The ArtisinalAmerican Road TripArticle by Lucy Feldman & Project VanLifeSomewhere in Yosemite Valley, you’ll find Moohah —a champagne-colored Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4cargo van upgraded with modular seats and beds,running water and a bright yellow fridge, designedby Paige Elliott, 10, and her 7-year-old sister, Quinn.The rugged, woodsy vision their father Sean Elliotthad for the family adventure van is “so, so far gone,”says the 47-year-old Hollywood talentmanager. Moohah came into the trio’s lives afterElliott’s recent divorce — he wanted his weekendswith the girls to be special. “It’s really taken on thevibe of a cozy bedroom. We can do small trips andhave the comfort of home.”Living in your home on wheels has been aroundsince the 1960’s. It was popularized by hippies whostarted living out of their vehicles. Although it isoften looked down upon, this type of lifestyle isslowly making its way to becoming a norm. Recently,this old practice has been making a huge comebackvia millennials.“I’m not putting money towardssomeone else’s dreams — I’mputting money towards my owndream,” — Matthew McBroomEach era puts its own stamp on rituals, and theAmerican road trip has inevitably gone artisanal. TheElliotts have joined a stream of motorists heading fornational parks, beaches and forests in meticulouslycustomized vans — many of them 4×4 Sprinters (theMercedes of van dwelling) and many of them built tosupport full-time living on the road. Van sales are up— at Mercedes, which has sold more Sprinter vans toRV companies every year since 2010; at customizerslike Sportsmobile, which counts Zac Efron andJimmy Buffett among its clientele; at rental shopslike Escape Campervans, where at least threecustomers have tattooed themselves with imagesof their rides. The San Diego KOA campground,a mainstay of traditional RVers, is hosting moreyoungsters in vans than ever before. “We’re startingto see folks that are not typically your camping folks,”says Clint Bell, whose family owns the San Diegopark and five others. And there’s a 42-year-olddocumentary filmmaker, Jim Lounsbury, drivingaround the country in a converted 2000 Ford E150he calls Hunter S. Thomps-van, studying people wholive in their rigs.Van life has been blowing up on social media lately.Especially on Instagram, where you can search#vanlife and be exposed to over 3 million posts (atthe time of writing this blog). This number is onlyexpected to grow at a rapid rate. Many vanlifershave been documenting their entire journeys onInstagram, making the platform the most popularsocial network for vanlifers. While YouTube &Facebook may slowly start to catch up, Instagram isdefinitely where to find the most inspiration.With itsgrowing popularity a lot of vandwellers have beengiven, or even taken (in most cases) the opportunityof being sponsored or interviewed by huge brandsand businesses.Foster Huntington, a 29-year-old Washingtonian,walked away from a design career in New York tolive in a 1987 Volkswagen T3 Syncro in 2011. On theroad, he started posting photos on Instagram withthe hashtag #vanlife — a phrase that has since been6 7
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