Article in the BBC today: "Camper-van conversion: 'We sold all our possessions to go live in a van'"
Talks about the rising costs of vans and conversions, the different types of people and the "gentrification" of vanlife https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54544467
Posted Oct 22, 2020, 9:39 AM UTC
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"Already trendy in the US and Australia, living and travelling in converted vans has become increasingly popular in the UK".
Never states why though. As someone who lives in the UK it's pready obviously, rent is crazy expensive and buying a property alone is almost out of the question. You'll never save enough to rent before buying. Oh and inflation, house prices and rent are rising much fast than salaries which have been stagnent for most of us for around 10 years inflation accounting.
But please tell me how it's a trendy and impacting the van market beacuse instagram is a realistic referce for representing reality (see article) and we all own van dealerships (see article). Sometimes BBC I think you miss the mark..
Meanwhile I'll try and make sure the rats don't get back into the shared apartment and finish my van asap.
Pretty much. As far as I'm concerned I don't know if I'll ever own a little house or apartment. Having a van was a way for me to own some living space.
Honestly, the only reason I became aware of the "vandwelling" lifestyle is because of attracrive white couples on Instagram that got pushed to my feed.
Or the occasional reddit post that got to the top of r/all with their story about how they sold their house and possessions to live in a van and travel and be "free". But they're a well off couple who had hundreds of thousands, of not millions in the bank, and they can afford to do it. They aren't regular lower/middle class people who decided that a van was cheaper than a house and are doing it more for financial reasons than anything else.
It's become popular because of attractive white Instagram couples, as much as lots of people on this sub will refuse to admit it.
I think trendy is the right word. I don't think most people are doing it as an alternative to regular life, just an augmentation to it.
For me, I still have my house but I will spend as much time working from the van as possible. I am doing it because for the first time in my life I don't need to go to the office and have the financial stability of a "regular job" without the constraints.