Obinna & Aïssatou - Our Soul Agenda

Prior to van life we were living in Oakland and both paying $1000 to live in small rooms. We both graduated from Columbia University in 2017, Obinna with a B.S. in Computer Engineering and Aïssatou with a B.A. in East Asian Studies (Mandarin Chinese). After graduating Obinna built his own business creating websites and apps and later he also took a job at a tech company. Aïssatou worked for a non-profit and later a tech company. Ultimately, we were both severely underwhelmed by living lives that required us to sit in an office for 8 hours a day, and not feeling like we were working to our fullest potential or on things that truly inspired us. When we found our van, a 1978 Dodge Tradesman, off of Craigslist for $3,500 (less than the cost of 2 months rent to own a mobile home), the decision felt as right as can be. To date, we’ve been on the road for 2 months and our living life on our own terms has been extremely rewarding so far. 

Youtube is how we found out about van life, so it only felt right to give back by adding our unique voices to the chorus. In particular, seeing other Black van lifers sharing their journey in this way gave us an added sense of security that we would be safe on the road (Shoutout to Novel Kulture, Earth Mama Medicine, Off the Grid with a Kid, & Deliciously Locd). In addition, Obinna is first generation Nigerian-American and Aïssatou is second generation with grandparents from Sierra Leone and Jamaica. We wanted to give the world the perspective of van lifers with names most of y’all will pronounce incorrectly, and with parents who do not approve of van living, because it is our story and is probably the story of other current and future van lifers. Youtube has also been a great way to both reach and attract people who are on the same frequency as us and the people who come back video after video really inspire us to keep on going and sharing when times get tough. You can find us here as well! YouTube

We were lured to van life for a few reasons—we wanted the ability to travel, the time and space to build our own passion-based businesses and to no longer be in an environment dominated by people working 9-5 jobs. We were also drawn to the idea of owning a home outright and not having to pay our landlord or a bank thousands of dollars each month or to have to lease a vehicle. Essentially, we wanted ownership over our time and our future. We’d also spent the last 6 years living in cities, as were in New York City before Oakland, and had grown tired of the pollution, the pressure to conform to the city lifestyle, the fast pace, and the glaring socioeconomic inequalities. We wanted to get back to nature where we feel the happiest and the most productive. 

The renovation process was like the final boss we had to fight to prove we were really ready for van life! We gutted the majority of the interior, but kept the original layout folding bed and bathroom. It was our first time renovating or building anything from scratch and let us tell you—it is nowhere as easy as it looks on YouTube. Seriously, It took us 4 days to figure out how to successfully build our kitchen unit. We thought we’d do a renovation in 2 weeks and instead it took us 2 months. To make things even more difficult, we didn’t have a private place to work on the van. This meant that we worked on the sidewalk, in parks, in Home Depot parking lots—basically anywhere we could avoid people calling the cops on us, which unfortunately did happen multiple times. We also had to carry all of our tools and materials in and out of the van every. single. day. Our renovation experience was a testament to the fact that if you really want something with all of your heart and mind, that nothing can stop you and you just have to view each obstacle as a small bump in the road. 

Vanlife is bringing wonderful changes into our lives, our mindsets being one of them. We’ve become a lot more focused on our future and getting to where we want to be in life, but we’ve also gained a sense of appreciation and gratitude for the present. We also love getting to live in a new place on a whim and staying for however long we want. Sleeping in our van has also been an unexpected pleasure, we sleep better in our van now then when we have access to a bed in a home. We’ve also gotten into better physical shape-- shoutout to that Planet Fitness Black Card!

We both own our own businesses--Aïssatou is a mindset and creativity coach for those looking to launch an online service-based business and Obinna is a website and app developer working to help tech entrepreneurs build their businesses. Monetizing the skills that we already have has been the key to making money on the road. It’s been great getting to follow our passions and living in our van has been the extra kick that we needed to be inspired to build out our dreams now and not a second later. 

Last but not least is COMMUNITY - this is a big one. From strangers giving us their number so that we can call if we have any mechanical issues, to being able to meet online friends in person and forming friendships that never would have existed without van life. Fellow Black van lifers in particular have welcomed us into the community with open arms since day one and have been one of our biggest resources in figuring out how to navigate van life. 

While we love van life at the moment, it is definitely a means to an end for us. In the same way that our van is a vehicle that gets us to our destination, van life is a vehicle for us to get to a larger goal. In the immediate future, we plan to travel through the US and to spend time in places that we would have normally just flown over or driven through in a hurry. We also want to meet more fellow like-minded van lifers on the road, and to keep working on our mental, spiritual, financial and physical development. Further down the line, we want to return to West Africa where we both have family and to spend time exploring the continent, buying land and planting our own roots there. On personal notes—Obinna is currently building an app to help people increase their financial literacy while also learning about cryptocurrency and investing. Aïssatou is continuing to grow her online coaching business through YouTube and will soon be launching a storytelling project called Your Black Freedom as a way to document how Black people globally are creating their own freedom lifestyles. 

Follow more of Obinna & Aisssatou’s adventures …..