It's a movement

I was recently alerted to two pretty high-profile "van-dwellers" in the news and in pop culture. The first is a guy doing exactly what I am doing, but in a slightly more extreme way. He was a graduate student who chose to live in a Ford Econoline during his Master's degree at Duke University to avoid debt. The second is the writer of the book that led to the movie, "Warm Bodies." It was a pretty high profile movie, and even after the cash influx, the author still chooses to live in his remodeled RV.

The first article was published in the New York Times -- not exactly a no-name-blog on the interwebs. That's a pretty high profile source and article for a simple grad student who chose to live in a van for a couple years. The likely reason for the publication is the book that the van-dweller wrote about living in his van to avoid debt.

Interestingly, it appears that this may be the pinnacle of a phenomenon. Relating these fellows to myself, we have a whole spectrum of van-dwelling, debt and rent dodgers. At the extreme end, the grad student living in the Ford Econoline did his experiment without utilities and in a vehicle that he couldn't even stand up in. In the middle, the author of the Warm Bodies book, in a small, older RV that has been remodeled. At the luxury end, there's me: The guy living in a small Class-A Winnebago in a high-plains town, year around.

What is this cultural moment that is bringing these individuals to light? Why is it now New York Times-grade news to live in a van year around to avoid debt? It appears that we have a social, economic, and political mix that is leading young people to deny and combat debt in unique and extreme ways. It was only the early 1990's when Chris Farley was warning against the dangers of "living in a van, down by the river," yet here we are, 20 years later, and it is written in mainstream news in such a way that highlights it as the pinnacle of responsibility.

It is articles, such as these, that make me wonder if I should be focusing my studies on this phenomenon, rather than the plain ole' changing West:

New York Times: Ken Ilgunas Lives in a Van While a Graduate Student at Duke University
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/14/education/edlife/ken-ilgunas-lives-in-a-van-while-a-graduate-student-at-duke-university.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&smid=fb-share&

The Daily: Isaac Marion channels his religious past into ‘Warm Bodies,’ a novel about zombies — and love
http://www.thedaily.com/page/2011/08/14/081411-arts-isaac-marion-1-4/ 

Too bad Ken Ilgunas beat me to the book, too...