Ten years ago, if you had told someone you were going to live in a van they’d probably hand you cheeky reply.
Today, they’d ask for your Instagram handle.
Whether to follow in the footsteps of the tiny house trend, or to avoid the astronomical rents of Toronto, Millennials have started to convert vans into permanent living spaces.
And it’s making them money.
Take Eamon Fitzgerald and Rebecca Moroney as an example.
These Millennial entrepreneurs have been living out of the van they call “Trinity the Sprinter” to help expand and grow their tea business Chaiwala.
After quitting their Toronto corporate jobs, the couple travelled to India and Nepal, where their love for chai grew. When they returned home, Fitzgerald began working as a barista and experimenting with tea blends.
Chaiwala is now a national company, primarily selling to cafés in Toronto, in large part thanks to their van-life commitment.
The two drive the van from location to location to promote their brand and tie it into the tea’s promise: sustainable practices through the entire process.
Tiny living means sustainable living, which means sustainable tea.
Even without their steady small business efforts, the inspiring couple has carved a niche name for themselves as travel bloggers in their own right.
The two currently live out of their van and use it as a means to travel North America. But this is not the image of “living in a van” you have in mind.
Other than perhaps my very serious bathroom concerns, these two almost have me sold on moving into my own VW bug.
Maybe not yet though.
