The #VanLife craze may be well and truly dead, but it seems the gentrification of vehicle-as-dwelling has fundamentally changed our relationship with vans. Now, we’re seeing models like this Nissan Caravan MyRoom, which position the humble van as a mobile home room.
The MyRoom first appeared as a limited-run “launch edition” for the Caravan last year, but now Nissan’s decided to keep the model on as a full-fledged offering. It isn’t #VanLife, but it’s not just a van either — it’s that secret third thing.
The Caravan lacks a kitchen, shower, gray water container — anything that would make the van actually livable. It does, however, have a bed, couch, and table to work from. It’s more like staying in a tent than carting your home along with you, but the idea isn’t to live in it — it’s to spend the day out in the world, get in touch with nature, and sleep under the stars for just one night. Once you’ve woken up, you can head back home for all those pesky water-needing things.
Nissan describes the concept for the MyRoom as allowing someone to “take their favorite room into nature and relax.” It’s a convenient shelter, a roof over your head and power for your laptop (via a Leaf battery, of all things) as you get some remote work done in the woods. It sounds like a dream vehicle, really, because it’s one that’s not about the vehicle. God, this is going to make me start van shopping on Facebook Marketplace again, isn’t it?