So, after a life in the rat race, my husband and I did what you are dreaming about....we have a small holding in a beautiful place, and a vegetable garden and enough to sustain us until we pass. But just like you, I realised that you have to heal the inside first...otherwise you just transport your anxieties and problems into a different environment. Be thankful you figured that out at a young age. This is a beautiful video, very honest, and I wish you both all the best in future. You will get your cottage, I know you will.
Sounds like youve got yourself a beautiful haven, similar to what we hope to have 🙏 thank you for your kind words, were so pleased to hear this resonates with you, sending love 💕💕
I got rid of everything I owned, left my rental and lived in my car in 2023. It literally saved my life. Nature heals. Now I have a caravan and I love it. The ocean, the forest …… healed me.
This is one of the most brutally honest, and beautiful, videos I have ever seen on YT. As an older person, I can tell you that your hippie fashion forebears of the late 60s and early 70s were leaving society for the exact same reasons: having seen that the rat race was a self-serving farce that chewed up more souls than it ever saved, they were determined to leave it and make their own way. And like them, ultimately you too found that trading the externals was only the beginning of the process. But you're on the right path now, and that makes all the difference in the world. I don't have words to tell you how much admiration I have for your self-honesty and willingness not to settle. Even with all your faults and foibles, you are the best of us as a race. You are the new explorers. I am so proud of you both.
Ohhh my goodness, what a beautiful comment to read! We are really inspired by the hippie movement of the 60s so that means a lot that we remind you of them. We are always trying to learn about the summer of love and how the movement started, and also how it came to a sudden end, to make sure we dont make the same mistakes. Wouldnt it be amazing if that kind of movement were to happen again now, it feels like it could be fitting in rebellion to the modern times where we are more and more disconnected from our human-ness with the increasing technology. It feels like more and more people are wanting to reconnect with the earth and all the ancestral knowledge, what do you think? 🌻🧡
It didn't come to a sudden end as much as it was simply drowned out by the larger sounds of society moving on. Some decided they didn't like it and went back into academia or jobs, some stayed on in small communal living groups, some kept on traveling (esp eastward to follow the popular forms of spirituality back to their geographic origins), etc. That wave never really ended, it just morphed. And look to the beginning for explanation of the "end" of the movement: the 60s were full of fear, esp here in the US. The cold war, the constant threat of nuclear annihilation, the civil unrest, the assassinations (JFK, MLK, RFK, Malcolm X, etc), the unnecessary involvement of the US in Vietnam, the military suppression of civilian calls for societal change, and on top of all that, the way media seemed to skip right over the realities in front of a person's face and continued to parrot the mainstream lies. The 70s saw a loosening of all that, in many ways, so there just wasn't as much individual pressure to leave the fear and the lies that seemed to permeate so much of what was deemed valuable in life. But those draft notices were a great call to attention for anyone old enough and still young enough to get them: "Why should I die for a war, that makes no sense, waged against people who have have not wronged me?" And then there were the entheogens, lol. You can't have a group of people dropping psychedelics en masse and not have a shift in consciousness. That contributed to the movement as well. The important thing is that each person in it left the main road to follow their own new and completely uncharted path for a time. Sometimes that path ends up looking familiar like everyone else's, and sometimes it does not, but we never know until we test it, until we step up and out and try it all out for ourselves. That's where you are, and why I commend you. See, from where I sit there is no more wrong in those who chose to go back into society and get a job than there is in anyone who decides to leave it and live nomadically. To me, the change between yourselves now and five years ago is that before, living your present truth at any cost was a choice you could take up or not, but now it is your whole life. *You would not go back to suppressing that inner voice at any cost.* So daily, now you get up and follow your own star. And I suspect that these days, even if you don't know the way forward, you now know exactly what your personal truth feels and looks like... and what it does not, which is equally as important. That's it. That is both the journey and the destination. YOUR truth. Not mine, or anyone else's. YOUR place. YOUR path. And sometimes we have to be apart from the herd to even know that we have a separate, unique, individual truth because it's not usually something we're taught, or it's suppressed or even mocked when it's seen. And then, as you well know, society makes it extremely difficult to leave it, even briefly. The illusions of safety and security that society offers are POWERFUL, often too powerful to resist or resist for long, and living in them dampens the inner need for a deeper truth in many people. We seek distraction from our painful truths; society ALWAYS has distractions in spades, while serving up warning after warning to anyone who would depart from the main road. We chase the carrot of security, the societal sticks of fear chase us, we keep ourselves distracted as best we can, and the big wheel keeps turning. But even if we get off the wheel, the corollary is that the real truth, the real wisdom you find in the smaller places, like the lessons you have learned on the road about what is real and has meaning and what does not, invariably get co-opted by the herd, repackaged, shorn of the painful bits, and served back up to society as a shadow of itself in due course. As soon as you say "ancestral knowledge" there is some influencer falsely claiming familiarity with it and making great coin by pulling deep-sounding pseudo truths fresh from their butt for the masses. Technology makes this faster and more immediate, but it's a tale as old as time. That's what makes the personal journey irreplaceable: only YOU know YOUR truth, and only YOU can live it. And that's where the peace is. You're finding it every time you dive into your anxiety instead of avoiding it, every time you question why your body gave you that nervous message it did, every time you seek to soothe it with mindful treks into stillness, or even by just going deeper into the present moment. There is even a saying I like: "Whatever arises, love that." That's the cure, for so much of what ails us. But we only get to it by witnessing that which arises from within for our attention, by not distracting, by not avoiding pain but selectively seeking its roots. That's what changing the externals does, and where I think you probably are now: learning how to find the peace by following the truths within. That is the great gift you give us with your honest peeks into the life you're living now. You're showing the rest of us that yes, getting off the wheel can be done, and the rewards that await. Not all of us can do it, but you let us watch, and you show waypoints to those who are better poised to make the leap. As I said, you really are the new explorers.
I can now say with pride, I’m experienced like Jimi sang. Also both sides now. Faded into the forest till they cut it down. It’s a forest again but still…to Hug those giant trees and breath salt air is Heaven on earth.
Wow, absolutely stunning creation loves. My dad committed suicide two weeks ago for the reasons you touched on in your video - a constant, unfulfilling "grind," extreme capitalism, lack of purpose or direction, lack of true human connection, mental dis-ease, shot nervous system, and the list goes on... We try to fill the void, like changing our environment or buying shiny things, only to realize inner love, peace, and acceptance are the ONLY lasting solutions to our pain. Your raw, unfiltered story was refreshingly honest in a world that desperately needs the truth -- it's imperative we slow down, go inward, fill our cups first, tap into our creative power and remember that all we are is LOVE. Thank you two.
Such a wonderful note. I'm so sorry about your father, also. Life can be very difficult for some of us who look for meaning and purpose. I've only found meaning in my faith in God and the beauty of nature and the unconditional love of my dog. ❤ And some family on a good day.
What a lovely story. You are very brave, inspiring and also very touching. I wish I knew you. I'm 65 and an old hippie. My husband and I along with our 25 year old daughter and her boyfriend are buying 2 box trucks and converting them so we can finally experience this simple life. I'm rediscovering tie dye so I'll have something to keep me busy! Peace y'all (from Texas here). The world needs more people like you.
Your pre-van life experience is so relatable. When I left school, I didn't want anything to do with the dog eat dog society that was around me. I used to tell people that I wanted to be a bum. After some time of being poor and hungry, I decided that my best way out of poverty would be to join the military. As you can imagine, this decision would have a dramatic impact on my life for the rest of my life. I eventually found a partner that I loved dearly, but my job took up the vast majority of my time and also required that I be away from her for long periods of time. When I got out of the military, I was left with severe mental health issues but I didn't want to deal with it. I got a job that required 12 hour days and mostly 6 days a week. Because of this, I neglected my relationship with my partner. Three years ago she fell ill and I still continued to slave away and not spend time with her in the hospital in the way that I knew deep down, I should be with her. I was at work, when I got the call from the hospital that she had passed. With the mental issues that I already had and the added self loathing and anger, I quit my job and I haven't been able to work since but when I tried the anxiety took over and I never lasted more than 3 days. I did get help through the Veterans Administration for my mental health, which will be something that continues most likely for the rest of my life. I am now planning to embark on a journey of van life in November that I am hoping will help me retrieve the life that I wanted when I was young. P.S. You two are so beautiful together and bring me hope.
It's so wonderful that you are getting back to the life you dreamed of when you were young. I hope you are proud of yourself. It takes a lot of strength to be as honest with yourself as you had to be to get to where you are now. I hope you'll find everything you are hoping for and more 💫❤
We are programmed for this lifestyle so we are not closer to God. The Bible has given me new purpose. We have to face our demons but please do not give up! Never give up. Things DO get better. We have all suffered in sin and have regrets.
What a sweet story. Me and my husband come from Czech Republic, we've been travelling all around the world, hitch-hiking, volunteering,... you remind me us 10 years ago :) now we have 3 beautiful kids, building house ourselves from hay, wood and mud and getting ready for another phase of our lifes with finally living in our dream little house :) I think, you will get what you dream of too :) I just have to admit, life was never easier for us, there is always something to resolve, there are always some challanges, especially now with kids our lifes are just so different, but kids help us to see our real selves I have to say. They are amazing mirror of our souls and we are still learning about ourselves :) Now I have to say, that life is a journey and it is just upon us how we are going to work with our emotions and thoughts :) Wishing you all the best :)
Currently studying and daydreaming about which magical environment change could help me feel fullfilled - This video reminds me that there is no easy fix, but that a change in pace is definitely a step in the right direction. Thank you for sharing, dreaming and inspiring. My beautiful wildflower blanket that you created just became extra comforting
This is so lovely to know, really excited for to make that change in your life!! And how lovely to know you have one of our tapestries too, appreciate you so much 🥹💕💕
Just subscribed! I’m at this turning point now in my life. My life feels so empty and pointless after losing my only child.. then mom died too.. I have two poodles left. Getting ready to move into my self converted sprinter to connect with nature. God bless xx
I couldn't scroll past without acknowledging your comment. I too am a mum and can only imagine what you must be going through, I'm so very sorry for the pain you must be experiencing. Sending you allll the love and a huge virtual hug, and hoping that in time you can find peace ❤️
Yess it’s so so vital for everyone, feels like we disrespect our elders so badly these days when really they have so much wisdom and guidance to give 🙏
Absolutely so well narrated! I am 59 and 4 yrs ago after researching for years, found my land, and built an off grid property. When I visit the UK, I just want enjoy my family and the surroundings but the truth is I can only do a couple of months because I feel crowded out and everyone is still caught up in the commercialism and what they don't have . I get it totally because I was once that person, now I just want to make people feel lighter when I visit and be a listener. Well done you two, and your van build is a credit to you 🎉❤😊
Well done you two. Much better to answer the difficult questions now than bottle it up for a spectacular midlife crisis later. Things I have learned: 1. wherever you go, there you are. 2. “Right” and “Wrong” are just relative points along the same continuum, I don’t mean morally, just in terms of the decisions you make. Try not to worry about what if I/ we had done x or y instead? Inevitably you will so don’t be hard on yourself when you do, but just put it down when you catch yourself in the act. 3. Happiness is a choice, not the place you live, the clothes you wear, the money in your pocket or the car you drive. Most importantly you have each other and you have a dream to share. Make sure you enjoy the journey getting there 👍
Great video. I also left corporate and the city. Moved in to a cottage on a lake with ice road access in the winter. It took two years to let go of the busyness of city life within me. Then another few years to dive deep within me to deal with my own issues since I thought they would magically go away once I arrived here. It’s been 10 years now and I can feel the magic of the forest. ❤
Your quote about what do you do when your career, the way you look etc is no longer important and you desperately look around for a new purpose. And "Do you know what it feels like to grieve a dream". Wow. Loved this video! Sending positive vibes, from a full time vanlifer in Hampshire! 💜
Aww you guys 🥹. I have followed you for ages now, but never realised there was so much sadness in your journey. Your usual videos are welcome shots of uplifting, dreamy calm, that I’m so, so grateful for 🙏. This one hits different though. Very powerful. It actually brought me close to tears 😢. Thank you for being so open and honest 🙏 Sending love to you both
Aw seriously that is so kind! 🥺🧡 Sometimes we just don't make the steps we need to in life until things start feeling really really desperate 🚍 we just felt like it was about time we started to tell the story of why we did all this, thank you for being so supportive and gentle
Hallo, Ihr beiden! Ich bin jetzt 70 Jahre jung und habe auf anderen Wegen die gleichen Erkenntnisse gehabt wie Ihr. Ich lebe jetzt mit meinen Ziegen und Hühnern in der Vulkaneifel. In meinem Wohnzimmer hängt Euer schöner Wandteppich und beschreibt auch mein Leben. Ich liebe beide - den Teppich und mein Leben. 🎉
I went to art schools, and did the Gringo Trail in the seventies. Lived in a micro-bus, a sailboat in the South Seas. Built a log cabin in the bush on leased land. Worked as a labourer, then bought a rural property. Now I grow a garden, build the traditional timber frame house, and enjoy life nearby. The grounded homestead makes sense. Sure the idealisms are still there, and the open road sometimes beckons, but too much needs to be getting done. Another day in paradise. Hope you find that some place special. Seventy two in the Interior of B.C., and will peg it here.
What an honest, poignant and beautiful story of your vanlife. I' m in my fifties, and gave up work looking after my mother. I now manage to stay home now and i love it, although i do suffer from anxiety. Life is so fast paced and commercialised. It makes me happy that you are travelling, seeing the world, fulfilling your dreams together.
Wonderful to have found your story ; you will be thankful that you had these realisations at a young age. You will grow in wisdom and love - and that is what this damages society needs. I wish you well in your future - blessings xx
Thank you for this honest sharing; it's so transformative and validating to watch. You've captured the universal truth of our generation in western culture: ... that the comforts and tracked-out lives we were raised with failed to nourish the yearnings of our raw creature souls. That the discovery of beauty and adventure is also a discovery of discomfort and resilience which evolves a new-found appreciation where before there was entitlement, and possibility where before there was enslavement to performance bars. I'm inspired by how many watchers are compelled to share their stories in the comments as well, and it is a testament to the success of this documentary. I hail you on this piece so well written and crafted, and again appreciate the sharing and honest exposure of your experiemce: the angst and hardship you'd both gone through to create not only the journey itself but also this beautiful work, a gestalt of the modern zeitgeist, a wholly piercing and yearning film, documentation that is both beautiful and revealing documentation. Truly a triumph. Congratulations to you both, and I encourage you to submit it for recognitions as it truly is a capsule of our generation's experience and of the times we're living in. Best of luck!❤
The van is gorgeous, the wood and aesthetic. Bravo. It's also nice having a family to help along the way, and the knowing you can go back to the " suburbs" and know you'd not become homeless. I'm 60, and I'm blessed, because I never lost my child liKe innocence and wonder. Thank you for your Honesty. How beautiful your surroundings. Find Jesus, I know, find him on your own. Believe me, believe.......oh and, how blessed to have, each other.
Wow, your cinematography is stunningly beautiful and the lessons you shared are a vital reality for me as I contemplate the possibility of spending a few years (or more) off the beaten path. The more seasoned I become (age 68) the more simple and “small” I desire my life to be. The afternoon of life is a deeply meaningful and contemplative season. Thank you for sharing🙏🏼 ~Jim, California
I very rarely post comments, but this video of your story really touched me. SO real and honest and hopeful. You are both wise in so many ways. Thank you for sharing this journey with us, as all too often it seems to be so simple for those who have channels like this. It's refreshing to see that you found a way to dig deeper into what happiness is for you.
As someone also living with anxitety and having the same dream as you guys, this was so liberating to watch! your life looks very perfect, so hearing the story behind made it all way more 'human' to me, and also feels like its even more possible for me to live this way with my partner! So thank you for this
What a lovely video and one of the most moving ones that I have seen on youtube. Thank you so much for sharing your story. You have recognised the working life cycle that most people will never see and have created an alternate lifestyle that suits you. Through all the problems of the build that you talked about, you have been through a lot together and that will only strengthen your bond. We bought your first tapestry of wild flowers and use it all the time. Looking forward to your next product! Great video, thank you
Gosh thank you so much for all of this kindness, it means the world to know you enjoyed this video and that you have one of our tapestries too!! The whole journey up until this point has absolutely showed us that theres always going to be challenges and hardships in life and its how we approach them that determines how we get through them, certainly not an easy one to get right most of the time, but we now use the tricky times from this story to inform us for the future 🌸🧡
Love this , but especially because you have explained that being surrounded with beauty and achieving a simple life does not necessarily mean we feel differently inside .. this can take years of intentional inner work and be ongoing.
Wow, what a beautiful, real and very moving video. Youre both so young, yet so old at heart, with such a knowing for what the soul really yearns. I bought my first van yesterday after 2 years of wanting one. Your words were so true about healing within, as happiness is not a destination, it is a way of being and of life. I lost my Mum last June and my beautiful 22 year old son to suicide 5 months after my Mum, so my van has come at the right time for me, as being away from the crowds and being in nature is my healer. You will find your land and live out your beautiful dream. ❤️ And I will enjoy following you both on u tube. Inspirations you are!!
Just one word WOW! Love from Belgium, daniëlle. Oh and your dogs suits so well within your lives, very nice to watch........you made me re-think my life ( 54 years young).
I love that you have found at such a young age something I’ve been searching for years. I did the rat race tread mill stuff and I wish I had the courage to do what you are doing. I finally found contentment in my garden on part time hours growing all our food at 62 I feel content in nature. Life flys by do what makes you happy.
So so happy to know that youve found that contentment lovely! We are so eager to have our own garden one day, can just imagine the fulfilment from literally picking the fruits of your labour! Sending lots of love your way 💕💕
Happy you showed up in my algorithm today. Wonderful immersion into the realities of daily life. Speaking as an elder I can tell you that healing your trauma is vital to enjoying life. Learning to not only live in the moment but acceptance of whatever is happening is vital. Acceptance only means not resisting but finding solutions from a place of inner calm. Your van certainly shows your creativity. It looks like it would be at home in a fairy tale. Blessings 💞🙏
I love this episode! I have also loved your little home on wheels since I first set eyes on it, and am curious as to how you did the engravings/embossing on the wood to such beautiful effect. Great narrative, too - with eloquent phrases ("the future ... looked alarmingly underwhelming"). By the way, when I have dreams involving a motor vehicle it is usually about my life, so I'm suggesting Laura that your dream of the van going backwards off the cliff could be having had the worry of whether your vanlife would succeed or not. Just putting it out there. You are both leading a life many wish they had. I am in my mid 60's, have a work life in a big city, and a campervan for road trips, and eventually full time living. Big love from New Zealand.
Awww thank you so sooo much!! The effect on the wood is actually painted on apart from the kitchen cabinet which we bought secondhand already engraved so matched everything to that! Ooo that makes a lot of sense about the dreams thank you for pointing that out. Sending loads of love back your way 🤗💕
"When a flower doesn't bloom you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower" this is true for humans also, consider our own beliefs and beliefs of people closest to us as an important part of our environment.
This is finally an honest video about the beginning of van life and the process during. Thank you so much for sharing. I’m in the middle of not feeling happy travelling in our van and this gives me hope and clarity. Thank you for sharing ❤
6:57 LOVE this! So happy for you both. I love your honesty. The inside of your van is BEAUTIFUL! So natural looking and i love the earthy colors. It's almost as if fairies live in that van. Luffy (I hope I spelled his name right), is adorable! Thumbs up! Beth in the USA. ❤
What a beautiful video, and so much wisdom and insightfulness for such young people. Your words are so poetic and heartfelt, 'grieving a dream' had me heartbroken. Please think about writing a book, I can see it with the cover one of Laura's watercolours and Aaron's lyrics as poems interspersed with your beautiful photography. Until I found you guys I thought van life was way out of budget for me, but you guys help keep my dream alive, and I hope to not grieve my dream, either.
Gosh these words mean so much to us thank you 🙏 honestly we are so pleased to know that in some way weve helped to keep that dream of your alive. We always get frustrated that most vanlife content suggests its out of budget for most people but truly it can be done for cheap. The book idea is fab! We’ve spoken about this before actually so we might have to do it!💕💕💕
I am listening to this with your healing blanket around my shoulders. Thank you for creating it, it has brought much joy and comfort whilst recovering from an illness! Now that I am doing better I am dreaming about changing my environment, thank you for reminding me that the change also takes place on the inside.
A beautiful story and a gorgeous van! It looks like a fairytale cabin💖💖 You are light years ahead of most people twice your age in terms of "figuring out" life and what happiness is. The majority of people never figure it out. Safe travels. Wishing you the best in fulfilling your next dream🏞🌲🌲🏚🌲🌲☮
Sitting here, tears running down my cheeks. You truly put words on things I've just started to realize myself and it feels beautiful and soothing to know you can get through. Wishing you the best of luck on your journey and I look forward tagging along ✨
You two learned virtues by persevering in difficult circumstances and grew closer in understanding each other better through hardship. It takes courage to keep going like that!
Thank you so much for sharing your story. The realness and honesty is so refreshing to see and hear. I felt so many emotions watching this video as it is so relatable and shares some of the things that I have discovered on my journey of life as well. So happy to have found your channel it is such a good space 🌼
Best wishes for you both. I felt the same exact way and dived into van life. I started living in the van before everything was totally finished and was working out of it as well. Just 2 days after I completed my build out, some careless driver t-boned me and the home/office that I had worked so hard to create was gone. My van (home, transportation ,and office space) were all gone. Unfortunately, this was the second time in less than 3 months that this happened to me after I had given up my home. Yes, there was insurance but there has also been over $400K in medical expenses, 4 separate surgeries on my neck and spine, months of therapy, near homelessness, and depression to live through. It’s still not over yet. I won’t trauma dump with the other details surrounding the greater details of the other issues, let’s just say that I also learned to build up my business online and focus on my health and wellbeing daily throughout this process which seemed like a nightmare at first. I was given a vivid reminder that cars, careers, and homes come and go but our lives are precious. Thanks for sharing! Travel well.
Thank you ❤ beautiful and resonant. Simple and honest. May your love expand to every valley and sea, and include all of existence in your hearts, minds and beings. May you truly enjoy the ride ❤
Wow, how long did it take to make this video, stunning story telling, loving the voiceovers and your fashion sense and style while living out of a van just amazes me, I wish I had the courage to do this too. I'm sure life is not perfect, always looking for somewhere safe to park up. Hats off to you both!
Awh well thats so lovely to know!! There are certain parts that arent so dreamy but to be in such magical lands really feels precious, hope you get to explore in a van soon 💕🚌
After decades of life threatening depression and anxiety I healed through meditation, breath awareness, inner-child healing and psilocybin. Then I had a near death experience and was shown that all is one consciousness and that we are fractals of that source consciousness. Since then it's been almost second nature to feel gratitude and positivity in the present moment. Nice van, amazing build, great video, all the best 🙏🏽
@doritad3637 For me personally, I found the inner-child healing meditation had the most profound affect as I had a pretty rough childhood. But simple consistent mindfulness and gratitude meditation allowed me to become better at observing my thoughts, therefore becoming more aware of negative thought patterns which allowed me to shift them to be more positive, present, and grateful. Dwelling in the past = depression, worrying about the future = anxiety. So becoming more present and grateful, despite adversity. With Psilocybin I first tried micro dosing without much result. Then had a huge breakthrough with around 3-5grams macro dose (natural and not pharmaceutical). I did it barefoot in nature. It was really the moment when I can say the depression ended, and I was shown in profound detail what I was doing wrong. I was also shown that I'm never alone. It was at that point that depression and feelings of loneliness ended. I was shocked how effective it was, as if my brain had been literally reconfigured.
@@doritad3637 Mindfulness meditation and childhood trauma healing, I pretty much just found good meditations on youtube. I macro dosed twice. The meditation allowed me to become more aware of my thoughts and then through practice shift them to be more optimistic and in the present moment. Dwelling on the past = depression, worrying about the future = anxiety. Gratitude for the present moment and anything good in your life is the key out, build from there. I also cleaned up my diet a bit and exercised as well. I hope this helps 🙏🏽
Thank you and for sharing your kindness to each other and to the world around you. The feeling in the video is my whole life.-as an old hippie in the US, this what the good people were seeking-and many of us still are. I hope to find that peaceful nature in life-which is truly beautiful inside and outside.
I’m so relate to what you expressed about finally the dream life becoming true inside feel barely anything confused and numbing. It took me 5 years to overcome self sabotage and went through the same steps taking care of my spirit level, finally learning on receiving fulfillment internationally as well. Looking forward to see when you guys moving into the dream land.
That was very insightful. We are all a work in progress constantly growing and evolving. I must say, seeing the very basic van at the beginning and then the finished product is absolutely stunning & mesmerizing. You truly created a work of art. So glad you have found such a beautiful lifestyle along the way. It will surely evolve as do your dreams. We are all a work in progress, ever growing and expanding as we find the peace within that we have longed for in our very beings. Love & blessing, Liliane
This video warmed my heart. Especially because at the beginning I knew where it was leading to, you both living this dream of yours. Best of luck to your adventures as they unfold! 🌸🌺🌻🌼
You pair are master creators ❤ what a beautiful life you have created with a absolutely stunning van to match. I just want to thank you guys for posting this video & for your deep honesty. Online there's so much fake it till you make it! Well done for keeping it real 🙌 Im about to do the same thing after Christmas 🎉 around Australia 🇦🇺 im in the process of selling all of my worldly items. My business is being suspended for 1 year. Im looking forward to meeting like minded people like yourselves on the road xx❤xx🚌☮️🪷🙏
Thank you for this authentic heartfelt story ♥️ Having started this transition in my own way 5 years ago, this resonates. It’s a process to become undone! Wishing you every happiness ❣️
This brought tears to my eyes ♥ thank you for being open about your struggles and journey towards where you are now. I relate a lot to the things you shared. I've lived a stressful childhood and early adolescence, which made my nervous system frazzled and in a frozen-like state. If you guys would ever decide to make a video about the how's, on how you've healed and are healing yourself, I would love to watch it
Love, Health & Happiness are the greatest things in life, and you both have seemed to find them all. Beautiful van, beautiful couple and a beautiful lifestyle, wishing you both all the best in life, full of peace and harmony. Please keep making your videos, your an inspiration to many ❤
Aaaw you guys are so cute! 🥹👏🏻 I have lived in my van now for 1&1/2 year together with my cat, and I can completely understand everything you’re saying 🥹👏🏻 Doing the internal work has been a game changer for me. So many hours of crying in my car, journaling and healing 🙏🏻 Thank you for sharing your story! 🥹🫶🙏🏻
How lucky you both are to have each other, some guy that spent time In a bus said happiness is only real when shared. Love the job yous did, the joinery is nicely done. I've been living in an old 1957 A5 Bedford school bus for 16 years
Loved you honesty and relatable storyline. Especially at 10 minutes in... Really squeezed my heart. Just trying to choose where to start, to heal, can be so overwhelming. ❤
Hi and Thank you!!! I appreciate so much how honestly you evaluate your journey here. I am amazed how you both have been experiencing similar tresholds in understanding simultaneously. Usually it doesn’t go like that. Also I want to recommend, if you are anyhow into spiritual growth, to look up a book called Steps to Knowledge - the book of inner knowing. For me it finally gave peace of heart and a healthy amount of meaningful unburdening to my life.
I love your efforts and the beautiful van. The lesson you have learned is profound and I got to that lesson in a different way. And now I am in the state of making my inner environment or ecosystem the dream place and want to be inside my head, heart, and body. And that is freedom, peace and joy! And it is possible!
2days ago I thought to myself how awesome it would be simply to sleep in a van and stay as long as you please where ever you want or simply move along , kinda like you two. Just enjoying every day like it could be the last because it could. It’s a journey of love and a fear based system won’t apply to those living in love it simply never can because that contradicts our nature 😊 You didn’t feel what you wanted to feel because you did seek to feel it instead of letting the feeling come to you. You mentally seeked places but life is not a bucket list , you‘ll slowly lose your minds than you can simply be in peace. Give it time
I've never been so happy for two complete strangers!!!!! This is my dream and me and my husband are in the same place as you guys were at the start. Slowly planning, slowly getting closer, I can't wait for that day we finally pull out of the driveway for the last time and start the great adventure!
What a beautiful raw, honest and passionate video about your path. Thanks for sharing your dreams, struggles and wisdom so openly with the world! This is a gift.
Just found your channel, what a great honest video, I am in my late 50s and at the cusp of retirement and what to do next, life definitely is a journey and there are so many different chapters 🙂
It was wonderful to go on a little journey with you and your processes. Maybe I'm a step closer to vanlife now too. Your van interior is so magical. What a beautiful job you did and what an incredible way to build a relationship together too. Thanks for sharing. I'd love to know the beautiful destinations shown in this video.
Absolutely loved this. 🥹✨ The honesty was heartwarming and so so helpful for my own journey! 🧘♀️ A wonderful life is made up of many aspects that help bring us peace.✌️😌 I’m so happy for where you guys are now. So much more life and dreams to come. 🫶💗
Its great to hear your voices and your story after following you for a few years on IG. I started living in my van about 6 weeks ago, with no money. I bought it to travel in and do work (guareenteed work). At the beginning of my 2nd week I got a call from my ex, telling me our 29 year old daughter had transcended ('committed suicide' in old world language). So the last 5 weeks have been a challenging time, living in my van in a metropolitan area while we sort things for my daughter. I am lucky to be by the ocean every day, and yesterday I joined a gym so i can have hot showers everyday. I am lucky in that I was raised by hippies in the 70s, so my spiritual beliefs support happiness. My van is the same configuration as yours, but just plastic crates for now. Thank you for sharing your story.
So, after a life in the rat race, my husband and I did what you are dreaming about....we have a small holding in a beautiful place, and a vegetable garden and enough to sustain us until we pass. But just like you, I realised that you have to heal the inside first...otherwise you just transport your anxieties and problems into a different environment. Be thankful you figured that out at a young age. This is a beautiful video, very honest, and I wish you both all the best in future. You will get your cottage, I know you will.
Sounds like youve got yourself a beautiful haven, similar to what we hope to have 🙏 thank you for your kind words, were so pleased to hear this resonates with you, sending love 💕💕
@@onthewildside I keep my fingers crossed you will get your cottage! Wish you all the luck!
I absolutely agree! It also took me several changes to figure out that is not the place but me!
I got rid of everything I owned, left my rental and lived in my car in 2023. It literally saved my life. Nature heals.
Now I have a caravan and I love it.
The ocean, the forest …… healed me.
where got money for the caravan?
This is one of the most brutally honest, and beautiful, videos I have ever seen on YT. As an older person, I can tell you that your hippie fashion forebears of the late 60s and early 70s were leaving society for the exact same reasons: having seen that the rat race was a self-serving farce that chewed up more souls than it ever saved, they were determined to leave it and make their own way. And like them, ultimately you too found that trading the externals was only the beginning of the process.
But you're on the right path now, and that makes all the difference in the world. I don't have words to tell you how much admiration I have for your self-honesty and willingness not to settle. Even with all your faults and foibles, you are the best of us as a race. You are the new explorers. I am so proud of you both.
Ohhh my goodness, what a beautiful comment to read! We are really inspired by the hippie movement of the 60s so that means a lot that we remind you of them. We are always trying to learn about the summer of love and how the movement started, and also how it came to a sudden end, to make sure we dont make the same mistakes. Wouldnt it be amazing if that kind of movement were to happen again now, it feels like it could be fitting in rebellion to the modern times where we are more and more disconnected from our human-ness with the increasing technology. It feels like more and more people are wanting to reconnect with the earth and all the ancestral knowledge, what do you think? 🌻🧡
It didn't come to a sudden end as much as it was simply drowned out by the larger sounds of society moving on. Some decided they didn't like it and went back into academia or jobs, some stayed on in small communal living groups, some kept on traveling (esp eastward to follow the popular forms of spirituality back to their geographic origins), etc. That wave never really ended, it just morphed.
And look to the beginning for explanation of the "end" of the movement: the 60s were full of fear, esp here in the US. The cold war, the constant threat of nuclear annihilation, the civil unrest, the assassinations (JFK, MLK, RFK, Malcolm X, etc), the unnecessary involvement of the US in Vietnam, the military suppression of civilian calls for societal change, and on top of all that, the way media seemed to skip right over the realities in front of a person's face and continued to parrot the mainstream lies. The 70s saw a loosening of all that, in many ways, so there just wasn't as much individual pressure to leave the fear and the lies that seemed to permeate so much of what was deemed valuable in life.
But those draft notices were a great call to attention for anyone old enough and still young enough to get them: "Why should I die for a war, that makes no sense, waged against people who have have not wronged me?"
And then there were the entheogens, lol. You can't have a group of people dropping psychedelics en masse and not have a shift in consciousness. That contributed to the movement as well.
The important thing is that each person in it left the main road to follow their own new and completely uncharted path for a time. Sometimes that path ends up looking familiar like everyone else's, and sometimes it does not, but we never know until we test it, until we step up and out and try it all out for ourselves. That's where you are, and why I commend you.
See, from where I sit there is no more wrong in those who chose to go back into society and get a job than there is in anyone who decides to leave it and live nomadically. To me, the change between yourselves now and five years ago is that before, living your present truth at any cost was a choice you could take up or not, but now it is your whole life. *You would not go back to suppressing that inner voice at any cost.* So daily, now you get up and follow your own star.
And I suspect that these days, even if you don't know the way forward, you now know exactly what your personal truth feels and looks like... and what it does not, which is equally as important.
That's it. That is both the journey and the destination. YOUR truth. Not mine, or anyone else's. YOUR place. YOUR path. And sometimes we have to be apart from the herd to even know that we have a separate, unique, individual truth because it's not usually something we're taught, or it's suppressed or even mocked when it's seen.
And then, as you well know, society makes it extremely difficult to leave it, even briefly. The illusions of safety and security that society offers are POWERFUL, often too powerful to resist or resist for long, and living in them dampens the inner need for a deeper truth in many people. We seek distraction from our painful truths; society ALWAYS has distractions in spades, while serving up warning after warning to anyone who would depart from the main road.
We chase the carrot of security, the societal sticks of fear chase us, we keep ourselves distracted as best we can, and the big wheel keeps turning.
But even if we get off the wheel, the corollary is that the real truth, the real wisdom you find in the smaller places, like the lessons you have learned on the road about what is real and has meaning and what does not, invariably get co-opted by the herd, repackaged, shorn of the painful bits, and served back up to society as a shadow of itself in due course. As soon as you say "ancestral knowledge" there is some influencer falsely claiming familiarity with it and making great coin by pulling deep-sounding pseudo truths fresh from their butt for the masses. Technology makes this faster and more immediate, but it's a tale as old as time.
That's what makes the personal journey irreplaceable: only YOU know YOUR truth, and only YOU can live it.
And that's where the peace is. You're finding it every time you dive into your anxiety instead of avoiding it, every time you question why your body gave you that nervous message it did, every time you seek to soothe it with mindful treks into stillness, or even by just going deeper into the present moment.
There is even a saying I like: "Whatever arises, love that." That's the cure, for so much of what ails us. But we only get to it by witnessing that which arises from within for our attention, by not distracting, by not avoiding pain but selectively seeking its roots. That's what changing the externals does, and where I think you probably are now: learning how to find the peace by following the truths within.
That is the great gift you give us with your honest peeks into the life you're living now. You're showing the rest of us that yes, getting off the wheel can be done, and the rewards that await. Not all of us can do it, but you let us watch, and you show waypoints to those who are better poised to make the leap. As I said, you really are the new explorers.
Wauw...that was a comment to remember: thanks to YOU for writing as you do 🙏
@@onthewildside Cheddar Gorge? 6:13.
I can now say with pride, I’m experienced like Jimi sang. Also both sides now. Faded into the forest till they cut it down. It’s a forest again but still…to Hug those giant trees and breath salt air is Heaven on earth.
Wow, absolutely stunning creation loves. My dad committed suicide two weeks ago for the reasons you touched on in your video - a constant, unfulfilling "grind," extreme capitalism, lack of purpose or direction, lack of true human connection, mental dis-ease, shot nervous system, and the list goes on...
We try to fill the void, like changing our environment or buying shiny things, only to realize inner love, peace, and acceptance are the ONLY lasting solutions to our pain. Your raw, unfiltered story was refreshingly honest in a world that desperately needs the truth -- it's imperative we slow down, go inward, fill our cups first, tap into our creative power and remember that all we are is LOVE.
Thank you two.
Such a wonderful note. I'm so sorry about your father, also. Life can be very difficult for some of us who look for meaning and purpose. I've only found meaning in my faith in God and the beauty of nature and the unconditional love of my dog. ❤ And some family on a good day.
This world we live in, it's gone completely crazy. You made the sanest choice. Well done for pushing through.
What a lovely story. You are very brave, inspiring and also very touching. I wish I knew you. I'm 65 and an old hippie. My husband and I along with our 25 year old daughter and her boyfriend are buying 2 box trucks and converting them so we can finally experience this simple life. I'm rediscovering tie dye so I'll have something to keep me busy! Peace y'all (from Texas here). The world needs more people like you.
Your pre-van life experience is so relatable. When I left school, I didn't want anything to do with the dog eat dog society that was around me. I used to tell people that I wanted to be a bum. After some time of being poor and hungry, I decided that my best way out of poverty would be to join the military. As you can imagine, this decision would have a dramatic impact on my life for the rest of my life. I eventually found a partner that I loved dearly, but my job took up the vast majority of my time and also required that I be away from her for long periods of time. When I got out of the military, I was left with severe mental health issues but I didn't want to deal with it. I got a job that required 12 hour days and mostly 6 days a week. Because of this, I neglected my relationship with my partner. Three years ago she fell ill and I still continued to slave away and not spend time with her in the hospital in the way that I knew deep down, I should be with her. I was at work, when I got the call from the hospital that she had passed. With the mental issues that I already had and the added self loathing and anger, I quit my job and I haven't been able to work since but when I tried the anxiety took over and I never lasted more than 3 days. I did get help through the Veterans Administration for my mental health, which will be something that continues most likely for the rest of my life. I am now planning to embark on a journey of van life in November that I am hoping will help me retrieve the life that I wanted when I was young.
P.S. You two are so beautiful together and bring me hope.
It's so wonderful that you are getting back to the life you dreamed of when you were young. I hope you are proud of yourself. It takes a lot of strength to be as honest with yourself as you had to be to get to where you are now. I hope you'll find everything you are hoping for and more 💫❤
you are worth it!
This story made me sad. But you are determined.
God bless you. Please forgive yourself.
We are programmed for this lifestyle so we are not closer to God. The Bible has given me new purpose. We have to face our demons but please do not give up! Never give up. Things DO get better. We have all suffered in sin and have regrets.
You take me back to the 70’s with your clothes and hippie style! Never change! 😊
The miracle is your awareness at such a young age 😊
What a sweet story. Me and my husband come from Czech Republic, we've been travelling all around the world, hitch-hiking, volunteering,... you remind me us 10 years ago :) now we have 3 beautiful kids, building house ourselves from hay, wood and mud and getting ready for another phase of our lifes with finally living in our dream little house :) I think, you will get what you dream of too :) I just have to admit, life was never easier for us, there is always something to resolve, there are always some challanges, especially now with kids our lifes are just so different, but kids help us to see our real selves I have to say. They are amazing mirror of our souls and we are still learning about ourselves :) Now I have to say, that life is a journey and it is just upon us how we are going to work with our emotions and thoughts :) Wishing you all the best :)
Currently studying and daydreaming about which magical environment change could help me feel fullfilled - This video reminds me that there is no easy fix, but that a change in pace is definitely a step in the right direction. Thank you for sharing, dreaming and inspiring. My beautiful wildflower blanket that you created just became extra comforting
This is so lovely to know, really excited for to make that change in your life!! And how lovely to know you have one of our tapestries too, appreciate you so much 🥹💕💕
The exact same here :')
Just subscribed! I’m at this turning point now in my life. My life feels so empty and pointless after losing my only child.. then mom died too.. I have two poodles left. Getting ready to move into my self converted sprinter to connect with nature. God bless xx
I am very sorry for your sad loss.
I hope you find some peace with what you must be going through .
🙏🕊️🌻🪻💐
@@natashafranko4951 oh Natasha, you are so kind. Thank you for your lovely words of comfort xx
I couldn't scroll past without acknowledging your comment. I too am a mum and can only imagine what you must be going through, I'm so very sorry for the pain you must be experiencing. Sending you allll the love and a huge virtual hug, and hoping that in time you can find peace ❤️
@@claudiahazard_art you are too kind xx I’ve been through the worst… just learning to find my purpose… xx you are a beautiful soul, thank you 😘😘
@@rachelkelly7117 and God bless you. Take care.
I love the wisdom people with experience can provide. Thanks for Grandpa.
Yess it’s so so vital for everyone, feels like we disrespect our elders so badly these days when really they have so much wisdom and guidance to give 🙏
Absolutely so well narrated! I am 59 and 4 yrs ago after researching for years, found my land, and built an off grid property. When I visit the UK, I just want enjoy my family and the surroundings but the truth is I can only do a couple of months because I feel crowded out and everyone is still caught up in the commercialism and what they don't have . I get it totally because I was once that person, now I just want to make people feel lighter when I visit and be a listener. Well done you two, and your van build is a credit to you 🎉❤😊
I wonder where you moved to? Want to leave UK but very challenging to do so.
"To make people feel lighter and be a listener" i resonate with!
❤
Well done you two. Much better to answer the difficult questions now than bottle it up for a spectacular midlife crisis later. Things I have learned: 1. wherever you go, there you are. 2. “Right” and “Wrong” are just relative points along the same continuum, I don’t mean morally, just in terms of the decisions you make. Try not to worry about what if I/ we had done x or y instead? Inevitably you will so don’t be hard on yourself when you do, but just put it down when you catch yourself in the act. 3. Happiness is a choice, not the place you live, the clothes you wear, the money in your pocket or the car you drive. Most importantly you have each other and you have a dream to share. Make sure you enjoy the journey getting there 👍
For two people who had no idea how to build or use tools your little cabin on wheels is so cozy and whimsical ❤
Great video. I also left corporate and the city. Moved in to a cottage on a lake with ice road access in the winter. It took two years to let go of the busyness of city life within me. Then another few years to dive deep within me to deal with my own issues since I thought they would magically go away once I arrived here. It’s been 10 years now and I can feel the magic of the forest. ❤
Your quote about what do you do when your career, the way you look etc is no longer important and you desperately look around for a new purpose. And "Do you know what it feels like to grieve a dream". Wow. Loved this video! Sending positive vibes, from a full time vanlifer in Hampshire! 💜
Aww you guys 🥹. I have followed you for ages now, but never realised there was so much sadness in your journey. Your usual videos are welcome shots of uplifting, dreamy calm, that I’m so, so grateful for 🙏. This one hits different though. Very powerful. It actually brought me close to tears 😢. Thank you for being so open and honest 🙏 Sending love to you both
Aw seriously that is so kind! 🥺🧡 Sometimes we just don't make the steps we need to in life until things start feeling really really desperate 🚍 we just felt like it was about time we started to tell the story of why we did all this, thank you for being so supportive and gentle
"It would've been easier to give up and break up."
I think you just summed up exactly what's happening with the youth today.
So true but giving up and breaking up does not help either. To make progress in live we have to keep going.
This sixty- right year old grandmother thinks you two are wonderful. Life is an amazing journey/ adventure and you both have already learned so much !
Everything you need is already within 😊
Yes but you have to get rid of all the traumas and programs first, which takes years.
Hallo, Ihr beiden! Ich bin jetzt 70 Jahre jung und habe auf anderen Wegen die gleichen Erkenntnisse gehabt wie Ihr. Ich lebe jetzt mit meinen Ziegen und Hühnern in der Vulkaneifel. In meinem Wohnzimmer hängt Euer schöner Wandteppich und beschreibt auch mein Leben. Ich liebe beide - den Teppich und mein Leben. 🎉
I went to art schools, and did the Gringo Trail in the seventies. Lived in a micro-bus, a sailboat in the South Seas. Built a log cabin in the bush on leased land. Worked as a labourer, then bought a rural property. Now I grow a garden, build the traditional timber frame house, and enjoy life nearby. The grounded homestead makes sense. Sure the idealisms are still there, and the open road sometimes beckons, but too much needs to be getting done. Another day in paradise. Hope you find that some place special. Seventy two in the Interior of B.C., and will peg it here.
Fascinating summary thank you for sharing
Wait till you get a toothache bro
@@davis07ful No worries about that Dave. It’s the rest of the world most live in.
What an honest, poignant and beautiful story of your vanlife. I' m in my fifties, and gave up work looking after my mother. I now manage to stay home now and i love it, although i do suffer from anxiety. Life is so fast paced and commercialised. It makes me happy that you are travelling, seeing the world, fulfilling your dreams together.
Wonderful to have found your story ; you will be thankful that you had these realisations at a young age. You will grow in wisdom and love - and that is what this damages society needs. I wish you well in your future - blessings xx
You've got your slice of heaven on earth... I hope you get your piece of land one day, build that cottage and fill it with wildflowers... 🦋💐🌻🌺🌸❤️
Oh thank you jeannie appreciate the love, theres no place better for us than the mountains 🤗🧡
Thank you for this honest sharing; it's so transformative and validating to watch. You've captured the universal truth of our generation in western culture: ... that the comforts and tracked-out lives we were raised with failed to nourish the yearnings of our raw creature souls. That the discovery of beauty and adventure is also a discovery of discomfort and resilience which evolves a new-found appreciation where before there was entitlement, and possibility where before there was enslavement to performance bars.
I'm inspired by how many watchers are compelled to share their stories in the comments as well, and it is a testament to the success of this documentary.
I hail you on this piece so well written and crafted, and again appreciate the sharing and honest exposure of your experiemce: the angst and hardship you'd both gone through to create not only the journey itself but also this beautiful work, a gestalt of the modern zeitgeist, a wholly piercing and yearning film, documentation that is both beautiful and revealing documentation.
Truly a triumph. Congratulations to you both, and I encourage you to submit it for recognitions as it truly is a capsule of our generation's experience and of the times we're living in. Best of luck!❤
The van is gorgeous, the wood and aesthetic. Bravo.
It's also nice having a family to help along the way, and the knowing you can go back to the " suburbs" and know you'd not become homeless. I'm 60, and I'm blessed, because I never lost my child liKe innocence and wonder. Thank you for your Honesty. How beautiful your surroundings. Find Jesus, I know, find him on your own. Believe me, believe.......oh and, how blessed to have, each other.
Wow, your cinematography is stunningly beautiful and the lessons you shared are a vital reality for me as I contemplate the possibility of spending a few years (or more) off the beaten path. The more seasoned I become (age 68) the more simple and “small” I desire my life to be. The afternoon of life is a deeply meaningful and contemplative season. Thank you for sharing🙏🏼 ~Jim, California
I very rarely post comments, but this video of your story really touched me. SO real and honest and hopeful. You are both wise in so many ways. Thank you for sharing this journey with us, as all too often it seems to be so simple for those who have channels like this. It's refreshing to see that you found a way to dig deeper into what happiness is for you.
As someone also living with anxitety and having the same dream as you guys, this was so liberating to watch! your life looks very perfect, so hearing the story behind made it all way more 'human' to me, and also feels like its even more possible for me to live this way with my partner! So thank you for this
What a lovely video and one of the most moving ones that I have seen on youtube. Thank you so much for sharing your story. You have recognised the working life cycle that most people will never see and have created an alternate lifestyle that suits you. Through all the problems of the build that you talked about, you have been through a lot together and that will only strengthen your bond. We bought your first tapestry of wild flowers and use it all the time. Looking forward to your next product! Great video, thank you
Gosh thank you so much for all of this kindness, it means the world to know you enjoyed this video and that you have one of our tapestries too!! The whole journey up until this point has absolutely showed us that theres always going to be challenges and hardships in life and its how we approach them that determines how we get through them, certainly not an easy one to get right most of the time, but we now use the tricky times from this story to inform us for the future 🌸🧡
Love this , but especially because you have explained that being surrounded with beauty and achieving a simple life does not necessarily mean we feel differently inside .. this can take years of intentional inner work and be ongoing.
Wow, what a beautiful, real and very moving video. Youre both so young, yet so old at heart, with such a knowing for what the soul really yearns.
I bought my first van yesterday after 2 years of wanting one.
Your words were so true about healing within, as happiness is not a destination, it is a way of being and of life.
I lost my Mum last June and my beautiful 22 year old son to suicide 5 months after my Mum, so my van has come at the right time for me, as being away from the crowds and being in nature is my healer.
You will find your land and live out your beautiful dream. ❤️ And I will enjoy following you both on u tube.
Inspirations you are!!
This is utterly awful & I am so so sorry to read this. Please accept my condolences 🙏
A beautiful story. A magical film and 3 wonderful beings on the road to discovery. Thank you❤
Just one word WOW! Love from Belgium, daniëlle. Oh and your dogs suits so well within your lives, very nice to watch........you made me re-think my life ( 54 years young).
Hey kids, back in the 1960s and 70s this was called “being a hippie” 😂
They have old souls, most definitely
@@wecandothiswarriorsnaive, anyway.
😂😂😂😂
They know.....don't they?
True
I love that you have found at such a young age something I’ve been searching for years. I did the rat race tread mill stuff and I wish I had the courage to do what you are doing. I finally found contentment in my garden on part time hours growing all our food at 62 I feel content in nature. Life flys by do what makes you happy.
So so happy to know that youve found that contentment lovely! We are so eager to have our own garden one day, can just imagine the fulfilment from literally picking the fruits of your labour! Sending lots of love your way 💕💕
Happy you showed up in my algorithm today. Wonderful immersion into the realities of daily life. Speaking as an elder I can tell you that healing your trauma is vital to enjoying life. Learning to not only live in the moment but acceptance of whatever is happening is vital. Acceptance only means not resisting but finding solutions from a place of inner calm.
Your van certainly shows your creativity. It looks like it would be at home in a fairy tale.
Blessings 💞🙏
It's so wonderful how you've been able to grow emotionally and artistically , pursuing your dreams. Good luck to you!
Aw appreciate the kindness thanks so so much 💕🚌🌻
I love this episode! I have also loved your little home on wheels since I first set eyes on it, and am curious as to how you did the engravings/embossing on the wood to such beautiful effect. Great narrative, too - with eloquent phrases ("the future ... looked alarmingly underwhelming"). By the way, when I have dreams involving a motor vehicle it is usually about my life, so I'm suggesting Laura that your dream of the van going backwards off the cliff could be having had the worry of whether your vanlife would succeed or not. Just putting it out there. You are both leading a life many wish they had. I am in my mid 60's, have a work life in a big city, and a campervan for road trips, and eventually full time living. Big love from New Zealand.
Awww thank you so sooo much!! The effect on the wood is actually painted on apart from the kitchen cabinet which we bought secondhand already engraved so matched everything to that! Ooo that makes a lot of sense about the dreams thank you for pointing that out. Sending loads of love back your way 🤗💕
"When a flower doesn't bloom you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower" this is true for humans also, consider our own beliefs and beliefs of people closest to us as an important part of our environment.
Beautiful video. Your honesty and awareness is wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing your journey. Keep up the amazing filming. Love it.
This is finally an honest video about the beginning of van life and the process during. Thank you so much for sharing. I’m in the middle of not feeling happy travelling in our van and this gives me hope and clarity. Thank you for sharing ❤
6:57 LOVE this! So happy for you both. I love your honesty. The inside of your van is BEAUTIFUL! So natural looking and i love the earthy colors. It's almost as if fairies live in that van. Luffy (I hope I spelled his name right), is adorable! Thumbs up! Beth in the USA. ❤
This is so beautiful, your entire journey is a romantic story worth a novel. Thank you for sharing 🩷
What a beautiful video, and so much wisdom and insightfulness for such young people. Your words are so poetic and heartfelt, 'grieving a dream' had me heartbroken. Please think about writing a book, I can see it with the cover one of Laura's watercolours and Aaron's lyrics as poems interspersed with your beautiful photography. Until I found you guys I thought van life was way out of budget for me, but you guys help keep my dream alive, and I hope to not grieve my dream, either.
Gosh these words mean so much to us thank you 🙏 honestly we are so pleased to know that in some way weve helped to keep that dream of your alive. We always get frustrated that most vanlife content suggests its out of budget for most people but truly it can be done for cheap. The book idea is fab! We’ve spoken about this before actually so we might have to do it!💕💕💕
This is such a powerful story that I hope people at the beginning of their ‘escaping the rat race’ journeys see 🥰
Wow thank you thats really kind of you to say so, hoping that it does prove helpful for people 🙏💕
As a simple human with a chaotic mind, your perspective is precious and valuable. Thanks
I am listening to this with your healing blanket around my shoulders. Thank you for creating it, it has brought much joy and comfort whilst recovering from an illness! Now that I am doing better I am dreaming about changing my environment, thank you for reminding me that the change also takes place on the inside.
The prettiest van I've ever seen!
What a beautiful story and even more beautiful life!
A beautiful story and a gorgeous van! It looks like a fairytale cabin💖💖 You are light years ahead of most people twice your age in terms of "figuring out" life and what happiness is. The majority of people never figure it out. Safe travels. Wishing you the best in fulfilling your next dream🏞🌲🌲🏚🌲🌲☮
What a beautifully created video! So much love and heart went into it and it shines through.
I have been living in my van now for 2,5 y and just love it. Hugs from a swedish guy
Sitting here, tears running down my cheeks. You truly put words on things I've just started to realize myself and it feels beautiful and soothing to know you can get through. Wishing you the best of luck on your journey and I look forward tagging along ✨
You two learned virtues by persevering in difficult circumstances and grew closer in understanding each other better through hardship. It takes courage to keep going like that!
Thanks for sharing. I can 120% relate to what are you saying here :) Starting my van-life journey in 2 days.
Thank you so much for sharing your story. The realness and honesty is so refreshing to see and hear. I felt so many emotions watching this video as it is so relatable and shares some of the things that I have discovered on my journey of life as well. So happy to have found your channel it is such a good space 🌼
Best wishes for you both. I felt the same exact way and dived into van life. I started living in the van before everything was totally finished and was working out of it as well. Just 2 days after I completed my build out, some careless driver t-boned me and the home/office that I had worked so hard to create was gone. My van (home, transportation ,and office space) were all gone. Unfortunately, this was the second time in less than 3 months that this happened to me after I had given up my home. Yes, there was insurance but there has also been over $400K in medical expenses, 4 separate surgeries on my neck and spine, months of therapy, near homelessness, and depression to live through. It’s still not over yet. I won’t trauma dump with the other details surrounding the greater details of the other issues, let’s just say that I also learned to build up my business online and focus on my health and wellbeing daily throughout this process which seemed like a nightmare at first. I was given a vivid reminder that cars, careers, and homes come and go but our lives are precious. Thanks for sharing! Travel well.
You had me at "Left Society". The video is brilliant! You have winner on your hands. I'm in.
I love the turn that your story took; focusing on your internal worlds to light up your internal worlds. V relatable
Wherever you go, there you are.... I'm on that space right now as well! Beautiful video, couple and van!
Love your honesty guys!. Well done. Keep learning and enjoy your van and life! Beautiful scenery!
Remarkable insight that most never reach, let alone as young as you are. Thank you for your honesty and reminding me what is actually important. ❤
The CUTEST video there ever was. Thank you both for being so real ❤︎
Aww thank you lovelyyy, feeling the love with all the kind comments 🥺💕
Thank you ❤ beautiful and resonant. Simple and honest. May your love expand to every valley and sea, and include all of existence in your hearts, minds and beings. May you truly enjoy the ride ❤
Wow, how long did it take to make this video, stunning story telling, loving the voiceovers and your fashion sense and style while living out of a van just amazes me, I wish I had the courage to do this too. I'm sure life is not perfect, always looking for somewhere safe to park up. Hats off to you both!
I admit to watching your videos and fantasizing about being in a van at the locations you're at. It does look dreamy.
Awh well thats so lovely to know!! There are certain parts that arent so dreamy but to be in such magical lands really feels precious, hope you get to explore in a van soon 💕🚌
Also wanted to say your video was beautiful, honest and inspiring! Thank you both.
I wanted to say thank you for this video. He answered so many internal conflicts I've been experiencing lately. Thank you.
You have created one of the cutest RV's I have ever seen.
God bless your journey.
"Life is a journey not a race."
After decades of life threatening depression and anxiety I healed through meditation, breath awareness, inner-child healing and psilocybin. Then I had a near death experience and was shown that all is one consciousness and that we are fractals of that source consciousness. Since then it's been almost second nature to feel gratitude and positivity in the present moment.
Nice van, amazing build, great video, all the best 🙏🏽
What kind of meditation did you do, did you learn these things on your own or with a professional? How much psilocybin for how long?
@doritad3637 For me personally, I found the inner-child healing meditation had the most profound affect as I had a pretty rough childhood. But simple consistent mindfulness and gratitude meditation allowed me to become better at observing my thoughts, therefore becoming more aware of negative thought patterns which allowed me to shift them to be more positive, present, and grateful. Dwelling in the past = depression, worrying about the future = anxiety. So becoming more present and grateful, despite adversity.
With Psilocybin I first tried micro dosing without much result. Then had a huge breakthrough with around 3-5grams macro dose (natural and not pharmaceutical). I did it barefoot in nature. It was really the moment when I can say the depression ended, and I was shown in profound detail what I was doing wrong. I was also shown that I'm never alone. It was at that point that depression and feelings of loneliness ended. I was shocked how effective it was, as if my brain had been literally reconfigured.
@@doritad3637 Mindfulness meditation and childhood trauma healing, I pretty much just found good meditations on youtube. I macro dosed twice. The meditation allowed me to become more aware of my thoughts and then through practice shift them to be more optimistic and in the present moment. Dwelling on the past = depression, worrying about the future = anxiety. Gratitude for the present moment and anything good in your life is the key out, build from there. I also cleaned up my diet a bit and exercised as well. I hope this helps 🙏🏽
Thank you and for sharing your kindness to each other and to the world around you. The feeling in the video is my whole life.-as an old hippie in the US, this what the good people were seeking-and many of us still are. I hope to find that peaceful nature in life-which is truly beautiful inside and outside.
So beautiful, insightful and honest! Thank you for sharing your van life growth and maturity journey!! ❤️❤️❤️
I’m so relate to what you expressed about finally the dream life becoming true inside feel barely anything confused and numbing. It took me 5 years to overcome self sabotage and went through the same steps taking care of my spirit level, finally learning on receiving fulfillment internationally as well. Looking forward to see when you guys moving into the dream land.
That was very insightful. We are all a work in progress constantly growing and evolving. I must say, seeing the very basic van at the beginning and then the finished product is absolutely stunning & mesmerizing. You truly created a work of art. So glad you have found such a beautiful lifestyle along the way. It will surely evolve as do your dreams. We are all a work in progress, ever growing and expanding as we find the peace within that we have longed for in our very beings.
Love & blessing, Liliane
This video warmed my heart. Especially because at the beginning I knew where it was leading to, you both living this dream of yours. Best of luck to your adventures as they unfold! 🌸🌺🌻🌼
This is so so lovely to hear shirley thank you so much for the sweet words, we’re chuffed you enjoyed the video 💕💕
You pair are master creators ❤ what a beautiful life you have created with a absolutely stunning van to match. I just want to thank you guys for posting this video & for your deep honesty. Online there's so much fake it till you make it!
Well done for keeping it real 🙌
Im about to do the same thing after Christmas 🎉 around Australia 🇦🇺 im in the process of selling all of my worldly items. My business is being suspended for 1 year. Im looking forward to meeting like minded people like yourselves on the road xx❤xx🚌☮️🪷🙏
Thank you for this authentic heartfelt story ♥️
Having started this transition in my own way 5 years ago, this resonates. It’s a process to become undone! Wishing you every happiness ❣️
This brought tears to my eyes ♥ thank you for being open about your struggles and journey towards where you are now. I relate a lot to the things you shared. I've lived a stressful childhood and early adolescence, which made my nervous system frazzled and in a frozen-like state. If you guys would ever decide to make a video about the how's, on how you've healed and are healing yourself, I would love to watch it
Love, Health & Happiness are the greatest things in life, and you both have seemed to find them all. Beautiful van, beautiful couple and a beautiful lifestyle, wishing you both all the best in life, full of peace and harmony. Please keep making your videos, your an inspiration to many ❤
Aaaw you guys are so cute! 🥹👏🏻 I have lived in my van now for 1&1/2 year together with my cat, and I can completely understand everything you’re saying 🥹👏🏻 Doing the internal work has been a game changer for me. So many hours of crying in my car, journaling and healing 🙏🏻
Thank you for sharing your story! 🥹🫶🙏🏻
How lucky you both are to have each other, some guy that spent time In a bus said happiness is only real when shared. Love the job yous did, the joinery is nicely done. I've been living in an old 1957 A5 Bedford school bus for 16 years
Loved you honesty and relatable storyline.
Especially at 10 minutes in... Really squeezed my heart.
Just trying to choose where to start, to heal, can be so overwhelming.
❤
The photos from your uni days!! ☺🌸 This is such a beautiful film, your story is truly inspiring! Lots of love to you both!!
Hi and Thank you!!! I appreciate so much how honestly you evaluate your journey here. I am amazed how you both have been experiencing similar tresholds in understanding simultaneously. Usually it doesn’t go like that. Also I want to recommend, if you are anyhow into spiritual growth, to look up a book called Steps to Knowledge - the book of inner knowing. For me it finally gave peace of heart and a healthy amount of meaningful unburdening to my life.
I love your efforts and the beautiful van. The lesson you have learned is profound and I got to that lesson in a different way. And now I am in the state of making my inner environment or ecosystem the dream place and want to be inside my head, heart, and body. And that is freedom, peace and joy! And it is possible!
2days ago I thought to myself how awesome it would be simply to sleep in a van and stay as long as you please where ever you want or simply move along , kinda like you two. Just enjoying every day like it could be the last because it could. It’s a journey of love and a fear based system won’t apply to those living in love it simply never can because that contradicts our nature 😊 You didn’t feel what you wanted to feel because you did seek to feel it instead of letting the feeling come to you. You mentally seeked places but life is not a bucket list , you‘ll slowly lose your minds than you can simply be in peace. Give it time
I've never been so happy for two complete strangers!!!!! This is my dream and me and my husband are in the same place as you guys were at the start. Slowly planning, slowly getting closer, I can't wait for that day we finally pull out of the driveway for the last time and start the great adventure!
This is so touching. I wish you the best! It‘s a wonderful journey that we are all on together. Lots of love an light to everybody reading this.
Some of those views in your video of mountains and lakes in the background! Absolutely melted me ❤
What a beautiful raw, honest and passionate video about your path. Thanks for sharing your dreams, struggles and wisdom so openly with the world! This is a gift.
Just found your channel, what a great honest video, I am in my late 50s and at the cusp of retirement and what to do next, life definitely is a journey and there are so many different chapters 🙂
Aw thank you so much for being so kind to us! Have you thought about travelling after retirement?
It was wonderful to go on a little journey with you and your processes. Maybe I'm a step closer to vanlife now too. Your van interior is so magical. What a beautiful job you did and what an incredible way to build a relationship together too. Thanks for sharing. I'd love to know the beautiful destinations shown in this video.
Your van is beautiful. Refreshing to see a young couple who are not living for money. Best wishes to you both.
Absolutely loved this. 🥹✨ The honesty was heartwarming and so so helpful for my own journey! 🧘♀️ A wonderful life is made up of many aspects that help bring us peace.✌️😌 I’m so happy for where you guys are now. So much more life and dreams to come. 🫶💗
Bang on. Congrats for digging deep and not giving up❤.
Its great to hear your voices and your story after following you for a few years on IG. I started living in my van about 6 weeks ago, with no money. I bought it to travel in and do work (guareenteed work). At the beginning of my 2nd week I got a call from my ex, telling me our 29 year old daughter had transcended ('committed suicide' in old world language). So the last 5 weeks have been a challenging time, living in my van in a metropolitan area while we sort things for my daughter. I am lucky to be by the ocean every day, and yesterday I joined a gym so i can have hot showers everyday. I am lucky in that I was raised by hippies in the 70s, so my spiritual beliefs support happiness. My van is the same configuration as yours, but just plastic crates for now. Thank you for sharing your story.