It's talked about a lot.
#VanLife on Instagram.
Some feel like popular #VanLife posts are just a bunch of fluffy, click-baity bull.
A relevant consideration is movies, specifically, movies that are based on novels.
Sometimes movies skimp on critical details that are pivotal to the story and development of characters; detail that fires up your mirror "empathy" neurons and deeply immerse you into another person's perspective.
Directors are forced to curate details in order to quickly tell a story that would otherwise be an insanely lengthy film if every detail from a novel was incorporated on screen.
Consider what a movie is: a series of still images that show consecutively, each for a very short duration.
These rapidly displaying still images bombard your retina and optical nerve, transmitting information to your brain which translates, processes and interprets thousands of images collectively as motion.
Each still image has loads of information for your brain to process.
In the U.S., the average feature film is 110 minutes long. Films are typically shown at 24 frames per second. 110 minutes x 60 seconds x 24 FPS (frames per second) = 144,000 frames in a feature film, on average!
That's a lot of information.
Now back to Instagram...
Instagram is one single, curated image; one frame.
Instagrammers wish to relay their best image. The best frame of their story. The frame that best summarizes the collection of memories, both good and bad, of any particular experience.
Loads of information will be missing from that single image.
I think this is why, in addition to influencer envy, people may become upset and generally feel worse after scrolling on Instagram.
Those who are living #VanLife, by choice or not, sponsored or not, know that, no matter what your circumstance, #VanLife is not always smiles and daisies and beautiful expansive views. It's not always gorgeous girls in bikinis and guys with a gajillion abs. It's not always mechanically or aesthetically flawless vehicles. It's just not.
It's not always perfect as an epic Instagram scene, parked up on the beach with no one else around but you, your love, your rig, your dog, and the sunset.
But when it is that...when #VanLife is good. It's incredible.
#VanLife, with all her difficulties, still beats the hell out of #DeskLife.
Live frugally, save, and invest your money in things that bring you joy so you can get out there and enjoy the hell out of those good frames!