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Topic: News Reporter Chooses Vanlife After Hiking Pacific Crest Trail (Read 127 times) previous topic - next topic
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News Reporter Chooses Vanlife After Hiking Pacific Crest Trail
As Dylan noted, you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=20&v=sCTBbb1kWlU

Technology, styles and trends are constantly in motion. LD hit a sweet spot, and enjoyed a niche position for decades. Yet, it's obvious to any observer what is occurring in the DIY vanlife movement. Some of these rigs - like the one in the video linked above - are really quite nice. The appeal to people who enjoy projects is evident, and of course basing these van conversions on modern platforms is a bonus.

I haven't really sat down and done the math, but the cost economics are most likely highly advantageous. With floor plans based on factory standard production vans, and pre-cut piece work, installation (labor) costs - whether DIY or outsourced in low-cost states - are very attractive.

Whether van or trailer, a uni-body, aluminum/steel continuous roof helps form a rigid and solid platform in which to build out a nice, mobile traveler. The more well executed versions I see, the more my interest grows.
Re: News Reporter Chooses Vanlife After Hiking Pacific Crest Trail
Reply #1 –
Regarding the PCT, it doesn't surprise me that this reporter made a career change after hiking it as it seems to have that affect, on younger folks especially. The PCT goes right through the Tehachapi area so we see many of these young hikers around town. There is a program called Trail Angels where local residents are encouraged to sign up to provide support in various forms to the hikers. Here is an article about some hikers who came through recently:

Pacific Crest hikers visit Tehachapi, discover 'kindness from strangers' |...
Greg & Victoria
2017 Mid-Bath  “Nocona” towing a manual 2015 Forester
Previously a 1985 TK
SKP #61264
Re: News Reporter Chooses Vanlife After Hiking Pacific Crest Trail
Reply #2 –
I recall having a conversation with someone who thought the PCT phenomenon was unique. I replied, to the contrary, the entirety of the human experience has been one of migration & movement. How else was the globe settled, other than by each successive generation of restless souls willing to walk over the horizon to discover what lay ahead?

Who were the Phoenician sailors that explored and settled the Mediterranean centuries before the Greeks & Romans? Why were they there? Why Columbus and the age of exploration? Because (almost) everybody loves a "road trip". Neither the Americas, the royal charter partnerships (eg Virginia, et al), nor the shipping companies ever had any lack of volunteers to pull up stakes in Europe and head over the Atlantic. And once here, what did they do? They started moving West.

We should note that the people who explored, who moved, who made decisions to leave family over the preceding thousands of years, were all late teens and early 20-somethings. The PCTers in many ways may feel like fish-out-of-water, but that's only because earth has been settled and new(er) generations are more willing to stay put.

PCTers are the actual descendants of what we used to be. It's why they are welcomed into homes because they provide a fascinating glimpse into the minds of those who are willing to discard convention and go exploring.