PRVCA Explore Magazine PRVCA Explore PA 2020 | Page 27

V a a n n L
# # V
L i i f f e e
© Nikky Love, @niikkylove
Bachows
ki, @ourv
anquest
Van lifers also still need to earn
a living while they’re on the road
searching for the next adventure.
Jake Bachowski works as a sales
representative and Gianna works
in online marketing. Jacobs still
does legal work along with earning
money through social media and
investment properties.
“You really can’t hide in a 26-foot RV,”
said Amanda Keshner, a 27-year-old who
had been traveling in a class-C motorhome
before trading it for a van in September
of 2018. “I like the ‘stealthiness’ because
it looked like a work truck.”
As the amount of people living in vans
and their social media presence increases,
so too does the community aspect of
the subculture. Travelers camping on
Bureau of Land Management public land
routinely post their global positioning
coordinates on van life applications
for other nomads to find, only to have
a group of two dozen or more eventu-
ally arrive. Love recalls a road trip to
Colorado that grew into a circle of over
30 van owners cooking, interacting and
bonding for a couple of days. Through
their new compatriots, the Fosseys have
explored rock climbing, sailing and crab
fishing.
“We’ve met so many people with
opportunities that we wouldn’t have
been able to do otherwise,” said Jessica
Fossey.
www.prvca.org
The van dweller lifestyle is occasion-
ally glamourized on social media, with
high resolution photographs of glossy
adventures. Jacobs’ Instagram page,
Vacayvans, currently has 48,000
followers and a page for the Vanlife
App which Love works for is followed
by 66,000 people.
Although the lifestyle looks carefree
and simple, many full-time travelers are
quick to point out its not simply a life of
leisure.
For people who like having their material
possessions as well as a comfortable
bathroom space, van living may not be
the best option for them. With many
vehicles coming with smaller water tanks,
many travelers belong to gymnasiums
and health clubs strictly for showering
facilities. Also, bathroom breaks need to
be planned out if a vehicle either isn’t
equipped with a bathroom or travelers
don’t want to be frequently looking for
places to dump waste water.
“Every step we made had to be
© Nikky Love, @niikkylove
thought out,” Love said.
Van lifers also still need to earn a living
while they’re on the road searching
for the next adventure. Jake Bachowski
works as a sales representative and
Gianna works in online marketing.
Jacobs still does legal work along with
earning money through social media
and investment properties.
There’s also the reduction of living
space, something Jacobs wrapped her
head around by taping off the van’s
60-square feet dimensions in her liv-
ing room and simply sitting in it.
“You just have to have a completely
new connection to stuff,” she said.
EXPLORE Pennsylvania 2020 | 27