Trent Arant has been to about 40 states and dog-friendly nationwide parks in his travels everywhere in the U.S. in a custom-built van that doubles as his residence. It doesn’t have a rest room or bathe, nevertheless it does have one thing extra vital to his day by day life: a PC gaming station.
“Gaming has all the time been a giant a part of me,” says Arant, 29, who has greater than half 1,000,000 followers on YouTube as TTTHEFINEPRINTTT who comply with his journeys and gaming experiences, which embody taking part in creepy titles in the course of the night time in the course of creepier woods. “It’s my approach of stress-free after a tough or unhealthy day.”
He’s had his fair proportion of these over the 4 years he’s been dwelling this nomadic life, sharing his heartbreaks, loneliness and resilience along with his many followers. He’s additionally stumbled upon a growling bear along with his canine and backed away with out incident and loved outside weekly showers from the again of his van (when he’s not close to a health club). Living and dealing in a van has taught him how you can adapt and make do with much less.
“Doing one thing so uncomfortable made me step out and develop,” he says. “I wanted that 5 years in the past. I used to be caught in my methods. I needed to grow to be one thing new. Vanlife was a catalyst for me. It pushed me out to the world and altered me indefinitely. I’m a totally totally different particular person now. I grew up rather a lot. This has been a transformative time in my life, saying goodbye to a previous model of myself.”
Though he’s taken some breaks from his van, it’s his homebase, born of a wanderlust that wasn’t fulfilled after making an attempt it quickly. That time, he had been dwelling with buddies in a home for about 4 years. In these early days of vanlife, he discovered an affordable, previous van and went all in on a three-month street journey. He cherished it a lot, he needed to stay that life full-time.
Being on the street a lot with solely his canine Millie for firm, he meets new folks on a regular basis (and he or she loves that the world is her yard). But Arant misses his buddies. Gaming is crucial to how he catches up with them.
“This way of life has lots of freedom and it’s so rewarding, thrilling and stuffed with adventures. But there’s lots of isolation,” he says. “In locations I’m unfamiliar with, it’s so comforting to play and reconnect with my buddies by gaming on-line.”
PC gaming captured his consideration when he was a toddler, in fifth grade. A serious milestone occurred: the household acquired a pc. One of his siblings opened a brand new world by displaying him how a keyboard and mouse – vs. utilizing a controller and mouse – may result in new adventures.
“That actually bought it for me, and it felt much more immersive after I may sport on-line,” says Arant, who credit Age of Empires and RuneScape along with his early choice for PC gaming.
The first van he constructed and lived in didn’t have gaming as a spotlight again in 2018, so by the point the pandemic and lockdowns rolled round he was firmly entrenched in that life and capable of adapt shortly, isolating himself and Millie within the woods. But through the years, he tweaked his gaming setup and documented these adjustments on his social media channels: switching out totally different chairs, consolidating gear and upgrading displays and computer systems. Most importantly, he constructed a devoted and comfy area for gaming. He additionally developed his on-line gaming from tethering his cellphone’s web to hotspots to the way more dependable cell satellite tv for pc equipment he now makes use of.
“Starlink modified the sport for me,” he says. “Vanlife places me so removed from cell towers and locations I averted earlier than, however now I don’t.”
He additionally made different enhancements along with his second van, which debuted in spring 2021 after engaged on it for a number of months beginning in 2020. He ditched his cooler for an actual fridge, added an actual range and burners, traded in a sink he needed to pump along with his foot to a working one and meticulously selected ornamental handles and designs for his new and improved kitchen cupboards.
One fixed via all these upgrades that guarantee he can play when he desires: photo voltaic panels put in on his roof, which complement a lithium battery financial institution that shops energy for him to make use of all through the night time or on days he can’t rely on the solar’s rays to come back via. He additionally makes use of a DC-DC charger that enables him to cost the battery financial institution whereas driving.
He’s had lots of computer systems through the years, for work and for play – and even constructed a number of – however his newest go-to for work, play and every little thing in-between is the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 18.
“Out of all of the computer systems I’ve had, it’s probably the most highly effective PC I’ve ever used. It’s outperformed every little thing I’ve ever owned and large enough to really feel like a full tower PC,” says Arant, whose present video games embody World of Warcraft, Fortnite, Call of Duty and Apex Legends. But he’s additionally utilizing the laptop computer to edit his YouTube movies.
He is a fan of the Windows OS.
“It’s each prosumer and client. It might be barebones, nevertheless it may also be actually nice for nerds like me who wish to dive deep,” he says. “That’s what I really like about it.”
ASUS adopted Arant’s journeys and acquired in contact with him, resulting in a proper association that made him a model ambassador for ASUS ROG. While Arant nonetheless enjoys working within the movie business creating on-screen graphics, the current strikes had reduce down the project-based work he normally did.
As a part of his partnership with ASUS, he’s been making an attempt out the ASUS ROG ALLY, a conveyable Windows 11 gaming system. He took followers on a tour of it in June, displaying off its versatility and intuitive options. He’s taken it tenting and loved gaming below the celebrities.
“I really like that factor! I really like that it performs any PC sport like a console, however it’s also possible to hop on YouTube and Netflix. It’s laborious to explain, nevertheless it feels totally different.”
Though he’s adept on the cell gaming vanlife model, the mobility of the ASUS ROG ALLY is a completely new expertise for him.
Arant grew up in Georgia, however since he first dedicated to dwelling the vanlife, he’s traveled to all however about eight states within the U.S. His favourite surroundings thus far is the Pacific Northwest as a result of it reminds him of a spot in a online game.
“It has what I wish to name a hauntingly stunning feeling to it,” he says. “The tall pine timber poking via the night fog and the luxurious inexperienced forests with that darkish blue hue within the ambiance is so eerie, but so stunning and comforting to me. It’s a bizarre satisfying distinction and I all the time cherished the sensation that form of panorama offers me.”
When he was a toddler, he says, he leveled an Undead character on World of Warcraft for the primary time, strolling via the Undead beginning zone feeling “alarmingly cozy and at peace.” That place wasn’t precisely an space you may assume would elicit these sorts of emotions.
“You’re surrounded by zombies, evil spirits and mutated bats which might be making an attempt to kill you,” he remembers. “But I spotted it was nature and the ambiance that made me really feel that approach. I bear in mind telling myself I needed to go to a spot like this in actual life someday.”
As he approaches 30, he says he realizes how quick life is and is glad he’s participating in these adventures now, visiting different scenic landmarks such because the Grand Canyon, Great Sand Dunes, the Grand Tetons, Death Valley and the Great Smoky Mountains.
“It’s a reminder to me that we solely exist on this planet as soon as,” he says. “This makes me wish to exit extra, develop extra and problem my ideas.”
To discover out what he’s doing subsequent (or the place he’s been), comply with him on YouTube.
All photographs courtesy of TTTHEFINEPRINTTT.
