Trent Arant has been to about 40 states and dog-friendly nationwide parks in his travels throughout the U.S. in a custom-built van that doubles as his dwelling. It doesn’t have a rest room or bathe, nevertheless it does have one thing extra vital to his each 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 observe his journeys and gaming experiences, which embrace taking part in creepy titles in the center of the night time in the center of creepier woods. “It’s my approach of stress-free after a tough or dangerous 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 with his many followers. He’s additionally stumbled upon a growling bear 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 gymnasium). Residing and working in a van has taught him the right way to 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 turn into one thing new. Vanlife was a catalyst for me. It pushed me out to the world and modified me indefinitely. I’m a totally completely different individual now. I grew up rather a lot. This has been a transformative time in my life, saying goodbye to a previous model of myself.”
Although he’s taken some breaks from his van, it’s his homebase, born of a wanderlust that wasn’t fulfilled after attempting it briefly. That point, he had been dwelling with buddies in a home for about 4 years. In these early days of vanlife, he discovered an inexpensive, outdated van and went all in on a three-month road journey. He beloved it a lot, he needed to reside that life full-time.
Being on the road a lot with solely his canine Millie for firm, he meets new individuals all the time (and she loves that the world is her yard). However Arant misses his buddies. Gaming is important to how he catches up with them.
“This way of life has plenty of freedom and it’s so rewarding, thrilling and filled with adventures. However there’s plenty 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 baby, in fifth grade. A serious milestone occurred: the household received a pc. One in all 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 with his early desire for PC gaming.
The primary van he built and lived in didn’t have gaming as a spotlight again in 2018, so by the time the pandemic and lockdowns rolled around he was firmly entrenched in that life and capable of adapt shortly, isolating himself and Millie in the woods. However over the years, he tweaked his gaming setup and documented these adjustments on his social media channels: switching out completely different chairs, consolidating tools and upgrading screens and computer systems. Most significantly, he built a devoted and snug area for gaming. He additionally advanced his on-line gaming from tethering his telephone’s web to hotspots to the rather more dependable cellular 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 with his second van, which debuted in spring 2021 after working 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 with his foot to a operating 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 needs: 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 plenty of computer systems over the years, for work and for play – and even built just a few – however his newest go-to for work, play and every part in-between is the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 18.
“Out of all the computer systems I’ve had, it’s the strongest PC I’ve ever used. It’s outperformed every part I’ve ever owned and large enough to really feel like a full tower PC,” says Arant, whose present video games embrace World of Warcraft, Fortnite, Name of Responsibility and Apex Legends. However he’s additionally utilizing the laptop computer to edit his YouTube movies.
He’s a fan of the Windows OS.
“It’s each prosumer and client. It may 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 received in contact with him, resulting in a proper association that made him a model ambassador for ASUS ROG. Whereas Arant nonetheless enjoys working in the movie trade creating on-screen graphics, the current strikes had lower down the project-based work he often did.
As a part of his partnership with ASUS, he’s been attempting out the ASUS ROG ALLY, a conveyable Home windows 11 gaming gadget. 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 beneath the stars.
“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 exhausting to explain, nevertheless it feels completely different.”
Although he’s adept at the cellular gaming vanlife fashion, 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 in 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 lovely feeling to it,” he says. “The tall pine bushes poking via the night fog and the lush inexperienced forests with that darkish blue hue in the ambiance is so eerie, but so lovely and comforting to me. It’s a bizarre satisfying distinction and I all the time beloved the feeling that kind of panorama provides me.”
When he was a baby, he says, he leveled an Undead character on World of Warcraft for the first time, strolling via the Undead beginning zone feeling “alarmingly cozy and at peace.” That place wasn’t precisely an space you would possibly suppose would elicit these sorts of emotions.
“You’re surrounded by zombies, evil spirits and mutated bats which can be attempting to kill you,” he remembers. “However I noticed it was nature and the ambiance that made me really feel that approach. I keep 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 brief life is and is glad he’s partaking in these adventures now, visiting different scenic landmarks comparable to the Grand Canyon, Nice Sand Dunes, the Grand Tetons, Dying Valley and the Nice Smoky Mountains.
“It’s a reminder to me that we solely exist on this planet as soon as,” he says. “This makes me need to exit extra, develop extra and problem my ideas.”
To search out out what he’s doing subsequent (or the place he’s been), observe him on YouTube.
All photographs courtesy of TTTHEFINEPRINTTT.