FROM VAN LIFE TO DIY REMOTE CABIN LIFE | FT. VAN WIVES
My Solo Road: S2 Ep 11 | From Van Life to DIY Remote Cabin Life | ft. Van Wives
Today I’m talking with Jaz and Crystal, also known as the vanwives! We’re talking about their transition from van life to cabin life, what it’s like to live in a remote cabin in Canada, short form vs long form content and their tips on starting a YouTube channel!
LISTEN TO THE EPISODE
INTRODUCTION
From van life to cabin life, my guests today are giving us the inside view of what it’s like to do both! Jaz and Crystal, also known as @vanwives, are with me today to talk all about off-grid living and content creation! They have been building an off-grid cabin for the past year and documenting it all along the way. We talk about short form vs long form content, tips on starting a YouTube channel, and what it’s been like building a remote cabin in a Canadian winter. Do they freeze in the outhouse? Do they regret their decision? Listen to this week’s episode to find out!
HOW THEY LEARNED HOW TO BUILD THEIR VAN
- Before van life, they had a honda civic that they would travel in on the weekends. Then they saw Kit Whistler on social media and thought “we could move into a van”
- took 8 months to convert their van
- They bought their van in 2017 and it took 8 months to convert. They lived in it for a year and then started youtube a year later!
- They learned how to build their van starting with passion. Jaz remembers being so passionate about it and researching every chance she got.
- When they were building their first van, the knowledge online was so minimal.
- They made a lot of mistakes in their first build. The photos looked so nice but everything would fall apart so easily.
- They rebuilt their same van because they like the T1N Sprinter van since they know the engine and they can fix it.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TRANSIT, SPRINTER, AND PROMASTER
- I am not a sprinter fan but Henry loves his.
- Jaz and Crystal save money on the maintenance by doing all the services themselves.
- Tip: they called Mercedes and asked what “Service B” entailed and Jaz would go through the checklist and do it herself. Some of the things are simple tasks!
- A big reason Henry likes the sprinter is because you feel like you’re up higher.
- My Ford transit is lower, almost like driving a car, and I barely had to do any maintenance to it in the years I’ve had it.
- People love sprinters because they last long. One of their YouTube subscribers has hit 2 million kilometers in their 2006 diesel sprinter van!
- The maintenance is expensive on a sprinter and it may take a lot of money to get to 1 million miles.
- The Dodge promaster doesn’t have high enough clearance.
WHAT THEIR VAN LIFE EXPERIENCE WAS LIKE
- They drove across Canada and then came to the US to visit Utah & Arizona. They explored California and spent 6 months in Baja, Mexico.
- Baja is the best place to be in the van!
- Then they went to Guatemala. They were going to Argentina but then the pandemic happened.
- They had a subscriber reach out and they lived on their family farm planting trees until they made their way back to Canada.
- The number one thing that prevented people from doing van life was the service. Now there is startlink, which is a game changer!
VAN LIFE TO CABIN LIFE
- Once they realized that they wanted to buy a house somewhere they started looking all over. From Mexico to the US to Canada, they wanted somewhere that they could put a cabin on.
- They asked themselves what they loved about van life (nature, lakes, being able to have the doors open) and then kept that in mind when looking for land.
- They found a 5 acre property with a cabin on it and they bought it without seeing it. It ended up working out and the cabin had good bones so they didn’t even need to tear it down.
- They have been rebuilding it for a year now!
- Their off-grid life is currently like glamping. They don’t have a fully functioning bathroom or kitchen. Their van is more of a home than the cabin is right now!
THE HARDEST PART ABOUT LIVING IN AN OFF-GRID CABIN
- Jaz says the hardest thing is having her family 18 hours away. They might have been far away in the van but they knew they could go back. The cabin is more permanent.
- Crystal says everything is more of a struggle in the winter. Everything they are doing is like being in a van in winter.
- Right now they are using an outhouse and it’s freezing to go to the bathroom especially in the middle of the night. They also have a Cinderella incinerating toilet!
- They didn’t have a toilet in their first van build and you can always go to the bathroom in a bag. There are bags that have deodorizers & solidify it!
THE BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENT WORKING ON THE CABIN
- They put the roof on by themselves with no experience. This would normally take at least 3 people because 1 sheet of metal weighs 100 pounds.
- They have also been working with tradesmen that have been teaching them the skills they need to have. They learned how to drive an excavator to build their driveway and their electrician is letting them help with the electrical.
TIPS ON STARTING A YOUTUBE CHANNEL
- Jaz says jump in with two feet. Consistency and nurturing your community are the top two things that you need to focus on.
- They put a lot of time and energy into editing. The first 2 minutes matter almost as much as the thumbnail these days.
- Kara and Nate have great intro and editing that you can go off of as well!
- Crystal says engaging and connecting with the people that watch your videos is one of the most important parts. They would spend hours replying back to comments before they had a team. And having a schedule, even if you have 1 video a month, you’re letting your community know when they can expect you next!
- Give the video value before you put it out.
SHORT FORM VS LONG FORM CONTENT
- With long form content, it may feel like a full time job in a way even for a 20 minute video. But Jaz thinks that YouTube is the best platform out of any of them.
- With long form content, you can gain an entire community that is really engaged. It’s very personal especially with lifestyle videos, you’re letting people into your life.
- People are putting a lot of money into their YouTube videos. They are creating movies and it’s the only platform that you can watch like a Netflix show.
- YouTube supports their creators and Instagram doesn’t. So you can always repurpose your short form content to YouTube shorts because they are starting to pay creators for shorts!
- Instagram is the hardest platform to go viral on and they have the most glitches.
- Even though a lot of creators don’t like Instagram, they still use it as their main platform.
SUMMARY
They plan on making the cabin feel more like home this year and bringing more content & value to their YouTube channel! They want to start expressing themselves in new ways and expand their lane. They are starting a podcast soon so make sure to keep up with them on Instagram and YouTube to see when it launches! They love being content creators and their move from van life to cabin life hasn’t been easy but they wouldn’t have made a different decision!
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