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  • [Music Playing]

  • >> 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.

  • [Music Playing]

  • >> 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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[Music Playing]

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