Yosemite National Park

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Yosemite covers an area of one thousand 187 square miles, and that saturday there was nowhere to park in any of them. Michael and i spent hours trying to find a parking spot near a hike we planned to take before observing the sunset firefall. By early afternoon it had become clear that john mure was wrong when he declared no temple made with hands can compare with yosemite. Every rock in its walls seems to glow with life. We were millennials pursuing the manifest destiny of our generation. Sheik, rootless, wandering who had become mired in boomeresque rush hour.

The Times journalist Caity Weaver was tasked by her editor to go on an adventure: With an old college friend she would spend a week in California, living out of a converted camper van, in pursuit of the aesthetic fantasy known as #VanLife.

Given the discomfort that can arise even in the plushiest of vehicles, it’s a surprising trend that shows no sign of letting up. As Weaver explains, even the idea of living full time out of a vehicle has “become aspirational for a subset of millennials and Zoomers, despite the fact that, traditionally, residing in a car or van is usually an action taken as a last resort, from want of other options to protect oneself from the elements.”

Unpacking the craze by testing it herself, Weaver offers a humorous account of the trials of not being adequately prepared, claustrophobia, long restaurant lines, the increase in traffic within the national parks, and the disappointment that occurs when an Instagram aesthetic bumps up against reality. Sometimes fantasies are too good to be true.

This story was written by Caity Weaver and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.