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  • Hi.

  • My name is John L.

  • A.

  • And I am 21 years old.

  • I am a newly minted YouTuber, living in my refurbish man in California.

  • Last year I made about $30,000 at my day job, but I recently resigned to do YouTube full time.

  • My YouTube channel went viral, and I'm lucky enough to be making a full time income off of that.

  • I have $0 credit card debt.

  • I pay $100 a month in car insurance and $200 a month and gas.

  • I pay $5 a month for water, $0 for electricity and $400 a month eating out.

  • I never really shop for groceries.

  • This is my van.

  • It was originally an ugly green color, but I got a peanut baby blue cause that's my favorite color.

  • I bought the van on Craigslist for $2500.

  • Currently, the van has 122,000 miles.

  • Was the original reason I decided to move into my van was to save money on rent, and now it is with the idea of traveling.

  • I've been living in this van for over two years, now just over.

  • I posted my first YouTube video about two months ago, and within a month I got a 1,000,000 subscribers and it has just been insane.

  • I would have never expected for my channel to grow this fast.

  • I know there has been a lot of speculation regarding the growth of my channel, and I just want to see to all the naysayers that the growth of my channel is organic and I film and edited and uploaded a video like every other YouTuber.

  • The YouTube algorithm picked up my video, and I have just been enjoying this, right?

  • So this is my travel companion, Alfredo, and he is just my best friend.

  • I got whom?

  • At a Reptile Expo in Northern California for $325 I decided Teoh get a snake instead of a dog, which is what a lot of other van lifers have, because he's just so low maintenance, and I kind of need my space and he kind of needs his.

  • So he was just the perfect for me, so afraid.

  • Oh, it's a mouse!

  • Well, now he's moved on to rats once a week, and that adds up to about $12 a month.

  • My morning routine usually starts off around six, and I do some stretches.

  • And then I say Good morning to Alfredo, and then I immediately leave the van to go find somewhere to pee.

  • Whenever I have to use the bathroom, I just use any of the neighbouring establishments where each or at like a library.

  • If I'm working on some projects in an absolute emergency, I do have to emergency pee bottles.

  • I would show you, but I went camping last week and I didn't have a chance to empty them out.

  • But they're cute.

  • They're pink and sparkly and kind of make it a little less gross.

  • Every day I try to do something active, whether it's hiking or surfing or just taking a jump in the ocean.

  • My favorite thing about living in a van is having everything I need with me at all times.

  • My only complaint is that I spent $45 a month on my gym membership, and that is where I shower because I don't have a shower in my van.

  • I probably spend most of my time in the van in the driver's seat.

  • This is my iconic fluffy steering wheel cover.

  • I got it for about 15 bucks on Amazon, and I absolutely love this thing.

  • The only downside is that it leaves Lynch literally everywhere, but it's worth it.

  • I actually find it easier driving a bigger core.

  • I feel a lot more safe and secure, being higher up off the ground up here.

  • I have my FM transmitter, and this is how I'm able to listen to my jams while I'm driving.

  • I could have just replace the whole stereo system, but this was only 17 bucks, and it does an amazing job.

  • And I always keep my coffee mug up here because late night drives require caffeine and just a couple of my daily essentials, which include my hair.

  • Pick my cause, you.

  • Which explains why I'm still single in here.

  • I just keep some quarters for laundry and parking meters in this little compartment.

  • I just keep a notebook.

  • If I have any ideas, I want to draw down really quickly and some perfume and appear.

  • I have all my light switches for the back, and my extensive sunglass collection thing is my kitchen slash living space.

  • My van is about 70 square feet.

  • I did remodel my van myself.

  • There used to be to captain chairs right here, and everything was carpeted.

  • So I was set out by myself and laid this vinyl flooring and made it my home.

  • Renovations in total, including the outside paint job, costs about $8000.

  • My tips to anyone who's trying to renovate a van is to really plan out what you're gonna do before you do it.

  • I am a measure ones cut twice kind of girl.

  • Don't be like that.

  • You will waste a lot of money.

  • I would describe my design aesthetic as like pink and girly, and I love bright colors, and I really tried to incorporate that into my home.

  • I try to lead a sustainable lifestyle.

  • I use washcloths, reasonable straws, reasonable cups and just making those little changes do make a difference.

  • The van does have solar panels on the roof that charge the main battery, and I installed them myself.

  • The solar panels were 100 and $80 each, and I have three of them.

  • This is my kitchen sink, and I built it in unison with Alfredo's terrarium, and my think is just this bar sink basin with a Volterra hand pump and my little silicone sponge.

  • You just pull this lever back and it pulls the water through.

  • I have a 64 ounce hydro class that is filled with water.

  • I never really use that hand pump because it's annoying, and you can never really like wash your hands properly because you always have one hand pumping.

  • My main source of water is the seven gallon water tank, and I always put drinking water in there, so I always have water with me at all times.

  • I felt that seven gallon water tank about once a month at just your local grocery store.

  • Some of them will have a refillable water station, and that's where I get my water from.

  • I ordered these tiles on Amazon, but they ended up just being stickers.

  • So in order to waterproof them for my countertops, I just poured some Polier thrown over them.

  • I don't really cook that often, but these were the two kitchen appliances that I have in the van, and it's the jet boil Minie moe, and this is just a backpacking stove.

  • I have only used it a couple times to make Rahman, and it didn't go so well.

  • So so I don't cook for leading to do is connected to some propane, and I just have a small canister here and because I don't use this that often, this thing is still full.

  • And I have this portable blender that's us.

  • Fewer chargeable have made a couple of movies in here, and they actually did turned out pretty well.

  • So I'm a fan of this thing is my compressor fridge.

  • It's by domestic, and it's It doesn't draw that much power, which is why I bought it.

  • And it's currently off right now because I lost one of my solar panels on my drive to L.

  • A.

  • So I had to sacrifice my fridge to warm Alfredo's heating pad.

  • I made these blackout curtains with some bandannas.

  • They just Velcro on, Bowker it back on, and this just gives me a sense of privacy when I'm sleeping.

  • The most expensive item in my van is my battery, which is the goal zero Yeti 1400 it was $1400.

  • This is the table that I used to eat some of my meals, and I also use this as my office desk, and it's the perfect size for my laptop, and this is where I do all of my work.

  • I do not have WiFi in my van.

  • I use the data on my phone for everything.

  • This is my vision board, and the first vision that I have on here is to be thick by the end of this year.

  • Take a lot of hard work, but more so.

  • My real goals for the foreseeable future is to rebuild my van and visit all the national parks in the U.

  • S.

  • And then after that, I want to buy and build a uni mog, which is a military truck, and used that to drive from Alaska to Argentina.

  • And once I am done traveling eventually, I would like to buy a tiny house or build one and start a small farm thing is my letter board.

  • I got up and go to will, and it says, take your but and it's missing the I.

  • So it's take your vitamins, missing both eyes.

  • I don't know where they want, and then this is my calendar that just always has nothing on it.

  • I promise you I'm kind of a productive person, but it just doesn't really showcase that.

  • And this is my bed, my favorite part of the van.

  • But my bed is made out of pine plywood.

  • I just got to shoots, and it's probably not the best made bed, but I've had it for almost a year now, and it's held up pretty well so far.

  • I am five foot five and I fit perfectly on this bed.

  • That's pretty comfortable.

  • It's like a memory foam.

  • One time, though, this surfboard fell on my face because I didn't screwed in correctly.

  • I make my bed like three times a day because I take a lot of naps.

  • But making my bed, I feel like, is key to keeping the van looking clean, so I don't mind making about three times a day.

  • It's part of the lifestyle.

  • So I got my decorative pillows at a thrift store on the since my favorites a little purple one, and I got these sat in pillow cases that are amazing for curly hair at just like a beauty supply shop.

  • This is where I keep all my clothes.

  • It's a pretty hefty drawer, but I try to stay organized with cubes and cubbies, and this actually has two more sets of companies in the back.

  • I don't go shopping that often because I don't really have a room to.

  • If I haven't worn something in more than three months, then I try to sell it.

  • I do laundry about every two weeks, and I go to the local laundromat.

  • Here are some of my favorite clothing pieces.

  • I have this vest that was made in Guatemala.

  • I got the sort of thrift store for six bucks these air bellbottoms by free people.

  • I also got these at a thrift store, and they were 25 bucks.

  • One of my favorite tops is this vintage Dunham top with embroidered flowers on it when decorating my van.

  • My number one cost saving tip is to go thrift ing.

  • Buying second hand is always more sustained.

  • Wolf.

  • I got this just a local art festival, and I felt like it fit the vibe of the van.

  • I have some string lights throughout the van.

  • I always like to turn these on when I'm just like reading and just trying to unwind.

  • They run off battery, and I have this remote that runs all the string lights in the van, you consent them to different settings.

  • Sometimes it looks like Christmas in here.

  • You're around.

  • I think they just added an extra five to the Vance.

  • I keep my little remote on Velcro behind my bed.

  • And this is just an easy way to keep everything organized and so that I don't lose little things like this.

  • This is my teddy bear thing.

  • Looks like a murder scene.

  • And sometimes when it's cold, I like to have him on the bed and just have something to cuddle up on.

  • I have a pretty good relationship with money.

  • I live pretty frugally, and I know that money comes and goes.

  • My advice when it comes to money, is to live within your means and Onley purchase things that serve purpose.

  • All right, glamour.

  • I gotta go.

  • Toodles.

Hi.

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