15 Influencers Reveal Their Favorite Thing About #VanLife

Everyone can attest to daydreaming about what life would be like if you sold off your worldly possessions, traded in your car for a van, and hit the open road.

For most people the dream of living a #VanLife is mostly a passing thought, fulfilled by vicariously living through the brightly colored Instagram feeds of our favorite influencers. But for some, this dream is a stellar, adventurous, and unpredictable reality.

We got to chat with 15 #VanLife influencers from all over the world, and they shared their favorite things about living the nomadic dream.

1. New place, new perspective.

“Van life is a different experience for everyone. Our favorite thing about living on the road is slow travel. Whether it’s within the U.S. or exploring South America, we love being able to slow down and experience a locals’ perspective of a beautiful place.” – @holidayatsee

2. The beauty of community.

“Our favorite thing(s) about #vanLife are the community we’ve found and getting to experience different places as our backyard! Sometimes they aren’t glamorous, but other times they’re beautiful beyond belief.” – @fitetravels

3. One word: freedom.

“My favorite thing would definitely be the freedom. Go wherever, whenever, and do whatever.” – @wildbonde

4. Home is wherever you are.

“Our favorite thing about Van Life is the freedom it allows us to comfortably putt around the Southwest and do all our favorite things – with all of our gear with us for our hobbies, and the comfort of home always with us. It gives us the ability to explore new places, and has introduced us to a new community of amazing people from which we’ve met so many new friends from!” – @rosenesontheroad

5. It’s an open road.

“My favorite thing about #vanlife is I don’t plan where to go. You don’t wait to get all the details right, you just do them. Most great adventures work that way.” – @immarcoo of calara.ca

6. Live to love.

“Our favorite thing about #vanlife is the freedom to pursue the life we truly desire. We can wake up where we want surrounded by nature, we can travel cross-country to visit family, we now have time to work on ourselves since we’re not wasting hours of our week commuting to and from work, we can grow our businesses to their greatest potential, and our dogs can roam the countryside, happier than they’d ever been before!” – @gnomad_home and GnomadHome.com

7. Work hard, play hard.

“Hands down, our favorite thing about #vanlife is the freedom it has given us. It allows us to travel efficiently and affordably, and yet still feel a sense of “home” in our rig. We can balance work and still have plenty of time for adventure!” – @_onthehorizon

8. The world is your backyard.

“Traveling in a van allows us to share this experience with our dogs. #Vanlife allows us to have our house anywhere in the world. We have the opportunity to learn about different cultures, to discover the non-tourist corners of the countries. We have the freedom to live without time, to work wherever we want online or to work in season. Every day we learn languages and learn something new. In #vanlife, problems become challenges. #Vanlife makes us feel alive, and makes us feel happy.” – @timelesslifeproject

9. A dog’s paradise.

“#Vanlife gives me the freedom to travel to just about anywhere I want to go. “Homie” the van has all the space I need to live in with my two rescue dogs. After living in a trailer and traveling with a tent for years… having a van allows me to venture on unknown roads on a whim and gives me the added protection of steel walls. As a solo traveler who doesn’t plan ahead, it’s the best adventure mobile for my travel style.” – @alisontravels

10. Nature makes it all worth while.

“Living on the road has given us a deeper appreciation for the simple beauty, pleasantness, and serenity that nature can provide for a human. Waking up and watching the sunrise over a new horizon everyday – really makes your soul feel alive and oh so free!” – @wildroadwanderers

11. A never-ending education.

“Our favorite part of this lifestyle is that it’s wholly designed by us, more so than our lives felt before. This was and is both challenging and empowering. Just as we chose how and when to build our off-grid home, we’ve chosen the contents of our day to day since moving in full-time 14 months ago.

When we pull over for the night or find a spot to stay for a while, we have everything we need to eat, sleep, work, and play. It’s like backpacking, which we love, but a longer term and more sustainable adaptation. #Vanlife and #buslife is what you choose to make of it, so for everyone it’s a little different. We often say it’s as if we’ve gone back to school, in a way, learning about people and places all over the country that we may never have encountered if it wasn’t for this bus we built.” – @wilddrivelife

12. Makes you appreciate your surroundings.

“Our favorite thing about #vanlife is definitely the closeness to nature, to revive this natural connection to mother earth and to feel ourselves every day. This awakens the spirit of adventure and freedom in us.” – @silvervanproject

13. Front yard flexibility.

“My favorite thing about #vanlife is the ever changing front yard. On one day you have the house at the lake, on the next day you live in the Mountains. That is unbeatable!” – @wetravelbybus

14. Gone with the wind.

“Our fav. thing about van life is being able to wing it. Not knowing where your next destination is, just taking the trip day by day and seeing where the wind takes you – the freedom that only a campervan can give you.” – @goodvibrations.nz

15. Connecting with new souls.

“I always say that meeting new neighbors is one of the most underrated perks of #vanlife. I can’t count the number of times we’ve connected with kindred souls under the stars in the middle of nowhere. There’s some kind of immediate sense of kinship established in the van community and it’s pretty special. Some of my favorite friends are folks I’ve met out on the road.” – @noel_russ