The Reality of Van Life on Social Media
The Reality of Van Life on Social Media
After my experience of being a van life youtuber, I came to the conclusion that it’s really not possible to not make something on youtube look better than it really is without making it extremely boring. Many people think that they want or like creators who show all sides of their lifestyle accurately. No they don’t. Van life and travel vlogs are entertainment. They’re enjoyable to watch because they allow us to dream of a life we don’t have or can’t have. If you were to see what van life was actually like the majority of the time for anyone who’s not rich and not working or who’s income doesn’t come from making their life into a “reality” tv show so people can live vicariously through them, you’d yawn and move onto the next video.
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Thank you Anna for this frank and informative piece, I liked it so much. I have some questions and I apologize, in advance, if you have already answered them, I went through some comments but it isn’t possible to go through all 9,000 comments. 1). if you weren’t aiming at ‘Social Media’ coverage at all, would you say you could’ve enjoyed living in a Van better? 2). you didn’t say in your piece whether you’ve quit living in a Van or not, have you quit it? 3). do you think if you had a human companion travelling with you, you would’ve had better (or may be less troublesome) experience?
As far as finding a place to park at night I have slept in my car overnight many times. There is always some street where there is industrial businesses or the like where you can park and not be bothered. Though if I was a single young woman I would not feel safe in these places. But since I am a full grown able bodied man who generally have a hand gun with me, I am not concerned. Even without a handgun I might have some other blunt object that can be used as a weapon if needed. I block out my windows or bury myself under my sleeping bag so I am not seen. The main thing is a person has got to get comfortable and pin point what you need ahead of time. Park near a 24 hour grocery store or gas station or even a rest area. You want to have access to a bathroom when most everything is closed. Make sure to keep snacks and water on hand at all times and keep your vehicle fuel tank above half a tank at all times. It really isn’t that bad of a life style if you make the necessary preparations and get comfortable with the life style. Having a routine and a list of go to places is a must. For taking a shower, know where the truck stops are and where there are gyms. Ya know. Have your places where you go to get what you need. That is the first thing I do any time I intend to live out of my vehicle for a while. I get familiar with my surroundings so I know where to go to get what I need. The biggest issue is having enough room to lie down flat. If you have water, snacks, a sleeping bag and a place to lie down flat, your biggest concerns are covered. I slept in a car and my main complaint was being cramped and unable to lie down flat. When it got too warm I would turn on my AC and when it got too cold I would run my heater for awhile. The biggest mistake anybody can make is trying to live like normal in a vehicle. It flat out doesn’t work. You really have to get into the swing of your life style and then things won’t seem like such a burden. It is when you try to live a lifestyle like you have a house when all you have is a vehicle, that is when you are going to set yourself up to suffer.
you dont have a job and money and start living on your own… BLAME THE VAN LIVING
If it’s that bad, chock it up to a loss and move on!
Failure is learning experience.
If you’re not happy, change is a common sense solution.
You are an awesome young lady with a grand future!!! Best of luck to you!!
Bravo! honest and real content
you are wiser and stronger than many old age youtubers
Thanks for sharing this.
Peace
Itz better to live in a tiny home rather in van..home is a home…van camping is good for short medium travels..
I choose to believe people are smart enough to realize the day is 24hrs long, not a 15 minute video.
We don’t need to see what they do all day to know they don’t do fun stuff all day.
Most people also understand vans don’t have vaulted ceilings and flushing toilets.
Everything you said is common sense. Not sure what revelation your exposing but I guess it’s clickable content to talk about others.
….did a good scroll through the comments…..not one person left a Matt Foley quote??
Seems like such a wasted opportunity 😂🖤
This is such a well done video. I traveled on a sailboat for a year and I’ve never really seen someone explain what it is actually like to do something like that and why going back to a normal lifestyle is such a relief. Thanks for making this and reminding me that I was not alone in my experiences.
1st world, 21st century, beatnik fantasy.
Aww Hey Milwaukee! You would have to Park on the Lake Front! It’s Beautiful in Bayview!!
I mean, most of these problems are just are just problems you’ll come across even if you own your own house. It’s really all about your perspective and expectations
Love this video.
One thing: dishrag. It should never smell. If your using it to clean dishes and it smells then your not really cleaning dishes. Keep it clean and air dried. Never wrap in plastic bag.
I travel a lot in the back of a truck, no amenities, no heat, no electricity, gas camp stove outside, no bathroom, no shower (and yes I follow the weather). The problem is not van life, it’s social media. If you’re an outdoorsy person who likes books, owns warm clothing and bedding, thinks Netflix and chill is super boring, loves meeting new people, gladly adapts to new cultures, and makes their living in a way that doesn’t require daily internet access, van life is grand. If you’re addicted to dopamine from the internet and social media (the original fake news), it will suck. Highly recommend anyone contemplating van life to unplug, kick the internet addiction, spend the spring and summer in the Yukon and North BC or other suitably beautiful remote place first. Learn to okay with only your own company. Shoot some footage that isn’t two feet from a paved road…
Paul Schrader wrote ‘Taxi Driver’ after months living in his car.
It says a lot about the experience that the movie wasn’t a romantic comedy.
WOW, finally someone who has the honesty to tell it the way it really is on the road as a van lifer. It’s not all roses out there. I love your videos, but I now have more respect for you and your videos. The truth, how refreshing, finally.
11:10 wow, I think I recognize that bridge. I think it’s in Øygarden, close to my hometown in Norway. Will have to check out their channel now.
Finally an intelligent woman! This was a superb break down of what real van life is like.
If you are NEGATIVE, and lack ACCOUNTABILITY, this is the video for you! My fiancé and I are van lifers and this video is hard to watch. All of these “problems” are user errors. Self entitled people, who want others to think for them, and are then upset you were ill equipped, for this lifestyle. If you boxed yourself into a industry you can’t navigate yourself and your viewers out of, you aren’t innovative and that’s another personal problem.
A hand pump when you, can buy a $10 dollar electric usb charged pump is foolish. You don’t have a toilet? Definitely a personal problem, and you don’t need a composting toilet to have one.
Everything comes at a cost! That’s a life lesson you can cash worldwide!
Awesome video! Soooooooo helpful!! Thank you, thank you!!
Thank you for your honest reality check. But when people start making videos even if they don’t feel like it FOR money it’s simply called WORK, whether you travel or not. To afford any lifestyle you need money!! I prefer You-tubers who keep it real, simply the ‘Good the Bad and the Ugly’. You can only learn & find true happiness in the Truth nowhere else!
The sacrifices to see the world 🤷🏾♂️
I lived (using that word loosely—it was really only 5 months for school) in Maui several years ago, and just went to visit family in Oahu last month. The amount of vans/campers abandoned (or abandoned with signs with information on them—things like “broken down, no cell service. went for help. If towed: Cell number xxx-xxx-xxxx”) on the side of the road was really kind of astounding. Although, even after seeing that, I never thought about how much went into “van life” nor how many things could go wrong. Kind of like the whole “hostel hopping” travel trend
I feel like the best way to figure out if van life is for you is just to think about how you feel when you’re going on a trip… and then imagine that being your lifestyle
Very insightful! Thank you for sharing this! Also, just want to add that an RV isn’t a ton better. I’ve talked to a few retired folks that had the RV travel life call to them, and they quickly found out just how expensive it was! I maintain that travel is a once in a while thing, or a thing that should be done in a certain phase of your life. But either way, you’ll tire of it eventually, and want nothing more than some routines and creature comforts like heat, space, and a nice pillow. My two cents.
I’ve done several long distance hikes and people are always asking "where are the beautiful mountain peak shots or beautiful sunsets" and to be honest, 99.9% of hiking is walking in "green tunnels" … so I guess in a way, it is similar to how vanlife is probably a whole lot of highway miles and that 1 random cool thing….day after day after day.
how long did it take you to write this monologue.
commenting for the algorthium — author great video!
this is a LIE…😂
thank you for this video
This just sounds like the quote: Life is suffering. Great.
One can even argue that van life isn’t sustainable at all…think of all the gas
Imagine if 25 % of the u.s lived that way
Yikes
Im not against it
But also i understand that most youtube van lifers are privileged in they can afford to deck out a van and leave a job and all that
This video is just common sense and will hopefully receive more views
Love this honest account of van life. More interesting and inspiring than slick, heavily edited videos on van life
I love YouTube channels but I don’t want to do van life to have a channel and feel like I have to entertain people. But the bottom line is you don’t know if you like it until you’ve tried it.
I find van life fascinating. Of course, I don’t have social media at all, so trying to show off and flex a type of lifestyle is not my thing anyways. I love the idea of a simple life and nomad style living.
"Van lifers" that do it for social media are doing it for wrong reason. Some of us want to get away from society and want to submerge themselves in nature, Disperse camping and truly ruffing it. We need only the basics – shelter, food and water. Some of us can do and others cant.
𝘐𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘷𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴. 2 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘷𝘢𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 😄. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘷𝘢𝘯 (𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺) . 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘥. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘶𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳 😆 ! 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶🙃 .
For those who think this was just a "me problem" because I did everything wrong- there have been sooo many comments on this video from people who have done van life or are doing it and have experienced many of the things I talked about in this video.
I don’t want anyone to take this video as hate towards any other influencers and I know people aren’t idiots and know social media is just showing the highlights but I think being a youtuber gives a person a whole different perspective into just how true that is. When I made vlogs in the van, it was always on days where I had planned to do something that would make it interesting (they still never turned out that interesting though). Whenever I’ve filmed what I’ve eaten in a day, I’ve always planned ahead of time what I would eat to make it interesting. I don’t think that’s wrong to do.. but I began to feel like what I was sharing wasn’t real even though being authentic is one of the most important things for me and I never felt like I was glamorizing anything I did (I definitely wasn’t, my videos were never very well made lol- hope no one cringed as much while watching my clips in this video as I did).
Over time I came to the conclusion that it’s really not possible to not make something on youtube look better than it really is without making it extremely boring. Many people think that they want or like creators who show all sides of their lifestyle accurately. No they don’t. Van life and travel vlogs are entertainment. They’re enjoyable to watch because they allow us to dream of a life we don’t have or can’t have. If you were to see what van life was actually like the majority of the time for anyone who’s not rich and not working or who’s income doesn’t come from making their life into a “reality” tv show so people can live vicariously through them, you’d yawn and move onto the next video.
Van life allows people to do amazing things but the physical act of being and living in a van is not fun. The less luxuries you have, the less fun it is. Overall it’s a challenging way to live. I could make this video an hour longer going over things that are hard about van life but that’s pointless because no ones gonna listen me talk for that long.
If someone were to ask me which van lifers I think are genuine and which aren’t, I wouldn’t be able to answer that (but I will say that if I had to guess, my first picks for most genuine probably wouldn’t be the ones who pose in bikinis in every other thumbnail). It’s really hard to tell who actually loves the way they’re living and who pretends to because they are scared of the criticism and hate they’ll receive for bringing up their struggles after hiding them for a long time or is worried about their income plummeting once they have to change their content. It’s really hard to tell if someone is super happy or pretending to be because they haven’t posted in a while and need to get a new vlog up so they have to maintain a facade while the cameras on. And it’s impossible to know what activities people would do and places they would go if they weren’t making money from showing their lives.
Since doing van life, I literally haven’t watched any van life creators (or any vloggers in general) because I realized through my own experience of vlogging that it’s so easy for even the least scummy of people to start doing things just for content. And it’s cool when people make beautiful videos showing the most amazing parts of their lives, I like watching those types of videos every now and then, but when you feel yourself starting to compare your life to what you see of theirs, it’s really important to take a step back and remember that everyone’s life is more boring than how they show it on the internet.
I’m interested to hear your opinions on the topic, especially those of you who live or have lived in a vehicle. Have any of the hardships you’ve experienced in your travels come as a surprise? Have there been times when you felt like you were the only one struggling because everyone online seemed to have so much fun all the time? Have there been times where you questioned your decision and felt like you needed a break or wanted to end your journey? Those who are no longer in their vans, what made you move on to the next stage of your life?
Those who want to do van life, I hope you really take all the downsides of living in a van into consideration before jumping into it with sunsets on the beach and driving through national parks being the only things on your minds! There’s always a little bad in the good… and good in the bad. All the hardships you experience will hopefully only benefit you and help you grow so if you know that there’s no way to prepare for or know about all the tough times you’ll have until they’re happening- but you’re as excited for those as you are for the instagram worthy moments- then I think that’s the best mindset to have going into it!
If you’d like to see the videos I still have up of my travels, here are links to my van tour and van build and in the descriptions in each of those you can find links to a few unlisted van videos.
How I Converted a Van Into an Off Grid Camper For Under $3,000: https://youtu.be/3YcD5XJNzkM
My 1997 Chevy Gladiator Van Tour: https://youtu.be/rx5M1r0sBAg
me with my claustrophobia and motion sickness could never
Wow Thank You!! I was worried that sleeping in my Van would feel too much like being Homeless.. It’s actually far more expensive being homeless then it is living in an apartment because you have to spend money just to stay warm just to heat your food or keep your food cool.. just to change and shower.. all those things you don’t even think about.. you have to go FAR out of your way to make Happen.. So imagine doing those things everyday.. even taking a poop.. going to a bathroom with good privacy all of those things are so far out of your way.. that it’s just not sustainable to get ahead. Van life would be Great if you had enough head room, electricity to heat a stove or keep a fridge running or more importantly a portable heater.. but without being able to stretch out or stand up.. it’s just not worth it.. There are Reasons why people have Homes you know?! Reasons why people live in houses as appose to living in a tent or their vehical… Homes provide Shelter from the storm from the weather they are manageable when the outside wouldn’t isn’t tollerable and all of that you don’t think about until your homeless without a decent bed in somewhere that’s private and still safe.
it’s ALL about the money, always. Get a regular job. Cannot do that crap forever.
I live in Norway. That’s one of the reasons I’ve reconsidered vanlife. It gets COLD here during the winter.
I moved into a shitty collective dorm when starting my studies, trying to convince myself that I’d be "out and about, and not really spending much time there anyway". Nope — I am a homebody. Sure, I love hiking, going to the gym, going out for a coffee, etc. But you can’t do that all time, everyday. There is going to be downtime that you spend at home, so for me it is vital that my living space feels comfortable and welcoming.
Edit: nothing is like what these influencers try to portray it as on social media. As much as we like to think we get extremely intimate viewing into someone’s daily life, there are always gonna be aspects that are left out. Our brain takes what information we get and constructs a narrative from it — nothing mind-blowing there. But we need to be aware that that narrative is not the entire story.
This is also why I don’t believe in the entire "you gotta be passionate about your work!!" idea. No one is "passionate" about something constantly. There are going to be good days, bad days, fantastic days and downright ugly days. Social media is not real life and it never will be, as much as we like to pretend it is.
I really appreciate you doing this video. It has been very enlightening. Thanks 😊
I don’t think you did it right sounds to me like you needed to spend more time planning
I’m actually planning do to van life for a year, but I absolutely do not plan to have social media about it. I wanna travel for a bit after this pandemic, that’s all. I want to visit places, but also stop at nice hotels and things like that.
Honestly, I have met people that work remotely and live as nomads. They will rent an Airbnb for a while if they like a place, stay a month; there is no pressure to continue to travel. Thank God I don’t follow any vanlifers on social media. Most of these problems seems related to propaganda of the life style.
Lived in a very rural part of town for a few weeks after high school. When I say rural, I mean outside showers and no dedicated toilets. You had to dig a hole sort of thing to do your business. No electricity, nothing! You will have to pay me in gold mines and oil rigs for me to relive that or anything similar for even one day! I don’t even go in tents, and makeshift forts in bedrooms trigger me. 😂
Man just watching this video makes me feel tired af😭
this is exactly why i’m never living in a van, and if you want to you should rent one out for a while to make sure it’s really for you
rv/camper that was made for living (with alterations to make it acceptable for my lifestyle) yes, but vans aren’t made for people size-wise, or even build-wise
i’ve never thought they were big enough for me, and the money spending making the van livable would take so much money that moving in to save money wouldn’t even be worth it
Never rely on just one stream of income. I don’t care if you live in a mansion, an apartment, a tiny home, or a van.