Kendall Baggerly Minivan Life

Branding and content creators Kendall and Glenn are living large in their minivan Vance. We caught up with the adventurous pair to talk about road tripping, their favourite places around Australia, and how to be happy with less.

What does your world look like?

Our days are typically filled with exploring new places in our van Vance, drinking lots of coffee and our work of creating content for brands. No two days are the same, and we like to spend the majority of them outside and in nature, hiking, surfing, swimming – anything outdoors! The content we create for brands typically centers around being outside as well, so we're very lucky to be able to explore new places and work at the same time.

How do you like to explore?

We like to travel very slowly, which is why we chose to live in a van in the first place. We like to be able to stay at places for as long (or short!) as we want with no pressure to be anywhere specific. We find that we often base our travels around the weather, especially along the coast. If a certain place is expected to have nice weather (and surf, if we're extra lucky) we'll head there and stay until we want to move along. It's an amazing way to explore new areas!

What's the best thing about living in Vance, your mini-van?

The freedom! It sounds cliché, but the ability to go anywhere we want, whenever we want (pending COVID restrictions, of course) is definitely the best part. We're never stuck in one place and can take our time with our travels, which has been such a treat.

What are some of your favourite places to visit in Australia?

Oh there are too many to count! Of course, we love the east coast surf towns (Byron, Noosa, Gold Coast) for those endless summer days full of sun and surf. We also really enjoyed our time in the Outback - The Red Centre was probably the most special place we've visited. Uluru, Kata Tjuta and Kings Canyon are places you have to experience for yourself – so much natural beauty combined with cultural significance. It's breathtaking! The Flinders Ranges in South Australia is also an incredible place to visit. It's full of hikes, wildlife and 4WD tracks if you're into that type of adventure. We spent a week there and we definitely plan on going back!

What is your perspective on slow living and sustainability?

If this trip so far has taught me anything, it's that you really don't need as much as you think you do to be happy. It's shown me that living slowly and sustainably is very attainable and that it's mostly about taking small, purposeful steps each day. Living in a van means you have to be very mindful of what you consume and purchase – everything needs to have a purpose. I think this mindset is something we'll continue to have once we've settled down somewhere as well. When it comes to buying goods, investing in high quality items that last a long time is key, and is much better for your wallet and the planet in the long term.

What is one positive thing that the recent changes in the world has created?

With the way this year has unfolded, I think society as a whole has seen the value in slowing down – even if it was forced at times. We all had to take a step back from the high pace of today's modern world and find comfort in a slower way of living. And even if that pace picks back up again, it seems like we all have a new appreciation for going about our days in a more meaningful way.