This is real talk here. Can a vanlifer be over thirty and never wear a bikini? If I say I'm living that #vanlife dream and I'm not wearing a size zero while I do it, will I break the internet? Welcome to the experiment friends. I'm taking this test on the road!

If you've taken any time to explore the #VanLife hashtag on Instagram, your screen will be full of beautiful, woodsy women in tiny bikinis, their beachy hair piled up with a stylish scarf, their skin as smooth as a six-year-old, their van so clean you could lick the walls, their partner so fit and adorable you can't help but sigh. Is this real life? We're supposed to believe it is. And I don't know how to feel about that.


Fact: I will turn forty this year.
Fact: I couldn't fit a size zero over my knees if I my life depended on it.

I'm old, you guys. And you're not going to find pictures of a perfectly toned butt cupped in a skimpy bikini bottom as I gaze out over the ocean this August. Nope. No Way. If that's what you want, go follow some shiny account and clear me from your browser history.

I want to use this platform as a way to share what I'm learning along the way, not to show you what great shape I'm (not) in. Nothing against those beautiful women who use their beach-ready glow to promote their lifestyle — God bless them and their young bodies that Just Won't Quit — I'm just not that girl. I want my message to be that you can chase after a dream no matter what your age is.

So, you're inspired by those gorgeous sunset pictures taken out the back of a van? Great! You're sixty-five and ready to try life on the road? GREAT!

Vanlife should be ageless. Just like it should be okay to be bikini-less.

What do you think? Do you follow #vanlife journeys because of the beautiful people, or because of the lifestyle. Inquiring minds want to know!