Description
In the past five years the #vanlife has been increasingly all over social media. Young people are leaving their homes behind to go into nature, living in renovated vans that often have everything from a kitchen to a bed. Many people who adopt this lifestyle see themselves as participating in a counterculture movement; they are leaving the nine to five workday behind to explore nature and work an online job with flexible hours. This lifestyle is linked to a hippie aesthetic. From homemade vegan meals and minimalism, to yoga and nature, one can see the influence of the 1960's counterculture hippie movement on the #vanlife phenomenon. Both movements consist of mainly middle to upper class white people trying to reconnect with nature and disconnect from society. History reveals that these counterculture movements are not as revolutionary as they may seem; they claim to offer an escape from society, yet reproduce the same colonial hierarchies that construct and confine the society they want to escape. This is revealed in the implicit beliefs of the 1960s hippie movement and #vanlife. Both hippies and van lifers view nature and wilderness as a space open for them to claim. This is rooted in colonial land views and erases the continued experiences and resistance of Native People. Both appropriate Indigenous culture in an attempt to root themselves to the past and rebel against society. In addition, both movements often ignore their place in the greater hierarchy, thinking they are inclusive while ignoring the experiences of marginalized identities, especially people of color.
Hippies and #Vanlife: An American Counterculture Critique
In the past five years the #vanlife has been increasingly all over social media. Young people are leaving their homes behind to go into nature, living in renovated vans that often have everything from a kitchen to a bed. Many people who adopt this lifestyle see themselves as participating in a counterculture movement; they are leaving the nine to five workday behind to explore nature and work an online job with flexible hours. This lifestyle is linked to a hippie aesthetic. From homemade vegan meals and minimalism, to yoga and nature, one can see the influence of the 1960's counterculture hippie movement on the #vanlife phenomenon. Both movements consist of mainly middle to upper class white people trying to reconnect with nature and disconnect from society. History reveals that these counterculture movements are not as revolutionary as they may seem; they claim to offer an escape from society, yet reproduce the same colonial hierarchies that construct and confine the society they want to escape. This is revealed in the implicit beliefs of the 1960s hippie movement and #vanlife. Both hippies and van lifers view nature and wilderness as a space open for them to claim. This is rooted in colonial land views and erases the continued experiences and resistance of Native People. Both appropriate Indigenous culture in an attempt to root themselves to the past and rebel against society. In addition, both movements often ignore their place in the greater hierarchy, thinking they are inclusive while ignoring the experiences of marginalized identities, especially people of color.