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There are elements of race and class that underlie this phenomenon. The "van life" theme is a foil for "pretty people in pretty places" where pretty people look

There are elements of race and class that underlie this phenomenon. The "van life" theme is a foil for "pretty people in pretty places" where pretty people look a certain way. And those people can afford to live that way. They are so transcendent that they don't have to think about the trappings of the common life. That requires quite a bit of confidence about your ability to have a soft landing when you fail. In a different station in life, you have no ability to conceive of following your dreams of surfing and biking because you have to worry about making rent and helping pay for your parents meals.

dinglebert1234 9y ago
Maybe you should work harder and smarter. Inequality exists because of laziness.
- jljljl 9y ago
  This really is not true, and inequality can often dictate how hard and smart your are required to work for success. Most people are blind to the small advantages and inequalities the benefit from
- zardo 9y ago
  Last place in a race exists because of slowness. If only the slow people would run fast, everyone could get the gold medal together.
  - dinglebert1234 9y ago
    Success as a human is not a zero-sum game. The more value each of us contributes, the more value the entire system has. If you like the race analogy, it'd be like a race where each person is a member of the same crew team rowing a boat. The harder each person rows, the faster the entire boat goes.
pilom 9y ago
While I agree with your assessment of "pretty people in pretty places" as it applies to the giant Instagram accounts, it really doesn't apply to most people who live this lifestyle. Living in a van allows you to not need to worry about making rent or anything like that. Most people living the life have some form of normal work income. They work as campground hosts, or as ski instructors, or raft guides, or park rangers etc. I'm just saying recognize that there is a huge bias of, the people you know of doing this life are the ones who advertise it on social media, but there are an order of magnitude more people who live in the same accommodations without the same source of income.
- narrowrail 9y ago
  I agree, as I did this in the 90's while in college working as a raft guide on the Arkansas river. We were allowed to camp on our employer's land for free. There was no social media to pimp our activities on, and I imagine it would've been looked down on at that time.
  - aphextron 9y ago
    >I agree, as I did this in the 90's while in college working as a raft guide on the Arkansas river. Such a small world. I guided Brown's canyon for a couple summers as well. Best few years of my life, and we were living in tents. What company?
    - narrowrail 9y ago
      Apparently, pretty small. Sorry I missed this. I'm not exactly a public person, so let's say 'buffalo' was in the name. WA was the only other company I know of at the time with a similar set-up.

dinglebert1234 9y ago

Maybe you should work harder and smarter. Inequality exists because of laziness.

jljljl 9y ago
This really is not true, and inequality can often dictate how hard and smart your are required to work for success. Most people are blind to the small advantages and inequalities the benefit from
zardo 9y ago
Last place in a race exists because of slowness. If only the slow people would run fast, everyone could get the gold medal together.
- dinglebert1234 9y ago
  Success as a human is not a zero-sum game. The more value each of us contributes, the more value the entire system has. If you like the race analogy, it'd be like a race where each person is a member of the same crew team rowing a boat. The harder each person rows, the faster the entire boat goes.

pilom 9y ago

While I agree with your assessment of "pretty people in pretty places" as it applies to the giant Instagram accounts, it really doesn't apply to most people who live this lifestyle. Living in a van allows you to not need to worry about making rent or anything like that. Most people living the life have some form of normal work income. They work as campground hosts, or as ski instructors, or raft guides, or park rangers etc. I'm just saying recognize that there is a huge bias of, the people you know of doing this life are the ones who advertise it on social media, but there are an order of magnitude more people who live in the same accommodations without the same source of income.

narrowrail 9y ago
I agree, as I did this in the 90's while in college working as a raft guide on the Arkansas river. We were allowed to camp on our employer's land for free. There was no social media to pimp our activities on, and I imagine it would've been looked down on at that time.
- aphextron 9y ago
  >I agree, as I did this in the 90's while in college working as a raft guide on the Arkansas river. Such a small world. I guided Brown's canyon for a couple summers as well. Best few years of my life, and we were living in tents. What company?
  - narrowrail 9y ago
    Apparently, pretty small. Sorry I missed this. I'm not exactly a public person, so let's say 'buffalo' was in the name. WA was the only other company I know of at the time with a similar set-up.