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>> VOICE OVER: in the past few years, road tripping in camper vans has become a really
popular way to travel on a budget.
Many people are also taking the trend one step further by living in their vans full-time
to save money
and to enjoy the special freedom and flexibility that a life on wheels can offer.
While living and travelling in a van can be a cheap lifestyle
it’s certainly not free.
We caught up with our friend Julien from Go-Van to find out
how he’s turned his camper van into a mobile home and office
so that he can earn money on the road.
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>> JULIEN: it was kind of a...combining the really cool aspect of travelling
the best way of travelling, you know
and also to generate revenue at the same time.
>> V.O.: Julien is an entrepreneur and video producer from Montreal, Canada who lives and
works in his van full-time.
At 30, he sold his first business, an online skateboarding magazine, and invested the money
he made in a condo
but he still preferred to travel in his 1989 GMC Vandura camper van
looking for adventure and good surf.
>> JULIEN: I really, really, really loved that van.
It was kind of loungy, you know, it was not a full conversion van.
So the interior was like...the lighting was amazing
The blue velvet seats and everything.
So that was perfect for awhile.
>> V.O.: the freedom he experienced on his trips in the van,
and the people he met on the road
inspired him to start his second business: the Go-Van website,
where he shares road tripping stories from fellow travellers, and videos about his travels.
>> JULIEN: everyone I was meeting was so interesting and I wanted to share everyone's stories.
Their road tripping stories and travelling stories.
>> V.O.: to finance the Go-Van project, Julien needed a business model
so he started creating video content for brands and tourism bureaus while he travelled.
>> JULIEN: the van is also my office.
We film pretty much all summer.
I don't film myself.
I produce and direct.
So the way I work is to invite videographers with me to basically live the van life for
usually a week
and we just travel for the week together and it's pretty much adventure style
Basically one guy is sharing the bed here and some other guy is in a tent.
We keep the gear inside here.
That's why we need a van that allows us to charge batteries and that is safe and that
doesn't break down.
>> V.O.: when he’s working on the website, applying for contracts and planning his upcoming
video projects,
his mobile office is very simple.
He uses a cell phone to create a wifi hotspot for his laptop,
and he has a bag full of hard drives for his video footage.
To power his laptop and cell phone, he uses the van's house batteries that are charged
by the van’s alternator, or by the solar panels on the roof.
>> JULIEN: this is super useful when you need to recharge batteries and all the gear we
have when we film on the road
so that's a big improvement from my old van for sure.
With the inverter and all the power it can generate from the van,
this makes the van a super cool office.
A super functional office.
Every crew that comes with me, I'm trying to make them feel like they're at home also
in the van
so it creates a really fun moment for a week.
Even if it's kind of hard sometimes.
>> V.O.: one of his first video contracts was for a Quebec-based camper van conversion
company in 2015.
This led to a long-term partnership with them that allows him to use one of their super
functional camper vans year-round.
>> JULIEN: really, I have everything I need.
I have a hydraulic rooftop which is pretty cool so
I just press a button and the roof comes up.
So that's awesome.
There's windows all over so that's great when you work by the river, or by the ocean.
Two fridges which are really great so you can put a lot of food and not have to stop
every day by the grocery store.
>> V.O.: now that he has all the comforts of home on the road with him,
like running water, a shower, and a kitchen,
he’s been able to rent out his condo and transition to living and working in the van
full-time.
>> JULIEN: it's hard to keep up with friends and family.
But besides that, it gets easier and easier so that's why I don't see a lot of challenges
but obviously there's a few things here and there
like showers
but after a little while it just becomes details, you know?
I can work whenever I want and if the waves are good I go surf and I come back and then
I can work.
It's Saturday today and I've been working pretty much all day
but yesterday I've been swimming in the ocean so I think that's why people love the van
life so much.
Now that most of the assignments that we had for the summer are pretty much done
I was thinking that I had to go back home and I just decided this morning that
I don't need to go back home, home is here!
So I'll just move and continue to work from the road.
So basically that's the freedom that I love about working from the road.
It's a flexible way of travelling.
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