IllaVan

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  IllaVan Screen showcase

Inspiration

The nomadic life of a van lifer can be very lonely despite all the freedom it provides, and it's not because van lifers are rare, it's because no one's ever built a space for them to find each other. So we built IllaVan, an all in one app for van lifers to connect, share special moments, help each other and date.

What it does

IllaVan is a community platform purpose-built for van lifers and nomads. Every profile tells a story of a person, their van, their route, their pet and their vibe. Wave hello, start a chat, or join a gathering happening down the road. For those with technical skills, the Expert tier lets certified builders monetize their knowledge and help the community fix things on the move.

How we built it

We built this app using Expo for cross-platform mobile with the following tech stack:

• Supabase for auth, real-time database, and storage.
• Expo Router for file-based navigation
• Zustand manages state across the app.
• react-native-maps powers the live proximity map where profiles and gatherings appear as van pins.
• RevenueCat drives the Expert subscription paywall.
• react-native-unistyles unifies the design system with full dark/light mode support. Every profile is built around the van — users pick their van avatar during onboarding, and it follows them everywhere in the app.

Challenges we ran into

The hardest problem wasn't technical — it was figuring out what "compatibility" means for nomads. Age and distance don't work the same way when everyone is always moving. We had to rethink matching signals entirely: travel pace, vehicle type, route overlap, activities, what you're actually looking for. And building a profile that captures a person's whole lifestyle — van, pet, journey, vibe — without turning into a questionnaire was a constant balancing act.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're proud to have built a special way to personalise people profile, we call it the van card where every profile leads with their chosen van and profile photo peeking through the windshield, It feels personal in a way and gives people a nice way to relate and start a conversation.

We're also proud to have built the expert tier that creates real economic value and exposure for skilled repair shops.

What we learned

Community apps live or die by onboarding. Every question we ask has to earn its place. If we're asking about pets, travel pace, and children status, it's because those are genuine compatibility signals on the road. We also learned that "looking for" means something very different in a nomad context than in a dating app.

What's next for IllaVan

We want to include a lot of important information that is crucial for a van lifer like verified route stops with photos and tips, crowdsourced camp spots, water refill stations, dump points, caravan coordination so groups can travel together. We also want to add a route planer to help you plan your travel.

Built With

• apple-sign-in
• eas-build
• expo-haptics
• expo-image
• expo-image-picker
• expo-location
• expo-router
• expo.io
• ios
• javascript
• postgis
• postgresql
• react-native
• react-native-gesture-handler
• react-native-maps
• react-native-reanimated
• react-native-unistyles
• revenuecat
• revenuecatui
• supabase
• typescript
• zustand