Foster Huntington

June 27, 2013

My father has always been a cowboy fanatic. I think he knows all the stories and characters as if he once lived in the Wild West. I can appreciate that because cowboys are rad, I’m sure we can all agree. The problem is these days cowboys are few and far between.  Or so you think. I would like to introduce you to a 21st century cowboy, Foster Huntington.

“My name is Foster Huntington and I’m originally from Portland, Oregon (USA). In 2011, I left my job in New York, moved into a VW van and hit the road.”

Foster Huntington and his Camper

In 2008 Foster was struggling through college as a dyslexic student facing one of the worst economies since the great depression. He didn’t really like what he was studying and knew that job opportunities were scarce.

While studying he bought himself a camera and started taking photos that he would post on his first blog, A Restless Transplant.  He says that up until that point everything had been a bit of a battle for him. He claims he was a mediocre student at best. However, when he started taking photos and doing visual stuff he found that everything started to click. He started to develop his own unique, retro-American style that focused on landscapes, cars and objects he liked. Soon after starting his blog, it caught the attention of a Ralph Lauren employee. This employee offered Huntington an internship at Ralph Lauren that would eventually lead to his full time employment.  He was now working as a concept designer for Ralph Lauren in New York City. It was during his time at Ralph Lauren that he created The Burning House.

Cover of The Burning House book.

What would you take with you if your house caught fire? This was the idea Huntington came up with during a dinner party in order to filter potential dates. Genius. The idea soon turned into a blog where users could upload images of what they would save if their house were burning down. Huntington had grown tired of being in a culture where people defined themselves by the expensive things they owned. The Burning House was a different way for people to define themselves through objects, with a focus on the sentimental. Some of the more interesting submissions included a pet parrot, a slice of pizza and a photo of a girl standing over her stillborn sister in the hospital. It turns out that The Burning House was a great facilitator of self-expression.  Huntington claims that The Burning House has changed his relationship to material things significantly. In the beginning he had twenty things he would take, now all he will take is his undeveloped film; ‘Other than that, everything can be replaced.’ The Burning House went semi-viral over the next two weeks and would become so successful that Huntington would go on to publish a Burning House book.

While working in New York he realized that he did not like clothes enough to think and talk about them for 60 hours a week.  After a year and a half working for Ralph Lauren he would come to refer to New York as ‘a vortex, it sucks you in and before you know it 10 years have passed.’  It was time for a change and being a man of action, that is what he did. Cue #vanlife.

He had received enough cash from The Burning House book advance to leave the city.  He bought an old four-wheel-drive Volkswagen Kombi (known as a Syncro in SA) and hit the road. Every cowboy had his horse, Huntington has his van.

Fosters van

While living on the road Huntington started his third blog called Van Life. This blog would feature his and other photographers’ photos of vans that serve as mobile homes. He pioneered the #vanlife hashtag on Instagram which has helped him accumulate over 500 000 followers on the photo-sharing site.

#vanlife

He refers to himself as a product of social media and estimates that he communicates with close to a million people each day online. His exploits soon caught the attention of brands like Patagonia and Huntington soon found himself camping and surfing in wild places like Kamchatka in Russia.  He still documents all his endeavors on his original blog, A Restless Transplant

While living on the road he has racked up over 112 000km in his 26 year old VW Syncro with 350 000km on the clock. You would assume he has come into his fair share of problems. Although having learnt a lot about cars, he doesn’t profess to be a mechanic. You need a bunch of tools that he doesn’t have space for, so he tends to leave the work to the pros.  His favorite thing about living in a camper is that he can go anywhere; ‘Its like having a mobile fort.’

What is the most inspiring thing he has ever seen on the road? Huntington says he has met seasonal workers that live off $15000 a year and are happier than anyone he knew in New York.  He says he has no plan to rejoin the static world anytime soon. He is hoping to make a vanlife book, something beautiful that people can look at offline. You have to credit Huntington’s ability to execute a plan. One thing he believes in is forcing yourself to do things. Whether it is running, writing or cleaning your room. Forcing yourself to accomplish tasks/goals on a regular basis makes you better.

Three pieces of road tripping advice from Foster Huntington himself:

1. Take a quarter of the shit you think you need.
2. Take twice as long as you think it will take.
3. Bring a warm sleeping bag.

Here is a short video by Foster on how to van camp, its brilliant.

So where to now for Foster Huntington?

“After seeing what kind of online and mobile opportunities are out there, I figure that I’ll never really have a desk job again. Now more than ever, people can live free lives but still be connected.”

So just like the cowboys roaming the Wild West, Huntington will continue to cruise around in his camper and live life on his terms. I can appreciate that.

 “Home is where you park It.” – Foster Huntington

Check out Fosters blogs here:

http://theburninghouse.com

http://www.arestlesstransplant.com

http://van-life.net

http://outofreception.com

Sources:

http://blog.needsupply.com

http://youmeandcharlie.com

http://blog.urbanoutfitters.co.uk

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