Ep. 55 Living on the edge in a life you love with Van Life Expert Sydney

Welcome to this week's episode!

Before van life, Sydney was working about 70+ hours at a restaurant where she felt like she was just another body filling in the gaps. She was doing event management for the restaurant and hotel next door, and desperately searching for an “out”.

That’s when Sydney found van life on social media where she could pursue her dream of traveling full time. In this episode, Sydney shares with us her story of becoming an Influencer/Content Creator and how she has always had a nomadic personality and heart. 

 

 

 

 

Sydney was born and raised in Indiana, Indianapolis, and went to Columbia Art School in the South Loop of Chicago majoring in Fashion Design, which is ironic because Sydney is a minimalist who doesn't own a lot of clothes!

When Sydney was in her senior year of college she worked as an events manager for a hotel/restaurant. She realized after a year and a half that she was becoming increasingly unhappy with where she was and what she was doing, she knew she needed a change.

After a trip to Belgium she was introduced to the idea of travel, that is when she decided to start Van Life. She had bought the van with her savings and was trying to figure out a plan to make it happen, but she had no idea how she would earn an income on the road. She did know she wanted to start with making a website.

Sydney built her own website and got really involved in the van life community. She was looking for people, connections and relationships in the new weird world she was living in. People started reaching out to Sydney to build their websites and in the first six months she made a substantial amount of her income. Sydney generates income by monetizing her own website and growing her following through writing publications.

Being on the road for three years she has built social media platforms, works with partners and gets to choose what brands to work with, that's one aspect of Sydney's revenue. She thinks it's smart to have several different ways of making money while working remotely because of the uncertainty of not having a paycheck come in every two weeks. Sydney monetizes her website, social media and now a podcast where she interviews and talks to different people on the road. 

Of course there are hurdles when you are thinking of living your life your own way creatively and Sydney shares her hurdles on charting her own path. When she started out she only had one way of making income and the stress of building clientele was difficult but since has built different avenues for creating revenue. 

Sydney shares that starting your own business can be stressful and hard .It is not easy figuring out what to invest in and what not, which is always a challenge when starting a new project. You don't know as an Entrepreneur what the return is going to be but you also don't know what the success will be unless you try. 

If you are thinking of hitting the road on your own Sydney recommends-

➤You have ways to cook

➤Having propane on deck and a propane stove.

➤Make sure you have a working refrigerator.

➤Having ways of going to the bathroom.

➤Having apps on your phone so you know where to sleep at night for campgrounds and cost.

➤Having a backup plan for showers whether that be a gym membership or different yoga studios that have showers. Paid campgrounds usually have shower facilities.

➤And decorate the space to make sure you are comfortable. 

Sydney’s van has a full working kitchen, running water, refrigerator/freezer, clothing storage and a king size bed for her and her golden retriever. She also has four solar panels on the roof of her van, powered throughout the day that supplies the electricity for her water pump, refrigerator and butane stove.

Sydney’s greatest win so far as an Entrepreneur is the drastic difference in mental health. Going from a well paying job and stable apartment to something new is scary and risky, but knowing she had to trust and follow her vision and could get there doing that all herself has built confidence and allowed her to be in control of her life.

If Sydney had advice for her ten year younger self she would tell herself to be a lot nicer but also trust herself and who she felt like she was. Most importantly to not listen to anything and anyone that influenced her otherwise. Believe in yourself and who you are becoming.

 

Check out our product of the week!