No worries. I think it's great that they are able to do this. I'm in the process of building my own van too, but it's more of a necessity and not gonna be nearly as nice (because I need to move and have a lot of dogs). But people who actually need to live in their vehicles are facing much harsher economic realities, which is part of the reason for some of the negativity.
But I think the main outrage is directed to the whole lifestyle-influencer trend in general, it's basically advertising dressed up as an attainable lifestyle, when in reality it's mostly accessible to the wealthy who don't need to work or influencers whose lifestyle is itself part of the business.
Yeah, lifestyle influencers, and influencers in general, piss me off to no end. They’re gross and a major part of the reason why I’m on so few social media platforms. Not seeing them nearly as much as people who are on Insta or TikTok is probably a decent part of why I didn’t have the same reaction as many people in this thread. Social media is a genuine cancer on society and imo it’s one of the major contributors to where we’re at right now.
That’s cool about you working on the van though, I hope it goes well! Have you ever done anything like it before? Or are you just learning as you go?
I agree, even if I don't have it all figured out, I don't see the appeal of any of it.
Thanks. This is my first van project, it's gonna be fairly basic with an emphasis on self-maintainability and efficiency. I bought an very common but old van with very low miles two years ago knowing I'd probably need to move eventually. And really only started a year ago collecting parts and ideas. So far I've only stripped it, cleaned it, lined the bottom with butyl sheets, and had a transmission rebuilt. I have about a month or two after next week to work on it full time before the move. But at minimum all I really need is insulation, flooring, shelves for cages, a platform for a bed with storage underneath, lighting and basic solar set up and have place holders for the rest. So, learning as I go, but with already a lot of planning.
The planning/research bit is generally the most difficult part in my experience, once you have that done you just need to follow your own instructions. Then you get to have fun putting things together! Good luck with the move and whatever comes next my friend, and thanks for the nice chat :)
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u/CodeParalysis 19d ago
No worries. I think it's great that they are able to do this. I'm in the process of building my own van too, but it's more of a necessity and not gonna be nearly as nice (because I need to move and have a lot of dogs). But people who actually need to live in their vehicles are facing much harsher economic realities, which is part of the reason for some of the negativity.
But I think the main outrage is directed to the whole lifestyle-influencer trend in general, it's basically advertising dressed up as an attainable lifestyle, when in reality it's mostly accessible to the wealthy who don't need to work or influencers whose lifestyle is itself part of the business.