By Shi Violet Herring
June 4, 2021
EUGENE, Ore. — Van-Life has set Isaac, Dorit Liss, Daniel Gaudenti and Kate Fifer free. The term Van-Life is extremely inclusive to people who live on the open road. They are all connected by their similar, almost migration, instinct and a strong sense of community.
Americans have a hustle culture. When one looks up the terms hustle culture and toxic productivity, one will find hundreds of videos explaining how the capitalist system encourages working until failure. This was inspired by a study by Anders Ericsson, that found that people can only accomplish productive work for four-hours a day, and it also found that people need several hours of play each day. Van-life seems to find a way around this system.
One Van-Lifer, Isaac, who asked that his last name remain anonymous, is the owner of a shortbus conversion business called Skooliana. Isaac said that this lifestyle has caused a complete mindset shift. One day he wanted to go to the beach, and he then realized that he could stay at the beach and drive to work early in the morning. After that, he had no idea why anyone would live any differently.
“Having the freedom to choose your destiny and your life, like, it’s the little things that make it what it is,” said Isaac.
Van-Life has a community of people with similar mindsets. He said, “The people and the community are the best part about Van-Life.” Isaac said that after high school, how is anyone supposed to make friends? Everyone has everyone’s back in the Van-Life community.
“It’s all really welcoming and forgiving; for example, I just had somebody yesterday reach out to me saying that they were on the road from Georgia and were going to be passing through Eugene,” said Isaac. “They wanted to hang out, so we went to a hot spring last night,” he said. “Now I consider both those people really good friends, so it just brings people together,” said Isaac.
Isaac recently met Daniel Gaudenti and Kate Fifer over Instagram; where Gaudenti and Fifer document life in their creamy-yellow Blue Bird bus conversion. Gaudenti and Fifer lived in Eugene when they decided to start converting their short bus, Laurel. They both worked at Jazzy Ladies, a quaint cafe in downtown Eugene, when they finished their bus build. Fifer said that the year before they jumped on the van-life bandwagon, they got a taste of travel and could not let it go.
Some Van-Lifers do work a 9 to 5 job, but they do it for a fraction of the year. Gaudenti and Fifer, who have been experiencing van-life for two years, spend most of the year adventuring and then go back to work when they need the money. They said that they have picked up jobs on their adventures in Tennessee, California and Oregon. They have also worked with Fifer’s Grandfather during certain seasons.
Gaudenti said, “I feel like you realize what’s actually important in life.”
One of the biggest changes for Gaudenti and Fifer was that their world seemed to expand. They realized with this lifestyle they could carry out their dreams of opening a restaurant wherever they wanted. Their overall mindset changed, and their goals expanded into a dream of buying land somewhere to open a restaurant that has space for Van-Lifers to stay overnight.
Gaudenti and Fifer talked about the different outside perspectives that also go along with vanlife. They said that while the people of Eugene and Nashville might understand the appeal of van-life; all over California, people would look at them like they were homeless.
“There is a distinction between people acting like we are down on our luck rather than like we are doing something cool purposefully,” said Gaudenti.
Van-Life inspires a community of people who prioritize seeing more of the world. This community also includes the people it inspires through the process. Gaudenti said that people all over Oregon get excited to see their bus. It makes them feel like they are a part of something bigger. Van-Life is very adaptable to a person’s goals and priorities. Gaudenti recently graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Southern New Hampshire University while traveling in their van. Their traveling had to be centered around internet access and cell reception to take his classes online, so now that he is graduated, they are free to go anywhere.
Dorit Liss, who also has become friends with Isaac, always had a packed bag in her car to go on weekend camp trips throughout high school. Never liking to stay in one place too long, Liss bought her first bus, Nugget. She said that since she had no prior building experience, her first bus build was extremely difficult. Liss said that she is so grateful that she got to go through the experience because it made her current bus build much easier. Her new home is named Gumboot, which is fitting for a person with a background in marine biology.
Van-Life has enabled Liss to develop a strong community with likeminded individuals. While Van-life is incredibly versatile, Van-Lifers seem to have some similarities amongst them. Liss said that most Van-Lifer seem to be doing Van-Life for similar reasons: the urge to keep moving and a desire to see more of the world. There is also a very spirited almost free-sounding quality to Van-Lifers. It makes one notice the worry or stress that most people carry with them throughout their lives.
Liss said that Isaac is like the Van-Life overlord, and that she has gotten to meet a lot of robust people through him. The biggest difference that Liss has seen since starting Van-Life, is a complete mindset shift. She said that she used to be a very avid planner, but now she can pick up jobs when she needs to and travel when she wants too.
“On the road, like, you cannot be firm in anything, nothing is ever for sure, and you always have to have a backup plan and expect the unexpected,” said Liss.
Even with this in mind, Liss said that Van-Life has caused her to become more spontaneous and venture outside of her comfort zone.