EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is an excerpt of a report by Ryleigh Nucilli for Outside magazine. Click here to read the full report.
Have you ever thought about quitting the rat race, becoming free from rent or a mortgage, and hitting the open road?
Whatever your answer to that question, a lot of people do. For years, Instagram has showcased beautifully aesthetic versions of a more simple life on the road with the hashtag #vanlife, which is populated with nearly 18 million posts. And the subreddit r/VanLife has almost 300,000 members who discuss the ins and outs of their experience and share pictures of their setups and views.
After spending some time talking to vanlifers and lurking in vanlife spaces on the internet, the most important thing I’ve learned about vanlife is that there is no single version of vanlife. The moniker, I think, refers more to a state of mind that corresponds with a way of being—a freedom ontology that can be achieved through life on four wheels. Remove the tethers that bind you to a specific place (and the costs associated with them) and experience a more real autonomy and the ability to wander. There is no monolith, only your unique experience.
In many ways, it’s not surprising that this mode of existence exploded in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic when lockdowns and remote work created competing senses of containment and openness. At the same time indoor experiences became less likely, a lot of work could be done from anywhere. For many, it became the right time to take to the road and experience the outdoors from a new, built-out, moveable home.
Philosophy and aesthetics aside, there are also more material considerations that drive some to consider vanlife. As Outside has reported on, the cost of living in mountain towns has steadily increased over the last several years, and American cities, broadly speaking, aren’t getting any cheaper.
Is #vanlife the answer?
Click here to read the full report.
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