SAN ANTONIO – Many people look to hitting the road and traveling the country as something they would do in retirement, however, one San Antonio couple in their 20s has been living, traveling and working out of a customized van.
They call themselves the Minimal Millennials.
"It's the second-best decision, other than getting married that, we made together," Christian Matney said.
Matney and his wife Aubry Matney have converted a Sprinter van into their home, which they lovingly call Morrison, like Van Morrison.
They have a kitchen, complete with a fridge, stove and pantry, which is also their sofa. They have lights and a bed, use public restrooms and they have gym memberships to shower.
"We definitely have more control over our life, what we want to do from day to day," Aubry Matney said. "And I think it's just so freeing to be able to go anywhere, to be able to park anywhere, and wake up anywhere and do anything we want.”
The couple has traveled from San Antonio to Northern Michigan, out west to Washington and north to Vancouver. They went across Canada to Toronto, made a U-turn going down along the West Coast and are back in San Antonio.
That doesn't mean the couple is on a permanent vacation. They still do day-to-day chores, which include laundry and cooking and they have their full-time jobs.
"With the internet, with the tools that every company has now, pretty much for free, it's totally possible to work this way," Aubry Matney said. "And we feel like we are much more effective employees as well."
They both work for education tech startup Lumerit Educaiton and have over 40,000 YouTube subscribers to their channel, Minimal Millennials.
The couple is living minimally to save money for the future.
"It costs so much less money to live," Aubry Matney said. "We don't pay rent. Pretty much $600 covers all of our insurances. So we don't need much to sustain this lifestyle.”
"I want people to know that it really is possible. Just get out there and rock n' roll,” Christian Matney said. "What's the worst that can happen?"
Christian and Aubry Matney have had a couple of maintenance issues with their van, but they are prepared with tools. They even use YouTube to figure out how to fix things.