VanLife Update and What’s Next | New Van?!

Change is the only constant in life. It's almost hard to remember life before VanLife. I started "MyBasicJourney" in 2018 as a creative project to learn how to create videos. I wanted to create videos about veganism, minimalism and travel. That all changed when I got Bubsy, my 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan. A minivan that I built into a single-person camper so I could live on the road and travel everywhere. Now, my channel became a VanLife channel and I have been living out my dream for the past two years as I snowbird around the U.S.; Chasing 70°F. This website has pretty much became a hub for my shop as I haven't written a blog in over a year. That changes today, because I am so excited that the next chapter of my amazing and ever-changing journey is about to start. I got a new van! https://www.instagram.com/p/CbzubJSODSv/ That's right, I got a Chevy Express Regent 2004. It has 124,000 miles on it and I am totally in love with…

Pros and Cons of Living On The Road

Chantelle
January 16, 2021
Digital Nomad / Entrepreneur / Unconventional Living / VanLife

Now that I've been on the road for a couple of months, I have a better feel for what this lifestyle entails. I have constructed a list of my biggest pros and cons of living on the road. Being a digital nomad is often misled by social media as being very luxurious and just nonstop traveling to jaw dropping sceneries. That definitely wasn't the case for me. However, I don't think I could ever go back to a typical sticks and bricks. I'll start with the pros of living on the raod because I like to start on a positive note. Pro 1. You do actually get to see some pretty amazing sites. I think most of us get interested in this lifestyle because of our inner wanderlust. We crave adventure and new scenic views. That is one thing this lifestyle doesn't slack on. Granted, not every day is Instagram worthy, but the majority of them are. I love that every week I get to experience a new back yard.…

2021 | The Year I Became A Digital Nomad

Chantelle
January 9, 2021
Entrepreneur / Make Money Online / Personal Development / VanLife

I will officially be a digital nomad for two months on 1/11/21. Two years ago I was living in a shelter dreaming about this reality. Last year I slowly built an income through YouTube, posting weekly videos of my travels and experiences living in a minivan. Now, as of 11/11/20, I officially started living my life as a digital nomad like I've always wanted to. I've dreamed of this for years before it actually became a reality. VanLife was an obsession before I ever had a van. At the time, that dream of living on the road seemed to be so far away; Completely unattainable for someone with such limited means. I was below the poverty line, and barely able to afford to pay my minimum bills to survive. Credit card debt was piling up, and I felt like I was just digging myself into a hole, further away from my dreams. You always see these people who claim to be digital nomads and then see their $100,000 decked out…

Already A Month Into VanLife

I have officially been living in my van for six weeks. The news of me moving in and starting VanLife was sudden, and only a weeks notice was given. My thoughts have been scrambled since then, so I haven't taken the time to blog about it. Life is silly that way. One day I'm worried about what the future holds because life was put on pause due to the coronavirus; The next day, I'm packing up my van to start the greatest adventure of my life. I was offered a camp host position in early March, before Covid-19 really took the world by storm. By mid-April I was sure this opportunity was over because everything was closed down. When they called me at the end of May to be there the first week of June (literally 6 days later), my anxiety went into overdrive. I wanted this so badly, so why was I so scared to start my VanLife journey? Then I remembered this small decor item that was gifted…

Solo Female Builds Out Minivan Into Mini Camper Conversion

When I bought my van last March, I planned on building it out to be a mini camper. I will be moving into my van March 20, 2020 and I'm so excited. My minivan Camper Conversion took me just about a year, and I still find myself changing things and making small adjustments to really make it feel like home. I thought I could take you guys step-by-step through the building process. Actually, I made an entire series on YouTube if you want to check that out, but I included the videos below so you can follow along. If I can do it, as a single female with no carpentry skills whatsoever, then you can too. The first step was to take out the back seats. This was actually super easy, and my specific model of minivan (2001 Dodge Grand Caravan) just had levers that you pushed and pulled to get the seats out. I took the seats down to the local wreck yard, though you could try and sell…