions? No worries! There are a number of resources available to help you with figuring all this out. That being said, our recommendation would be to call or email DakotaPost first. Their staff is INCREDIBLE and will literally answer any question you have about any of this, AND help walk you through the process also.
- DakotaPost Services
- South Dakota Drivers License Info
- South Dakota Vehicle Registration Info
- South Dakota License Plates
- DakotaPost Blog
- DakotaPost FAQs
HOW TO BECOME A SOUTH DAKOTA RESIDENT AS A DIGITAL NOMAD
We hope this has helped shed some light on not only how we are living as digital nomads, but also provides some insight or inspiration should you be thinking about following a similar path as us. Becoming a South Dakota resident was a relatively easy process, and it only makes life easier on the road. So we would highly recommend it!
Let us know what you think below in the comments! Do you have more questions for us? Did we leave anything out? Comment below and we’ll be happy to answer anything you’ve got for us!
OTHER VANLIFE ARTICLES
Looking for other vanlife info or inspiration? Check out our other articles below:
- ULTIMATE LIST OF VAN LIFE ESSENTIALS
- OUR CAMPERVAN CONVERSION FOR VAN LIFE
- WHY WE’RE BUILDING A CAMPER VAN
If you aren’t following us on Instagram, check us out there as this will be the best place to follow our van life journey and adventure!
Thanks for stopping by!
