HARD GETTING OUT OF BED “Safe Inside My Off Grid Home” VAN LIFE ROUTINE

Man, I'm tired this morning. Some of these mornings, man, it's hard to get out of bed. Man, I'm tired these days. Still no wet wipes. I don't know what us van lifers would do without these things. Seriously. Alright, let's clean up a little bit. Yeah. As you can tell, there's a lot of firewood. Oh my gosh. I need to get to my water. I went away coffee here this morning and my water's down there. That was work, Bertie. Living the van life, huh? Are you sure? Ices and stuff are in there. What a mess. There's this guy with no cares in the world whatsoever. He ran around the campfire last night. Hey, you got to snack on some food and explore all around this little backcountry spot. Hey, you had a big day, didn't you? You and your little horsey, you guys just sleeping. Look at you two. You guys are so cute. Something I'm definitely going to do in the ambulance build is maybe put a section here by the door or something where I can stick firewood so it doesn't have to be inside the home. It actually has its own little space. Or build a metal box on the back of the ambulance where I can have this stuff on the back of it. So if I'm ever stopping grabbing firewood or I'm out here in the backcountry and I find some stuff that I can buck up and take with me while I'm out here in the bush, having a place outside to keep this stuff would be pretty damn awesome. Right now, because I don't have a place to put it, I just throw the wood inside of my house and it causes a big ruckus when we're out here. Having a place to actually put this stuff would be pretty great. Now the long four minute wait. My morning routine doesn't change whether I'm in the backcountry like I am right now or I'm in the city. It's the same. I get up and I clean the clutter from the night before and the day before or a couple days before if I've been lazy and set up my desk here and edit some videos for you guys every day. This is my usual morning routine and that dreaded long wait for coffee. I have a minute and 40 seconds left. Will you please hurry up? So worth the wait though. That French press. The best way to explain it, it's like a good unfiltered beer. I don't know how to explain it. Yeah, it's good. It's got so much more flavor. It's beautiful. How are you doing, buddy? Can you hear the creek outside? You're in the backcountry, bro. Hey, good morning. Oh, here we go. Let me get some heat up in here. It's getting chilly. Alright, opening up Adobe, which is the editing software that I use. This one's just called Update. Bada boom. The video is exporting and this one took me pretty much exactly one hour to do. Talking videos go together so fast. A regular video on my channel can sometimes take up to six hours to do. So these ones here are like just like a relief because then I can start my day at a decent hour. That's why I get up at four o'clock in the morning every day so I can get these videos done. Some mornings when I'm editing, I don't get out of my van. I start working at four o'clock in here and I don't get out till like 10 o'clock in the morning. By the time it's edited, the thumbnail is designed and I get to open my door and start my day. A.k.a. grab my camera and start another video. So these talking videos are just like, it's like taking a day off just about. Funny, right? I should do more just talking videos. This one was actually a pretty good one. We got a lot of stuff done in this one. This video that I'm editing right here is the one you guys watched yesterday. With all the time that I spend in here behind my laptop, it's had me really wondering lately on how much more content could I produce or how much more of my life could I share if I didn't sometimes edit six hours out of my day? If you look at the average person that goes to work for an eight hour shift, sometimes I take for like half of an eight hour shift just to edit a video before I can go film more content. And I've honestly at times contemplated on getting an editor. But then I couldn't do it. Something inside of me is like, you can't have somebody edit your story. This is my life, my story. And I've been in charge of my own narrative since the beginning of this channel. And I could add the music to set the moods that I was feeling in that day or leave the right amount of gaps in my videos to tell a bigger story on top of it, like a voiceover. But I've pondered, I'm like, how much more content and how much more real parts of my life could I share if I didn't spend so much time behind my laptop in the morning not making content with the camera? And it's been a thought. And I've had some emails from people along the way that are like, hey, Chrome, I'll edit your videos for you. And some people have sent me through like samples of their work. I just don't know if I could hand over that part. Or even just a part of that part. This is my baby here, you know what I mean? As a lifestyle vlogger, it's hard to give up that storyline to somebody else. Because a lot of times I'm just running around filming things and there's no story in the video. The story actually unfolds in the edit. Where I get a chance to realize that I didn't say much of a story in the video so I could create a story out of my voiceover in the video. It's crazy, man. Being a YouTuber all by yourself is insane. I do it all. I edit. I source all my music. I do all the background work stuff like my emails and social media stuff which I've recently cut out. I cut out my Instagram. I cut out all those things just because it's too much for a solo creator to take care of all those platforms all at one time. Oh my gosh. I don't think I could give up editing. I would never give up the editing part but just even to give up one or two videos a week would just give me so much more time. I just don't know if I could let that happen. I don't know, that was on my mind today when I was editing. I'm like, man, you know how great this is? To have a one hour long edit like this morning. Bada boom. Video done. Now all I gotta do is grab some Starlink and get it up there. We're done. These would be great if every day was a one hour edit. But that's not the case. I mean, I could make my videos into a one hour edit. Just talk all the time with no scenery, no drone shots, no fancy stuff, no propping the camera up down the trail while I'm driving down the road. I love that stuff. I couldn't stop doing it. That's probably one of my favorite parts about being a video creator is being creative. So having all the edits with like the drones and the music and stuff is what makes me come alive. Anyway, I know saying this is gonna spark a bunch more emails. I bet you my email's blowing up right now going, hey, Chrome, I'm a video editor. I'll do that for you. Oh, my gosh. Probably not gonna happen. Probably not. I would rather do this stuff on my own, I think. Oh, OK. Still dark outside. Well, now what? Let's watch this video. I don't get that opportunity very often where I can actually watch the video I edit before it uploads because things are just moving so fast that they're just boom, boom, boom, boom, chopped up and thrown out there. That's why sometimes you get an edit with a mistake in it because I don't get the time to sit down and watch that 20 minute long video before it goes up. Because after you're like, just say you're in a four hour video edit, that extra 20 minutes is like, I'm done. At that point, I just want to go start my day. So it's cool. I get to watch this video. Sweet. It was nice to have my floor back a little. I wonder if Emmy's awake. Our lights are off, still in her van. Emmy's parked in front of me. That's not it. I'm like, Emmy's parked in front of me and then there's my little toy model of my van. But Emmy's parked up there. You can't see her. I don't think she's up yet. With the cost of groceries nowadays, if you don't eat stuff and you actually can afford to let it go bad, then you're flipping rich. Because berries nowadays are ridiculously expensive. I got these at Costco, so they're actually a good price. Yeah, man, you got to be rich to buy some of that stuff nowadays. Crazy. I only buy things when I see them on sale. And Costco is actually pretty decent sometimes. Sometimes you go in there and it's not so much. But yeah, this pack at a standard grocery store would probably be like... Well, I know the ones at the grocery store are only about this square. Just a little, maybe a quarter of this. And they're like $10. This at Costco was $5.99 or something like that. Not bad. Let's make some oatmeal. If you guys watch my videos all the time, you'll know that I have a bit of a routine in the morning. It's always coffee, oatmeal, editing and cleaning the house. I think I'm going to spoil myself today. Pop a little maple syrup on here. Maple syrup from Michigan. Not Canadian maple syrup. I'm pretty sure this is a crime in Canada. Not to use maple syrup that's not made in Canada. I'm going to spoil myself today. This is from Grandpa's Sugar Shack. Yeah, a subscriber sent this to me. Thank you. I do my dishes with wet wipes. That's the van life way. I thought I was the only one that did this. And then you bump into van dwellers along your travels, including Emily. And you realize that it's a common thing. Yeah, it works. Or just a wet piece of paper towel, whatever you've got. You know. Just this last little piece of water. We'll put that in Cruzy's bowl. Cruzy, don't drink the hot water. I waste very little water in my vehicle. Just about everything that comes out of that water jug gets used. Cruzy is the only wasteful water person in here. Because he licks a bit, slobbers, and then it turns into gooey stuff. And then I have to throw it out. But I know in this scenario, where you guys watch me do my dishes with a wet wipe. People are like, why don't you get a sink and just wash your dishes with running water like a human being. Because I look at that as a waste of water. And when you're out here, especially in the back. And to me, we have a creek and stuff here. I could have done my dishes out there. But when you're running around in your vehicle sometimes, being cautious of water is just smart. You know, because otherwise you'd be filling up water all the time. And I don't want to have to carry a giant water tank. And then another water tank to hold my grey water. And then you have to find a responsible place to dump that grey water. I like not having that hassle. I would rather be cautious on how I use my water. So don't use things where you have a lot of pour out water. Like, you know, when making pasta and stuff, you've got to pour out water all the time. I don't make pasta, so I've never had that scenario where you're always needing to dump grey water. Most of the stuff that I boil and use, I actually eat the water that that stuff was being boiled in. So, like if you look at today, I boiled some water, made some coffee, made some oatmeal. The rest of that water went into Cruzie's bowl. There was no waste except for the coffee grounds. And the coffee grounds actually just went outside anyway because they're coffee grounds, that's okay. But there's no wastefulness in that, you know. I enjoy not having a sink in here. And building the ambulance is still that question mark. Am I going to put a sink in it? I honestly right now will tell you no. Maybe. I'm not sure. Maybe I might try it and maybe I might change my tone, but five years in this thing, no sink? I love it. But life might be different when you're standing all the time. So here, I'm always at the door distance. So for me to turn over and put something outside in the back entry is no big deal. Maybe standing, maybe I might need a sink. Huh. Well, you have to stick around and find out. Sir Cruzie, this guy is living the life, man. Hey, he wakes up and goes and curls up right where I sleep every time. He's like, yeah, Dad, that's the butt. That's the butt. Oh, he's going to turn. You want me to rub your belly too? There you go, buddy. Is that what you wanted? Spoiled rotten, this boy. You spoiled rotten, Cruzie. Yeah, you are, buddy. Oh, yeah, Dad. Yeah, Dad. Look at the temperature in here. 24 degrees Celsius. 24. The time is totally wrong. 24 degrees Celsius. It got hot in here quick. With the heater on full blast and cooking. My van just sort of sweat. I know sometimes in my videos, I get caught up in the big fancy edits and doing creative things that I forget to film the everyday inside stuff. And I just wanted to tell you guys that this is the only part of my day that's routine. And I think it's good in life to have a routine. Good in life to have something that's comfortable every day. That you know is going to be there every day. Something you can just, like your little comfort zone. That's what mornings are like for me in my van. I get up and I know before I open up that door that this is my own little space. That I can have a nice morning routine. And it's always the same. I get up. I tidy the home. Because I have to. Make myself some coffee. Edit a video. Make myself some breakfast. Upload the video. And then I can go out and start my day. The rest of my day is not routine. Van life, if you're on the road, moving around full time. There is no routine comfort in your travel days. Because they're manic. They're crazy. You're unsure of where you're going to sleep that night. You're unsure of where to get water because you're in a strange town. So I find a bit of calmness and peacefulness in my morning routine inside of my van home. And I get the same feeling at night. I think it's just the space itself is comforting. And I know while I'm in here, no matter where I'm parked. If I'm on the east coast of Canada. If I'm out here in the back country in British Columbia. That once my doors are shut and locked and curtains are drawn. Heaters on. That this is my space. I feel comfortable in here no matter where I am. And I've been downtown some pretty big cities. Even in some partially sketchy neighborhoods. And I feel safe inside of here. It's my little cocoon. And I don't know if being in a space that's smaller gives me more sense of comfort. I don't know. There's a lot of people that move into vans. That they get the best sleeps inside of their camper van. And I don't know if that's just because everything is so cozy around you. Everything you have in life that's important for living on a day to day is wrapped right around you. And it's just got this sense of comfort to it. I don't know what it is. But yeah guys. If you're wondering about routine. Yeah we have a routine. And that's everything that happens inside of the van space. As soon as I open up the door. I don't know what's going to happen for the rest of this day. That's the exciting part about van life. Anyway I know today's video was super simple. But I want to try to keep some simple videos in my stuff sometimes. Because they make for nicer edits. And the easier of an edit that I have. The more content I can go out there and film. So videos like this. I should be able to bang this one out in an hour. Which is awesome. So now when I get to shut my camera off. Because this would be a part of a day that you wouldn't have seen. You wouldn't have seen all this stuff. You'd have seen a couple little flashy clips. And bada boom bada bang we out. So as soon as I shut this camera off. We're going to turn it back on when I open up that door. We're going to show you guys the rest of the day. You'll have to watch that one tomorrow. Thanks a lot.