Vanning Ain't No Joke Magazine Issue 1 Sept/Oct 2019

As far as people wanting to do this lifestyle is there anything
you want to tell them?
Yeah. I would just tell them obviously anyone can do it. If you say your goal is to live in a van, that’s very attainable.
Anyone can do that and if that’s really your goal in life…Man your lucky because you can do that. You can say. Oh
man, I wish I’ll win the lottery and you’re probably never going to win the lottery but if your dream is to live in a van
save up a couple thousand bucks. Get a fucking van and go. Also, people are like...Oh, you have no worries and no
responsibilities but no. I definitely still do. I had to pay for that rebuilt transmission. That shit wasn’t cheap. I had
to get a new radiator for the van. I got new tires I have to pay insurance and other shit that comes up all the time
but guess what. It’s things you have to deal with when you live in a house too you know. That’s the thing too. It’s not
just glamour van life. I’m not just fucking off and having no responsibilities. No, I definitely have responsibilities. We
have a system. Especially when we set up camp every night. We have to cook our dinner every night. No one’s going
to cook for us. It’s just about being independent. Raising that level of independence.
YeAh, I think people always mistake it for being a free lifestyle,
but it’s really just an alternative lifestyle. It’s
definitely not free.
Yeah, it’s definitely not free, and that’s another
thing too. When I was paying rent and had a
car, I was like. Man. That sucks. It’s like paying
rent twice. I’ve done a lot of downsizing too.
When I first moved into the van, I had things at
all these other people’s houses and stuff. Random
things like furniture, a bed, kitchen supplies
and stuff but through the years of going
back and forth you just realize it’s all stuff
you don’t need and that’s why my van looks the
way it looks now. It looks open and minimalist
kinda. I use everything in here. There’s nothing
just taking up space. A couple things maybe
but for the most part everything in here is very
functional I use it almost every day.
A lot of people are like. I want this just in case or that just in case.
I think having a house just makes you want to over prepare or
prepare for the worst. It turns them into hoarders and distracts
them from what they actually need and actually will use that day.
It’s like. When you look in someone’s garage and they have 3 coolers
sitting there. Like. Why the hell do you need 3 coolers? Or when
they have a box for every holiday to go decorate their house and
its like. Yea, but all of this is just junk you know. Then what do you
do with it? Now you need to pay rent for a garage to store the shit
that you don’t even use.
Yea,H it doesn’t make sense.
YeaH, I mean I went to Ace and bought $3 portable
Christmas lights, and we had Christmas lights in the
van. I even had a little one-foot Christmas tree and
it came with ornaments on it and everything.
Dang! Living lavishly!
Yeah! It’s not like I’m telling everyone they should
throw all their shit away and go live in a van. It
works for a lot of people to feel comfortable, have
their bases covered and feel like they’re prepared
for any situation. I mean I have a first aid kit and
jumper cables and stuff, but other people look
like they’re prepared for the apocalypse or something.
An extra kitchen supply of stuff that’s just
gonna go bad, and they end up throwing it away.
There’s just a lot of wasteful tendencies when it
comes to owning a house.
I agree. My philosophy is that
life is simple but people
make it complicated.
oh yeah. I think that’s what the van helped me with is realizing what I don’t need and what I do need. I need to take
care of my vehicle because It’s also my home. I need to be responsible for the things I want to do. I don’t know. I
think when I was paying rent and had a house and stuff like that I was just detached from actually living a fulfilled
life. I thought I was doing all the stuff I was supposed to be doing, but it wasn’t actual true fulfillment. It wasn’t true
satisfaction. It was more to just prove it to myself I think. I moved out when I was 16 and was like. I have to prove
them wrong. I have to work 2 jobs. I have to graduate high school. I have to be responsible and do all these things they
told me that I wasn’t gonna be able to do and I was like. Nice, I fucking did it. I got a roof over my head, I’m paying
rent, I’ve got 2 cars, I’m saving. I was like. Yea, I fucking did it. But then almost immediately I was like. Well, that’s not
what I want to do. That’s just what I wanted to prove to other people that I could do it. I mean just from working in
restaurants and working my ass off I made like almost $50,000 that year when I was 22 or something. I was paying
rent, and I was like where did all that money go? When I was doing the math and I saw that about half that money
gets handed to other people. For rent or for your car which is crazy.
Alex was driving and his maps interrupted us
right there but he is a talented artist.
Check out his work at...
https://www.etsy.com/shop/TravelandartShop
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