A 26-year-old woman from Cornwall has been sharing the unglamorous side of the #VanLife trend on TikTok, showing the messy and makeshift aspects of her nomadic lifestyle. Hanna Louise Poole, who began living in her van full-time in March 2022, posts videos that contrast with the polished images often associated with van life.
In a recent TikTok, Hanna is seen skateboarding in a parking lot while eating sweets, with the caption: 'Dirtbag car park life: sunsets, sweets and skate edition … wet hair and baggy t post sea swim, the true van life realities.' She hashtagged the video with '#offgridliving,' '#dirtbag' and '#feralgirlaesthetic.'
Another video shows her shaving her legs outdoors in a plastic basin, set to a nature documentary soundtrack. Hanna wrote: 'When everyone's showing their drunk friends to this sound but it actually just fits to you being feral, shaving your legs in a bucket because that's vanlife.'
Hanna has also posted about the mess inside her van, with belongings scattered after a drive, and her struggles with the van's electrical setup. She emphasises that the reality is often far from the aesthetic perfection seen online. Her videos include bruised legs from climbing, freezing swims, and hiking in torrential rain, all part of what she calls her 'feral girl aesthetic.'
