TikTok Made Me Fall In Love With VanLife

I’m sure many people have seen the beautiful posts on Pinterest and TikTok of #Vanlife. We’ve all seen the clips of someone waking up from their bed, grabbing their already made coffee, and opening the doors of their van to look out onto their view of the beach or mountainside. It’s simplistic and beautiful with just a slice of home brought with you. Of course, living that lifestyle isn’t always as amazing and easy as the posts make it seem, but I fell in love with it anyway. They inspired me to sell my car and buy a van for myself. I was incredibly fortunate to find one for sale that was already converted, and I couldn’t be happier! There are so many reasons I want to live in vanlife, and I can’t wait to get started!

Absolute Freedom

As a kid, I always loved camping. The stargazing, exploring new environments, and being able to be free just felt so phenomenal! Now, with my new van, I can do it all the time. Sure, sometimes I might have to park at a casino parking lot in the city or off to the side somewhere by the highway, but it’s all temporary to start a new adventure for the next day. I also work freelance and enjoy what I do. I’m able to set my hours and days when to work. While it’s not much right now, it’s great for being able to live the lifestyle I want. If anything, I can always bunker down somewhere and pick up an odd job or two for a couple of months and go right back to my adventures.

Time To Find Myself

I’ve always been a person who’s lived at the mercy of others and being unable to have a place I can call my own. Now with this new opportunity, I’ll be able to go anywhere I want at any time I want to. No one will be there to tell me what to do and how to live my life. I can finally have time to think about who I am. When I’m feeling down, I can look out at the beauty of nature around me and know that not everything is horrible. I’ve spent my entire life doing things for others or because other people want me to live my life their way, and now I finally have a chance to truly make my own decisions.

Make New Memories

From what I’ve learned in my seemingly short time living, life is full of trial and error with experience. I’ve had a somewhat rough upbringing, and the past four years after graduating high school have not been a walk in the park either. Now, with this new adventure, I can finally make new memories by exploring the country and visiting places I never thought I’d be able to. If I want to see the snow, swim in the hot springs, or take a hike through the forest, I can do that at any time I’d like. I can try things I’ve always wanted to like skydiving or scuba diving. More importantly, I’ll be able to make new memories to replace so many of the bad ones.

Find Opportunity

This is an opportunity for many things, but more than anything else, it’s an opportunity for me to finally start my career paths. For a while, I wanted to be a filmmaker but lacked the understanding of which part of filmmaking to pursue. Writing has always been something that I’ve tried to improve on more as I continue to do it. However, now is my chance to finally break out my film equipment and try different things. Whether it’s camera work or editing, it’s now my time to finally work on what I like the most and explore what works for me and what doesn’t. Who knows, maybe I’ll start off with a one-man short film that I’d be willing to put out there. I also plan to explore with Youtube and TikTok videos and see what I’d like to make. I for one, am very excited to get started.