VanBond - Project Writeup

Inspiration

Solo woman van lifer Quin struggled for five years to find meaningful connections on the road. Traditional dating apps failed her because she's always moving—meeting someone who stays put while you chase sunsets across state lines doesn't work. She envisioned a safe, verified community where nomads could find love, adventure buddies, and van build help. Inspired by John 3:16's message of love and connection, we built VanBond to bring this vision to life.

What it does

VanBond is a three-in-one platform for van lifers:

• Nomadic Dating: Swipe to match with fellow travelers, not stationary locals. Distance-based discovery shows who's on your route.
• Activity Friends: Find climbing, hiking, skiing, or photography partners based on shared passions and current location.
• Builder Hub: Book paid consultations with verified van builders ($50-100/hr) or ask our AI assistant powered by Gemini 3 Flash questions like "Why won't my solar charge controller work?" with real-time Google Search grounding.

Everything is invite-only with AI-powered verification to keep the community safe and intentional—critical for solo travelers, especially women.

How we built it

• Frontend: Flutter with Material Design 3, featuring gradient UIs, swipe cards, and real-time chat. RevenueCat handles subscriptions (Premium $12.50/month, Pro $6.25/month, credits at $5.60 and $5 packs).
• Backend: Flask REST API with SQLite for portability. No Firebase or MongoDB—keeping it simple and self-hosted.
• AI Integration: Gemini 3 Flash powers profile verification, match suggestions, and the van build assistant. Google Search grounding provides up-to-date electrical, plumbing, and insulation advice.
• Location Services: Geolocator calculates distances between nomads to suggest nearby connections.

Challenges we ran into

• Database Design: Modeling mutual matches, swipes, and message threading in SQLite required careful schema planning.
• AI Verification: Tuning Gemini to detect clear selfies vs. blurry/group photos without false negatives took iteration.
• Real-time Messaging: Polling every 3 seconds for new messages works but isn't ideal—we'd prefer WebSockets for scale.
• Revenue Model: Converting Naira pricing (₦20k Premium, ₦10k Pro, ₦9k/$8k credits) to user-friendly USD while maintaining margin was tricky.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

• Complete Feature Set: Dating, friends, and builder marketplace all functional in one app.
• AI-Powered Safety: Gemini verification creates trust in an invite-only community.
• Biblical Mission: John 3:16's love theme resonates throughout—connection is sacred, not transactional.
• Builder Hub Innovation: No other van life app offers paid expert consultations with AI backup.
• Production-Ready: RevenueCat IAP, location matching, and professional UI rival commercial apps.

What we learned

• Community > Features: Verification and invite codes matter more than flashy animations. Trust is everything.
• Gemini's Versatility: From analyzing selfies to answering "Why is my inverter beeping?" with search grounding—it's a Swiss Army knife.
• Niche Markets Work: Van lifers are underserved. A focused app beats generic solutions.
• Flutter + Flask = Speed: Rapid prototyping with hot reload and simple REST endpoints got us to MVP fast.
• Pricing Psychology: Users prefer $6.25/month over ₦10,000—even when equivalent—because familiarity builds trust.

What's next for VanBond

• Video Chat: Face-to-face calls for matches before meeting IRL.
• Group Events: "Climbing in Yosemite June 15th—who's in?" with RSVP tracking.
• Route Planning: Integrate maps to show "Sarah's heading to Portland next week—want to caravan?"
• Push Notifications: Real-time alerts for new matches and messages.
• Builder Portfolio: Let builders showcase completed van builds with before/after photos.
• Offline Mode: Cache profiles and messages for remote areas with spotty service.
• Web App: Desktop version for planning trips on a bigger screen.

VanBond - Where Nomads Connect 🚐💕
"For God so loved the world..." - John 3:16

Built With

• flutter
• revenuecat