Van Life is Dying (and this trend is replacing it)

Van life is losing interest – it’s impossible to refute this fact (so please don’t try). As the world of insta boho van builds and solar off grid micro minimalism comes to an end, the vacuum of alternative lifestyle is demanding a new hashtag. This is a video about one strong, handsome man’s journey to unearth the next big thing in the world of the outdoor industry. The conclusion may take you by surprise, so buckle up for an emotional ride like none you’ve ever experienced before.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0vEfrrpBHyM42BHm8rksFg/join

Van Life is Dying (and this trend is replacing it)

Directed and edited by @Shaffer Nickel https://www.instagram.com/shaffernickel/

*Stuff I use*

MUSIC LICENSING: (get one month free)
https://fm.pxf.io/c/3959316/1347628/16252

AUDIO
My voice-over microphone: https://amzn.to/3jjA01S
Favorite on-camera microphone: https://amzn.to/3v33NRQ
Second favorite on-camera microphone: https://amzn.to/3v2Dz1B

CAMERAS
My main camera: https://amzn.to/3KrU1io
My second camera: https://amzn.to/3jjlKWJ
Best ‘all around’ lens: https://amzn.to/3umZuBK
Most buttery lens: https://amzn.to/3LHbQdI
Favorite ND filters: https://amzn.to/3Kp2ovj

LIGHTING
Best lights ever: https://amzn.to/3jlTB16
Second best light ever: https://amzn.to/35TRFKn
Best diffusion: https://amzn.to/3jjPRxb

SMALL THINGS I CAN’T LIVE W/O
Memory card: https://amzn.to/3M7XzHl
Travel tripod: https://amzn.to/3DXIgy2
Skate tool carabiner: https://amzn.to/3uYV4Qu
Travel coffee brewer: https://amzn.to/35StJXB
Travel water heater: https://amzn.to/3jhjRK6
Camera bag: https://amzn.to/3Jo3Axx

VAN ACCESSORIES
Car play screen: https://amzn.to/37ueGDS
Backup battery and jump-starter: https://amzn.to/3DQQVlL
Epic blanket: https://amzn.to/3rdu7HA

#vanlife #toyotahiace #shaffernickel #camping

Van life used to be unavoidable no matter where you went on the internet you were guaranteed to run into a photo of some brim hat hippies holding up interstate traffic in a westfalia i actually remember the first photo that introduced me to the idea of sleeping in a van

It was a photo that quite literally changed my life one of my friends had just bought a clapped out chevy astro van and threw a sketchy bed platform in the back i remember he planned on driving it down to mexico and living on the beach for a few weeks

Now i’ve got a dirtbag skateboarder that lives rent-free in my soul and i remember this idea seemed pretty good to him but before i could even buy my first van something significant had changed and the whole culture of the van life movement what used to be a sort of

All-access pass to incredible adventures on a budget slowly morphed into how indistinguishable can a van be from a ritz-carlton hotel room the overall tone of van life used to be look how good life can be even if you don’t have a lot unfortunately as the trend gained popularity that tone became more like

Look how nice my recreational thing is now there’s nothing wrong with having a nice van i still really want a sprinter someday for sure but the question is if fans are getting nicer and fancier and cooler why does it seem so much less magic all of a sudden the answer is

Pretty obvious if you just youtube search van life while you’d hope most of the videos would be about meaningful experiences predominantly it’s just like sync installation tutorials and that’s cool and everything but i just got another van i know i’m sorry it’s getting out of hand this is the last one

I swear it’s a long story okay shut up but i’m just not gonna do anything crazy to it in fact i have a way better idea There’s no disputing the fact that van life is totally dead completely it’s over we’ve had our fun uh but it’s done and it needs a trend to replace it so i’m going back to where it all began to the origins of van life i’m gonna make this exact setup in my van

And then i’m gonna go out on my own and single-handedly create the next trend that’s gonna fully eclipse what van life once was let’s go So i just got a box in the mail and this is a particularly exciting box because it contains everything i need to fulfill my ultimate van life dream of having a sketchy bed platform in the back it’s going to be just like the picture that started this whole shebang

And i’m so excited i’m so excited Wow the picture of luxury i have to chop the end off because it hangs off like a foot and a half i bet this mattress wishes it would forget forget foam so that it wouldn’t have to relive this paint i don’t know what made me think this was

A good time to do this it’s like one degree out my hands are i spared no expense on the blanket i got it on sale is that what that means well i’ve got some disappointing news my bed platform looks way better than the one that i based it off of

Darn it you know i wanted it to look just like the original i guess this will have to do i didn’t really make a plan for how i was going to discover this new trend my planning pretty much ended at drive to utah so what i always do when i’m

Looking for something and i don’t know where to start i try and get a new perspective which is why i’m taking a page out of my good friend jake frui’s book and i’m going to climb up to the highest point i can see and hope

Some good comes of it i decided to bring my bike which is going to be awesome for the way down and hopefully on the way up i’ll be able to just pedal right up there get to the top take a look at the vista make some decisions and get some

Clarity on my mission and the purpose i’m out here for and then just shred on down it’s gonna be no big deal and then i can pop on down the highway to moab But right off the bat it kind of turned out to be a big deal after all this whole thing started out funsies gamesies like just a challenge to start the trip off with and it’s starting to get real i am exhausted the mud is getting chunked up on the tires which

Makes the bike like twice as heavy as i’m pushing it up my wheel won’t even spin because there’s so much this clay i did my best to keep pushing through but then something really disappointing happened i just came around the corner and saw that the rest of the trail is completely

Made up of that awful awful mud this is totally not like me but i’m giving up the top’s right there like and i’m giving up even though i didn’t make it to the top the place i wound up was beautiful i kind of wished i could have stayed there all night long Before heading down i took an epic selfie even though deep down i didn’t feel very epic not even when i was laying the gravy down on that buttery spine well i just got back to the van and if i look a little disheveled and discouraged

I’d say that’s because i am i didn’t get to the top i don’t feel any closer to totally annihilating van life and replacing it with something new this is just not going how i expected it to so far but we’re only on day one of two so maybe tomorrow something incredible will happen

What i didn’t know then is that the next day something incredible would happen i would discover the replacement to van life but until then i still had some challenges to face the first night in the new bed went really well i slept like a rock and

There was no moon last night so it was like crazy amounts of stars it was incredible but i almost wish i could just rip the whole roof off the van and see it all because the little window i had was good but not as good as it could have been after

Waking up i ran into town to run some errands and it was here that i had a profound realization i can’t do this alone like i’m starting to get lonely i feel like i’m not making a lot of progress on my goal i didn’t choose this this chose me okay

I found a little companion and his name is danico and danico is everything i ever wanted in a road companion so whatever i do today whatever adventures i get up to i’m taking danico with me i started the day with a nice desert skate sesh and made plans for what

Danico and i would tackle next but the truth is i didn’t really know what to do and i was starting to lose my enthusiasm okay i can’t help but feel like i’m kind of losing the plot here i just i guess i’m gonna go on a hike with danica and

Maybe that will give me some clarity as to what could replace van life i don’t know this is all very abstract at this point and i’m just having a really hard time with that There you go brother so me and my boy started hiking he got to hang out with some of his old relatives and i’d be lying if i said it didn’t feel good to be out there i just didn’t really feel like it was going anywhere

But even so we kept hiking and all of a sudden we came across something magnificent it truly was a sight to behold A real beautiful sight and it was as we saw that site that you don’t see every day that i looked down at danico sitting next to me and i realized something danico didn’t need much he didn’t need a sink you didn’t need a bed platform all he needed is what he could carry

With him and that’s when i put all the pieces together i had discovered the new trend to replace van life and here’s what i came up with forget the bed platform what about a portable inflatable bed that way you could do it anywhere and you’d never

Have to worry about a van roof covering your view and if there’s bad weather in the forecast instead of bringing an entire van you just bring a portable van interior type thing that also packs down small i mean real small like fit in a backpack small words to describe this

Trend include convenient amazing magnificent perfect immaculate nice and great not to mention way more accessible there you have it the next big thing i think it’s really got a shot of taking off all i ask is that if you ever try it just remember i invented it you