from the van

Carl Brown and his partner, Sean Donnelly, just released a fantastic film about the Young Marines, which happened to premiere just as we came into San Francisco. I met Carl Brown in 2007, when he asked to do a short MTV piece on the environmental campaign I was helping to run. At that time, he was a one man journalism "team" operating under the name Corduroy Media. In the time since, Carl has grown his media business to a full-time staff of 10 in a very handsome office in Oakland, CA. This year, he and his lovely wife, Pilar, opened a big soundstage on the backside of the same building that Pilar will operate as a second business, available for rental by other media creators in the area. Pilar runs Mama Dog Studios, where we pulled the van to record the podcast in my little mobile studio inside of their really nice new facility. 

Jess and Mike met on bikes! They've been living the full-time #vanlife for 2 years, and one of their vans was smashed and totaled by nature. She's the C.O.O. of The Vanlife App, he uses his architectural background to influence the epic drawings he does on-site as they constantly travel around the country. These dudes have a lot going on.

Kensie & Joey are a young van life couple living in a huge, 6-wheeled, Sprinter. Their build is awesome and they are too. He's a swim coach and she's starting a business. It's so rad hanging around with these guys. Always positive vibes and excitement about whatever's about to happen.

Ryan is a rad native Southern Californian who lives full time in a 4WD Mercedes Sprinter van that he built out himself.  He's also an entrepreneur running reformlife.com which is a company providing everyday and adventure gear specifically focused on reducing use of single use plastics. He aims to make utilitarian products that provide alternatives to diminish our impact on the waste stream.

Macey just happened to be parked next to us one day at the hang spot. She was chilling in her bed in the back of her SUV, and was super open and inviting. After a couple minutes chatting about her adventures, I suggested she check out the podcast and maybe consider sitting down with us someday. She's like, "I'm leaving town this evening, how about we record right now." So we jumped right in and had a great conversation about the importance of getting out of your comfort zone, the education system, and this fantastic trip she's on.

Heather & Anthony are our full-time neighbors in Encinitas. They are a surfy couple with a 50 lb black dog working local jobs and hanging out in our favorite town. We're basically the same couple in different vans. We have a good time hanging with them. And we hope you enjoy their story.

Jarrod is one of the first van lifers I met after I bought my van. My buddy, Luis Perez, turned me onto his YouTube channel because he was obsessively watching Jarrod's videos which delve into the logistics of living in a van. When I found out that he's a comedian, I hit him up to come play a show that I sometimes host in Hollywood called That's Shoe Biz.   

We had a good chat about his surprise success as a #vanlife YouTuber, his plans for his new van after the sale of his first buildout, and his aspiration to travel the country in his van doing standup. And we did it all looking pretty dumb next to each other in clashing-ly similar colored green shirts. Can somebody get wardrobe in here already?!

Kara and Chris are a rad couple I met at a gathering in eastern Santa Barbara County. They're pretty new to van life, but they seem to already have it pretty well dialed. We had a great conversation about their van life logistics and travel plans. Plus I got to hang with their dog, which is pretty much the highlight of any day.