The Van Life Handbook

Préface
How the author will leverage her platform:


• Author Kate Field has a YouTube channel with videos chronicling how to build your van from zero to hero
• Kate has been guest written for and been featured in various publications in the adventuring space such as Pine, Business Insider, Adventure Expo, Rova, Gear Minded, etc. that could feature the book upon its release
• She has an engaged following on Instagram of 55k+ who will order the book, share content about the book and leave reviews

• She will create a high quality book trailer for her platforms

• The author has a network of fellow influencers in the van life space who will provide endorsements and help support the book


• The author has relationships with 40+ brands through her van business that could help support the book through their channels and existing customers such as Nomadica, Pathfinder, Roam Adventure Co., Urban Drivestyle, Factor 55, and more

• Her biggest audience is in the US, followed by the UK, Australia, Germany, and Spain


Auteur

Kate Field is an Australian who grew up in Sydney. In her late 20’s she moved to New York to work in fashion photography and stayed in the Big Apple for 5 years. She’s been lucky enough to travel to New Zealand, Japan, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Canada, Mexico, and the Cayman Islands. Before buying her first van she road tripped The Blues Highway North to South, from Palm Springs up Highway 101 to the Redwood Forest and a circle trip of the Grand Canyon to White Sands Monument and back again. Kate has made a name for herself as a top-tier image retoucher, photographer and graphic designer. She previously worked in PR and advertising for Sydney agencies PPR, TRIBE and MetroGraphics. Moving her business to the USA, her niche is retouching content with some of the top US and international fashion photographers. Her current client list includes GQ, Men's Health, Vogue Australia, Vogue USA, Maybelline, Discovery Channel, InStyle, Vulture Magazine, Saturday Night Live, Maxim and many more. You can see her creative work at www.katefield.net.

Texte du rabat

The ultimate van life guide on living in a van, constructing your van, and preparing for a beautiful and adventurous life on the road!

Résumé

Living the Van Life in Nomadic Style

The ultimate van life guide on living in a van, constructing your van, and preparing for a beautiful and adventurous life on the road!

Don’t know where to start? We got you! Kate Field has created a guide on how to transition mentally and physically from a fixed address to an adventurous life on the road. Vans are different from campervans, motorhomes, and campers and Kate goes into detail on how to figure out just what vehicle suits your lifestyle and personality. She provides proven tips and tricks on living in a van with people or with a pet. She goes into detail about making money, and how to fight burnout on the road. 

Enjoy beautiful photography taken by a veteran photographer. Enjoy pages of beautiful and inspirational photography of Kate’s van that she customized and personalized to fit her journey. Van life is more than just road trips, it’s about the person you become and the people you meet on the road. Get into the tips, stories, and nomadic lifestyle in this book!

Inside, you’ll find:

• Inspirational photography and images from the talented Kate Field
• A guide on how to fight burnout, figure out floor plans, and enjoy life on the road
• Stories documenting the nomadic lifestyle and personal relationship goals of Kate

If you like travel books or books for van life like The Falcon Guide to Van Life, Where Should We Camp Next?, or Van Build, you’ll love The Van life Handbook. 




Échantillon de lecture

Introduction

How I went from high end fashion to low range gears

As a contradictory human, I consider myself a homebody who also seeks adventure. I thrive on challenges and push myself constantly into the unknown, but I love curling up with a hot cup of tea. How can you follow a life of wild adventure while having with you that sweet cozy nest of comfort? Get ready, because I’m going to share with you how you can create I’ve found exactly that!

A seed is planted

I’m Kate, and I grew up in Sydney, Australia. Growing up, our family was pretty adventurous—,we raced dirt bikes and traveled the country to attend race meets or weekend rides with friends. Tinkering on machines was a pretty normal activity for us. We always had a big garage and there was certain to be a project or two happening within. My family are all very DIY people and inspired a ‘you can do anything’ attitude in me, for which I am forever grateful. The weather and environment in Australia is ideal for outdoor activities. I grew up with plenty of time at the beach, hiking, fishing, camping, caravanning, generally just enjoying the outdoors. 

Combining work with travel

I followed a career in fashion photography and advertising, which this career would eventually take me around the world. I found myself based in NYC and got a reputation for being very ‘chill’ on travel jobs, which led to more travel jobs. I loved the hustle of New York, but after 5 years the skyscrapers started to close in on me. I was tired of the concrete and longed for new inspiration. 

I had done a few road trips with friends in rental vans and to this day those are some of the best trips I’ve ever taken. An interesting thing to note is, I never took time off work for those trips—I’d stop at a cafe in the morning and get some work done and then hit the road again. Why couldn’t I live like this all the time? Better question, why wasn’t I living like this? With no good answer, I soon found myself with a 2018 4x4 Sprinter van parked in Brooklyn and many many trips to Home Depot ahead. 

Taking the leap to become a full time overlander was not without challenges. Learning to build the van was hard, moving into it before it was finished to save money was hard, adjusting to the new way of life was hard and work was harder than I anticipated. Turns out the fashion industry was not exactly thriving on the back roads of America, who knew?! It was time to pivot! I rebranded myself and started doing photography and marketing for off road and adventure brands. I also documented the adventures on Instagram under @WeRollWithIt. That first year was a lot of hustle and a lot of ramen noodles, BUT it was worth every challenge. The hard work was not unnoticed, brands began chasing me to R&D new products and work with them in new and innovative ways. In an industry pushing development at rocket speed, a new van build each season was needed to test and showcase the new products. 

Home is where you park it

Traveling America full time was an incredible experience. It allowed me to see almost every corner and countless national parks. There was so much diversity in the landscapes, every day was new and exciting. People are fast to say that Instagram glamourises van life, but honestly no more than it glamorises any other life. For the most part, I really did wake up each day to an incredible view. If I parked in a city, usually because I had a client meeting to go to, I’d wake up at a cute coffee shop. And if I had a long drive to do quickly and used a truck stop overnight, the inside of my van became my sanctuary. 

Full time travel can be hard and often tiring. Anyone who has back packed for any length of time will attest to how you at some point inevitably long for your own bed. This is why I find the van life so wonderful. Here you are exploring new places, with a constantly c…