Why is vanlife so popular?
Why is vanlife so popular?
Things become popular because there is a demand, right? And it is like that with everything. Imagine a new product launched by Apple or Nike, or any other brand, that has a huge demand for the product. It becomes popular. And so it is with Vanlife. Of course there are a lot of other aspects that I’m gonna bring to the topic that show that vanlife is not like a new iphone, that 2 years after will become „old“, or those Nike shoes that after 3 or 4 years need to be replaced.
Vanlife is something that will be more and more present in our lives because we are getting into a nomadic mindset. Who doesn’t want to be „free“ or to travel the world, saving money from flights, accommodations and other services related to tourism? Who doesn’t want to decide when and where to park to sleep? And I’m not even talking about the great experiences and the people that you will meet along the way. Is it like heaven? No, it is not. There are also cons, but if you are a person who doesn’t want to stay stuck in a certain place, having a job and making your life, maybe you should try vanlife.
Especially after the last crazy year of 2020, when most of us were stuck at home, watching our freedom getting far away from us. I guess that people in general are also awakening for new lifestyles. We are more aware of our choices, our daily habits and the impact that they have on our lives and on the world, and that makes us more openminded for new experiences and running away from the traditional way of living.
That was the reason that we got interviewed a few times by websites related to vanlife. You can have a look here. Even a huge YouTube Channel – Dylan Magaster contacted us to make a video about our tiny alternative living. The moment that you start to inspire the others just can fullfill you. Right?
In our specific case, the feeling of being free to travel at our own pace, tempo (a lot of the times even without a plan or a destiny), was what made us fall in love with vanlife. Also, we have a connection with nature and wildlife so the decision was quite easy.
The world is changing fast, and people want to be sure that they live enough and collect as much memories as they can, so as vanlife has a lot of pros (that we will check in another post), more and more people are interested in this kind of lifestyle.
On instagram there are millions of hashtags related to vanlife. Just the #vanlife itself has over 6 million, which shows how enormous the niche and the demand is getting. Vanlife instagram pages are trending too. People sharing their daily vanlife style get more and more fans everyday.
And come on, the thought of having a cozy tiny house on wheels is just the best, isn’t it? Having it parked next to a beach with sea view, or on the countryside where the fresh smell of forests and fields is king.
But, are just these the reasons what makes vanlife so popular?
Vanlife is growing between the millenials and it is so easy to understand why.
As internet and remote works growns exponencially (and here we need to say that the pandemic from the last year helped a lot), people are thinking to be in a constant movement. They are looking less and less to be sedentary. Also, more companies in the world are adapting their philosophy and creating conditions to employ more people remotely. Therefore, they can also save money because they don’t need big offices anymore.
Put all this together and the result shows us that we don’t to need to be stuck in a place to have a job and make a living.
The fact that we are more aware of our footprint, and humanity in general tries to be more sustainable, living in a van is far more sustainable than to live in a house/apartment. Also compared with travel by plane it’s far less polluting, even if your van is not that eco-friendly. We all hope for a near future with better ways of travelling in a van reducing our footprint even more.
The new generations are less likely to want a traditional job as opportunities grow daily with the internet. Social media has a huge impact in this mindset. How many of us fell in love with instagram accounts about vanlife and about travel in general? Who doesn’t want to do this fulltime?
As part time vanlifers, making money while driving is one of our goals. Everyday we improve our skills in areas like webdesign, graphic design, digital marketing and even multilevel marketing and investments. Just to be able one day to say proudly: we can finally do it. Travel and work remotely from anywhere in the world. Is that easy? No, it’s not. There are more and more people trying this, which makes you need to be better and be good enough in something that the majority is not. Nowadays it is so easy to learn something new. We have platforms like Skillshare or Udemy or YouTube where you can learn almost anything. Digital Marketing, design, social media management, coding, you name it. There is a bunch of new stuff to learn. And if you do it, you might be able to work remotely.
What makes vanlife so special is that you learn how to live more with less.
This is what i love the most when you do vanlife. You start to realise that you didn’t need all the crap you owned before. You live simple. More with less.
Living in 5 to 10 m2 is a lesson. It shows you that materialistic stuff is just that: materialistic stuff. That you probably bought a bunch of things out of an impulse and most of it you just used a few times. Some you even didn’t use. When you decide for the vanlife lifestyle you grow as a person. You learn how to enjoy the small things more. To be present. To be grateful for what you have and for all that you left behind that at the end, was not that important to you.
Yes of course sometimes it’s not that easy to manage to keep the things tidy, even though you don’t own a lot. You also learn how to order the things more times a day because you need the space. And yes, it can be hell too if you have a small van, as we do. We kind of needed to create a system and some rules, especially if you are travelling with animals. But trust us, after a few time you will manage it. You need to, otherwise you won’t adapt to vanlife. You will start to miss the space you had in your home, the tools, the comfort. But we will make a post about the pros and cons of vanlife in the future.
Well, this is my thought about the topic. Saying all that i can finish also by saying that although vanlife is an amazing experience, it is not for everyone (we know a lot of people who wouldn’t leave their comfort at home to embrace this lifestyle), and it brings a lot to you and to your life. All the new experiences that you will live, the new people and their stories you will meet on the road, the amazing places you will visit and witness that probably you wouldn’t otherwise and of course the freedom that you will have to decide everyday what you want to do or where you want to go. This is just possible with vanlife.
What about you? Do you agree with me? Do you think that vanlife is popular because of these reasons or others? Or is it just a trend?
Thank you so much for spending your time reading this blog post. Let us know what you think and be free to follow us in our social media accounts.
Peace and Love ✌️
João and Leonie
