Van life is the best life: Our top on the road bloggers and vloggers

Ripping up the rat race membership card and campervanning for a living sounds like the ultimate dream, doesn’t it? For a lucky handful that dream has become reality as they’ve managed to turn their passion for the leisure vehicle lifestyle into a money-maker. Blogging and vlogging their journeys, tips and trick or tall tales, these travellers have been building brands from their experiences of being on the road. They’ve also been providing some quality infotainment.

Video diaries can be compelling ‘content’ for someone sitting on a sofa in Stranraer or Scunthorpe, contemplating exotic locations and the freedom of the open road. They can also be a great source of information for those who want to travel to a particular area on holiday, or advice for those who need some help with their own vehicle. In this edition of our blog, we’ve compiled our must-see list of some of the best bloggers and vloggers you can regularly check in on.

Just like the campervans available from Ventura, there’s something here for everyone…

1. Ame In A Van

Amelise Burr – aka Ame In A Van – is a van lifer who has fully embraced the lifestyle, regularly vlogging about her time on the road on her YouTube channel. She got started following a bereavement which made her recognise that life should be about more than just working to pay bills. Spending three years saving money, designing her campervan conversion and doing it up by herself, Amelise finally set off for some high adventure in 2021. She’s been travelling around Europe since then and recently celebrated her 1,000^th day living in the van. Amelise travels with her cute dog Gigi who sometimes features in the charming vlogs (which appear more or less weekly). Interesting fact – her parents are also van lifers who live on the road.

2. Life Is Too Short

There is a running them already apparent. The name of Carol and Ken’s YouTube channel suggest that, like Ame In A Van, they have realised that time is precious and spending it on yourself is important! These two are a charmingly unassuming married couple spending retirement enjoying a modest campervan life and wild camping – and vlogging about it. Their YouTube channel has a unique charm, with regular videos often containing opinion as well as useful tips. The couple focus on what they see and do rather than just being a pair of talking heads, so if you’re interested in van life featuring nature, towns and a bit of history you’ll enjoy what they have to offer.

3. Billy and Leanne

This couple in their late 20s live full-time in a self-converted VW LT35 camper van, regularly vlogging adventures, opinion and reviews. As a product focus in a recent video at their YouTube channel, Billy and Leanne spend a night in a new all-electric VW ID Buzz, heading to an Atlantic view cliffside for park-up and some dinner. Other editions of their vlog feature the couple travelling around Europe. Spain and France provide particular highlights – as does tackling the NC500 in Scotland during the winter!

4. Wandering Bird

Since 2018 Kat at Wandering Bird has been helping motorhome and campervan owners make the most of their time on the road with a website and vlog channel on YouTube. There, she shares weekly videos which feature really useful tips and tricks for life on the road, whether you’re a viewer who is new to motorhomes or a more experienced owner looking for new van-life ideas as well as suggestions of great places to visit. In the past these have included France, Denmark, Slovenia, Italy and Scotland.

5. Tread The Globe

Yet again presented by people who have true awareness of value: “We travel not to escape life, but so that life does not escape us,” says Chris and Marianne on their Tread The Globe website. Once their kids had grown up and left home, and after a health diagnosis for Chris, this couple from the UK decided to sell up and travel. Posting regular videos on their YouTube channel, this couple have vlogged from Malaysia, India, Korea, South Africa, Japan, Mexico and more. In fact, they have visited 47 countries during almost 2,500 days on the road. You can even live track Chris and Marianne’s current position and progress.

6. Life Beyond Bricks

Vloggers Tash and Jon sold up to go travelling – the twist for them being that they took their cats with them! There are videos at the couple’s YouTube channel which include many tips for travellers which have been gained from several UK trips, plus time spent on the road in France and Germany. It’s their videos from UK sites that are the most appealing, though, full of arcane detail and interesting facts about familiar places. They’ve also written a useful guidebook which details how to take your cat on a campervan or motorhome adventure.

7. The Motoroamers

Middle-aged Myles and Karen were battling with stress in the corporate world two decades ago, run into the ground attempting to run three businesses. Burn out for the couple triggered change. Focusing on motorhome travel, they’ve built a great reputation for providing high quality information and valuable resources to other travellers via their website and YouTube channel. They are also committed to sharing their experiences, warts and all, which makes for some ‘fantastic content’.

8. The Urban Motorhome

In a crowded ‘marketplace’ something you can do to stand out from the crowd is to stand out from the crowd. Be different, don’t conform to the usual tropes, and find your own style. That’s something that Darran (aka The Urban Motorhome) has managed, providing motorhomer content on YouTube and on his website which can sometimes come from an unusual angle. It may not be to everyone’s tastes, but unique insights are offered from his experiences of urban parking (99% of the time) in streets, car parks and industrial estates rather than on campsites.

The blogs and vlogs we’ve detailed here are just some of the many that are available to read or watch online. There is a whole community of travellers out there who’ve opted to broadcast their travels for the enjoyment of others, and as a source of information. Why not join them? Star with your very own vehicle from Ventura!