Sometimes The View Has The Office
It’s a pretty attractive idea. We’d be lying if we said we didn’t think, from time to time, about chucking it all. Giving up the 14-story Whalebone Magazine Headquarters in New York City and putting the whole crew in a fleet of vans outfitted with tin coffee cups, wide-brimmed felt hats, authentic Mexican blankets and an 8-track player fully stocked with Lynyrd Skynyrd tapes.
Test driving the Winnebago Revel—a particularly badass all-terrain van—at RVX, where the recreational vehicle industry shows off its latest and greatest contraptions, only whet our wanderlust. Then we accidentally took a nap in the pop-top of ModVans’ CV-1 in the middle of the RVX expo center in Salt Lake City, Utah, and our imagination really ran away with us.
These folks ran all the way away, fitting their lives into their vans. We got into their live-work situations with them.
DANN PETTY
Web Designer | @dannpetty
If you have to work, might as well do it in an inspiring spot, right?
TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR RIG:
I searched for this van for a long time. Like 2 years. It’s a 2012 Sportsmobile E350 4×4. When I snagged this one used, there was a 3-year waitlist to get a new one custom-made and these used ones were really hard to come by. You just had to be ready to jump on it when they became available. Even today, the right ones go quick.
I got this particular van because I host design events across the country based on surfing, snowboarding, hiking, rock climbing, you know—outdoor adventure type things so I needed a van that could literally go anywhere and something I could work out of comfortably.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT IT?
My favorite thing has to be the solar panel and the outlets. I can charge all of my gear at once in this van and I don’t have to go plug in at a coffee shop or hotel. So all of my computer and camera gear can be charging at the same time. It’s beautiful.
WHAT WORK DO YOU DO IN IT?
I don’t have a specific office I have to go into, so I’m able to work on the road from anywhere. I surf a lot, so I’ll just go park at the beach and surf, then work, surf, work, catch the sunset.
WHERE DID YOU WORK OUT OF BEFORE YOUR VAN?
Before the van, I worked on the couch or in a small office in the house with two windows that just looked out to another wall. Working out of the van has made me way more inspired, helps me take way more breaks (which is a good thing), and I feel just gives me a better stoke on life in general not being tied to the indoors.
ONE THING PEOPLE DON’T KNOW ABOUT VAN LIVING THAT THEY SHOULD?
Van living is communal, you’re not really alone. You’d be surprised how many people are out there doing the same things and not only to save money but just to add adventure and more outdoors to their lives. It’s such a rad community to be part of.
BRENT ROSE
Journalist/Video Producer | @brentdangerrose
WHAT ARE YOU LIVING IN?
It’s a 2006 Gulf Stream Vista Cruiser G24. It’s a fairly obscure model built on a Freightliner Sprinter 2500 chassis. It has a Mercedes diesel engine, but Freightliner branding. Out of the hundreds of vans I looked at it was the only one that was laid out the way I wanted. Apparently I’m not the only one because they’re pretty hard to come by.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT IT?
It’s probably cliche, but I like the freedom it affords me. It means I can just pick up and go with absolute minimal planning or packing. Sometimes none at all. I got bored and restless one night in LA, and I decided to just start driving to Texas. That ended up being the beginning of a five-month loop around the country. There was also last fall when I had to evacuate during the Malibu fires.I didn’t have to make any tough decisions about what to take and what to leave, what family heirlooms or baby photos I was willing to sacrifice. I just put the keys in the ignition and I was gone. I felt very fortunate for that.
I just put the keys in the ignition and I was gone.
HOW HAS VAN LIFE CHANGED YOUR WORK?
Honestly, my work situation hasn’t changed that much since starting the whole van thing. I was freelance for a few years before that, so I could already work from just about anywhere. That said, I was in a long-term relationship beforehand, living in apartments in NYC and then LA, and while I traveled some, I certainly didn’t travel nearly as much. Going from cohabitation to living alone, on the road, in a van was definitely a pretty stark change, but it felt like the one I wanted to make once my relationship ended. It was how I chose to heal and figure out who I was and how I wanted to live my life.
WHAT DO PEOPLE NOT KNOW ABOUT VAN LIVING THAT THEY SHOULD?
It isn’t for everyone. Social media makes everything look pretty glamorous, but I’ve had friends try it and they ended up hating it and selling their van after just a few months. You have to be able to embrace uncertainty, and to some extent, vulnerability. It can be frightening at times. It can be lonely. And yes, of course, it can be glorious and rewarding and exhilarating.
Also, you need to have a hard head, because you will be bashing it a lot. After four years, if I shaved my head, I think my scalp would look like a topographic map of the South Dakota Badlands.
KATCH SILVA
Photographer | @sheepfeet
WHAT’S YOUR RIG, THE TARDIS?
We have a 4×4 2017 Mercedes Sprinter, it was built by Sportsmobile with an added penthouse pop-top.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT IT?
I’d have to say the seats. Can’t beat floral pattern seats. My dad works with upholstery so we asked him to make our seat covers from floral fabric we picked out.
WHAT WORK DO YOU DO IN IT?
Basically everything. It’s our transportation vehicle, our home, our office, our bedroom, etc. In it we do our regular daily work (like emails, business upkeep, etc.), as well as editing and everything we do with thousands of files weekly. Sometimes when we want a change of pace we’ll work at cafes, parks, or friend’s homes though. It’s nice to switch it up.
WHERE DID YOU WORK OUT OF BEFORE YOUR VAN?
Before we owned the van we just worked at home, and flew whenever we needed to travel. But now van life allows us to travel together for work. My work schedule requires more travel than Ben’s, so usually our timeline is based on my work schedule, and he’ll come with me and book his shoots wherever we happen to be. Travel has become a part of daily life, and we really enjoy being able to bring our home everywhere we go, and having all our homey amenities with us all the time, instead of having to pack bags and stay in different beds every time. It’s great!
Travel has become a part of daily life.
SOMETHING PEOPLE DON’T KNOW ABOUT VAN LIVING THAT THEY SHOULD?
It’s not as easy-breezy as it looks on social. Seriously. I read an article recently that claimed that the average time that people end up living in a van is 3 months, which ends up being way less than they had planned. I’m honestly not surprised. Van life is just drastically different than home or apartment life and many people don’t anticipate just how different.
For us, it honestly wasn’t a big shock (and we’re going on 2.5 years living in it now) because we were already very minimal, low-key people that don’t need much to be happy. But if you’re the kind of person that will get annoyed at having to pee outside—or in a porta potty in the same space as your significant other—then van life might just be too annoying for you.
Despite all the “civilized amenities” we give up for van life, we absolutely love it and feel it’s 100-percent worth it for us. Nothing beats taking our home everywhere we go, getting killer views, not paying rent, getting our electricity from the sun, and being minimal nomads.
