Meet Phillipe LeBlond a.k.a The Man in the Van.
A very attractive man, Montreal-born LeBlond was living the life as a model in Beverly Hills. Those good looks held him in good stead in the cutthroat industry. But, four years ago, he decided to give up his high life as a model and travel around North America... in his van.
“This is the best life lesson. Living in the van. I have learned so much about myself. Before this, I had that Beverly Hills kind of life but I wasn’t happy. I decided to leave. I went from a really, really big house to this. And now I’m happy. Van life makes you a 'millionaire', life-wise."
A post shared by TheVanMan(@philippe_leblond) on Jul 3, 2018 at 11:48am PDT
“Just before turning 30 I decided to give myself the van," he says, in his latest interview, below, with Dylan Magaster on YouTube. “I did a trip from LA to Vancouver visiting every national park, and drove back along the coast. I came back to LA totally addicted to the van life. Now I'm in Canada falling in love with my own country again."
LeBlond showers from a shower bag. He fills up when he can, usually at campsites. His days are filled with plenty of activities from surfing to kayaking.
A post shared by TheVanMan(@philippe_leblond) on Feb 2, 2018 at 2:12pm PST
“Don’t be too serious," he says. “Normal is boring."
Although living in a van and travelling sounds like a dream, but is a reality for LeBlond, his years on the road has not been without challenges.
“It’s not a 4x4. I got stuck a couple of times but that’s part of van life. As soon as you get out of your comfort zone, that’s where the adventure starts. When you get stuck you have a four or five second ‘fuck’ but then you’re like ‘what to do? No problem’. That’s where the fun starts. It’s $16,000 to convert a 4x4 so I’m not going to do that."
What is LeBlond’s advice for those considering the Van Life?
There is plenty of advice-cum-suggestions in the video, but LeBlond's most important one comes right at the end: “Do it".