How Van Lifer Joey Morin Makes Money as a Content Creator

Joey Morin, a former software engineer turned full-time content creator and van lifer, says, “Your past doesn’t have to define your future.”

Joey spent years feeling inspired by the nomadic adventures he saw on social media. He dreamed of traveling but thought it could only happen for people who were special and didn’t know how to go about creating this lifestyle for himself.

His childhood camping and traveling adventures with his family, along with a significant realization during his senior year of college, laid the groundwork for his nomadic journey. However, it wasn’t until the pandemic that he saw an opportunity to take the leap, turning a lifelong dream into reality by building out his own van and hitting the road full-time.

Now, Joey is thriving as a digital nomad, earning a living through various income streams, including content creation, brand partnerships, and starting his own digital paid course and community. With a passion for adventure, an entrepreneurial spirit, and a keen sense of self-discipline, he’s inspiring others to redefine success and pursue a lifestyle that aligns with their dreams.

In this interview, Joey shares his story of transitioning from a “dream job” working for the FBI in Washington, D.C., to an unpredictable, rewarding life on the road, the lessons he’s learned, and his advice for aspiring digital nomads. Read on to discover how Joey balances work and play, keeps his finances in check, and stays motivated to keep moving forward.

1. Can you walk us through the decision to become a nomadic traveler? How did you know this was the lifestyle you wanted, and what was your first step?

I’ve always been interested in travel since I was young, but I don’t think I realized it until I was older. My mom is a travel agent, so I think that had an impact on my love for travel. 

We were pretty middle class, with both my parents working two jobs. We didn’t go on many extravagant vacations to exotic locations, but they worked hard to make it so me and my sister could take a vacation somewhere every few years–usually somewhere in the Caribbean or Florida since I grew up on the East Coast and was easy to get to. 

We also went camping around New England in our pop-up camper multiple times per year in the summer, so that was our version of traveling in between the bigger trips. So that was most of my childhood. 

I always heard about cool places since my mom was a travel agent and would talk about locations or client trips, but most of my traveling until after college was typical vacation kind of stuff.

When I was in college and working a normal type of job after graduation, I was always interested in those people who were traveling the world, going on adventures, and just living new experiences every day. I saw lots of highlights on YouTube and Instagram, so I knew that it was possible somehow. I wanted that to be me, but I didn’t know how to make it happen. 

I think I realized that I thought differently when I was sitting in my University Senior Seminar class. We were getting ready to graduate, and we had an assignment where we had to list the top 5 companies we wanted to work for after graduation and why. I remember sitting there and looking over at my peers writing down some big-name companies like Google, Apple, Boeing, Raytheon, Ford, etc… and I couldn’t come up with a single company that I actually wanted to work for. 

Every time I thought about actually working for a company and doing the actual role I spent 4 years getting my degree for, I just realized how much I did not want that to be my life. But I didn’t know there were other options, I just thought that’s what normal people did and how life was supposed to go. The people I saw on YouTube and Instagram were special and couldn’t be me.

Fast forward a few years later. I had graduated from University with a degree in Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, quit a dream job working in the Technology Innovation Office of the FBI in Washington, D.C. after only a year and half, and was currently working as a Software Engineer for a government Research and Development Center in Boston. 

But I wasn’t happy with my day-to-day life and knew something had to change. I was still fantasizing about living a lifestyle of living and traveling and working from random countries and changing your location every month.

I was so close to pulling the trigger, quitting my job with no backup plan, and just starting to travel. But that’s when the pandemic hit. 

Since I worked for a tech company, it was an easy shift to just have everyone start working remotely from home instead of coming into the office. It didn’t take long for me to start going a little crazy. I went from planning how I would be traveling full-time to never leaving the house because international travel was shut down. 

It was at this point that my YouTube feed changed a little bit from working from laptops on beaches to van life. And I thought, “huh, I could do that.” 

So after a few months of planning and designing, I finally bought my own van and built it out. After I finished the build-out, I just started traveling full-time in it and haven’t looked back since.

That was a bit long-winded, but I guess I’ve always had an inclination towards adventure and not wanting to live a “normal life.” But I didn’t know how to make it happen until I was brave enough to actually take the first step. I knew it would be something that I enjoyed because I had been thinking about it for so long–I always loved the trips I would go on and wanted more. 

I knew that I could do the campervan life because I grew up camping with my family, and there’s a lot of overlap there. Honestly, it’s been a great way to get into nomadic living and has been a good base to jumpstart my international travels too once COVID got a little better.

2. How did you make the initial transition from a traditional 9-to-5 to working remotely?  How did your background help you in starting this journey?

COVID made that decision for me. 

I was working at a government research and development firm outside of Boston when the pandemic hit. Since it was a tech job, the whole company went remote instead of shutting down. So I just transitioned from doing the software engineering job I was doing in the office to doing it at home. 

Not much changed as far as job responsibilities. I still had all the same meetings on Teams and had the same projects–I was just doing them from a spare bedroom instead of in an office.

My background to get there is a little unique, though. I studied Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering in college with the plan to work with prosthetics or something like that after graduation. But somehow I landed a job offer to work for the FBI in their brand new Technology Innovation Office at FBI Headquarters in downtown DC, so there was no way I could pass up that opportunity. 

Although that job didn’t turn out to be everything I hoped it would be (lots of red tape and policy to get anything done I wanted to), I learned a lot of things. It was there that I gained software engineering skills that helped me land the software engineering job that would then let me transition to remote work.

3. Can you describe the different ways you’re currently making an income while traveling? Where did you start, and what challenges did you face in the beginning?

Right now, it looks a little different from when I first started the nomad journey. When I first moved into the van and started traveling, I kept the same software engineering job I had been doing remotely. I was just working from my van instead of a spare bedroom. 

I did that for about 2 years while living in the van and while traveling internationally. Then the company decided they wanted to start having employees come back into the office a few days a week for a hybrid schedule (which I was not about to do). That’s when I made the switch to full-time content creation.

There are a couple different ways I’m making money online now as a content creator:

• Brand Deals/Sponsorships
  • Currently, the bulk of my income but trying to distribute it to other monetization methods
  • Working with brands to post content to my social media channels and YouTube
• User Generated Content (UGC)
  • I’ll work for brands and make videos they can use for their social media channels or paid ads
  • Usually product reviews or demonstrations
• Affiliates
  • Recommend a couple of different products or software that I’ll make a commission on when someone buys based on my recommendation
  • Recurring software products are my favorite
• Amazon Influencer Program (separate from the normal Amazon Affiliates)
  • I create Amazon Shoppable Videos, which are basically review videos that live on Amazon and are the videos that you see on the product page from normal users
  • When someone watches my review video on a product and then they buy that product I get a commission from the sale
  • You can learn more about becoming an Amazon influencer here.
• Platform Payouts
  • Youtube AdSense, Tiktok Creator Fund, IG/GB Reels Bonus, FB Monetization
  • Pretty self-explanatory but the platforms pay you for your views on your content
  • Not my favorite monetization method, treat it more like a bonus on top of everything else but try not to rely on it
• Merch
  • I sell vintage National Park clothing on my store and promote it on social media
  • Shop.joeythenomad.com
• Lightroom Presets
  • I sell my lightroom presets I use to edit Instagram photos on my shop
  • https://shop.joeythenomad.com/products/lr-presets-ultimate-bundle 
• Freelance Digital Marketing/Social Media
  •  I don’t do this so much anymore because I’ve been trying to transition away from client work and just focus on creator stuff
  • Used to manage advertising and digital marketing campaigns for a few clients and managed some people’s social media
  • Can be good money and a good way to get started making money remotely quickly
• Paid Community/Course
  • Digital Nomad Academy
  • Paid course/community that teaches people how to become digital nomads or van lifers and start traveling full time and still make money
  • Just launching this now so no revenue yet but will be launching it within the next month

4. What does a typical workday look like for you? How do you stay productive while balancing travel?

Really depends on the day. Some days I work for 12 hours, and some days I don’t work at all. I really like the variety and flexibility to be able to do that. 

Recently, it’s been a lot of long days since I launched my online community, so I’m trying to get all my course videos written and filmed and still stay engaged. But I just got back from a 2-month trip in South America where I didn’t really work much at all except for filming content and sending it to my editor. 

It also depends on the season. In the winter, I like to ski so I’ll park my van at the ski resort and ski in the morning, and then work from the lodge in the afternoon. In another season, I might go to the gym in the morning then go to a coffee shop or library to work for a bit, then maybe mountain bike in the afternoon. It really depends on the day.

I don’t really have a problem staying productive when traveling. I’m very internally motivated so I have goals that I want to accomplish and start to get antsy if I’m not making progress toward those goals so that makes sure I get enough work done. I don’t know if that’s healthy but it works for me.

5. How do you decide on new projects or partnerships? Is there a specific approach you use to make these choices?

There’s really only one metric I use to decide if it’s a project to work on or a partnership to engage with: am I excited about it? 

If it’s not something I’m excited about doing, I know I’ll be dragging my feet and not producing the best quality work for myself or the client. It’s better for everyone involved to only take on projects I’m excited about.

6. Many people are interested in the financial side of van life. Can you share what strategies have helped you stay financially secure while traveling full-time?

There are two sides to this, income and expenses. The expenses side is easy, just have your costs as low as you can and don’t spend on unnecessary expenses. Be aware of how much you’re spending and how much you have in the bank. 

The other side is income, which is a bit more nuanced. My biggest piece of advice is to have a plan going into it on how you’re going to make money while on the road. 

I knew I could make money as a remote software engineer and could go back to that if I wanted to, but I’m enjoying making content now, so that’s what I want to keep doing while it’s still working. 

It’s going to be different for everyone, but there is a way to take your current skills that you already have and apply them to a remote job or business that can be done online. You just need to figure out how to start doing that before you begin your big adventure.

7. What advice would you give to someone who is brand new to social media content creation? Are there resources you’d recommend? Which platform do you think is the best one to start with?

The biggest question you can ask yourself to be successful in social media is: “What makes me unique and how can I use that to serve others?” Frankly, people don’t care about you on social media until you give them a reason to, and that reason is usually because you did something to help them. 

The uniqueness part is that there’s so much derivative and bland content out there already, so you need to find your competitive advantage and what makes you special. Why should someone follow you and what makes you different? Then it’s just all about posting content that will actually help people consistently.

Every piece of content should be viewer-centric, not about you. When people view your content they are subconsciously thinking, “What’s in it for me?” Don’t make them guess. Other than that, the cheat code is just to be consistent. It doesn’t happen overnight so just keep showing up, and the only way you can fail is to quit.

For platforms, this may sound a little strange since Instagram is my biggest following, but I recommend YouTube as the best platform. It may require the most work, but it has the greatest reward and is the easiest to make good money in the long term. If you’re brand new to content, start out with shorts because they’re easier to make, but the real money comes from YouTube long-form.

8. With so much on your plate, from content creation to community engagement and coaching, how do you balance creating content with staying present in your travels?

That’s always a tough balance but you kind of just get into a groove after doing it for a while. I try a longer-term view of “balance” where things may not be balanced in a day or week, but over a year it works out. 

What I mean by that is I may have weeks where I only work and don’t do much else, but then I’ll also spend a month in Guatemala and not really work at all. That’s still balance – it’s just a different form than needing to balance work and play every single day, and I’ve found that works well for me.

9. Have there been any unexpected expenses or financial surprises living on the road, and how do you handle those?

There are always financial surprises when you live in a van full-time. There will always be repairs that need to happen at the worst time and you just have to make sure you have enough saved away to prepare for those.

Biggest one for me is my van got in an accident that left it out of commission for a few months while getting repaired and waiting for parts. When I saw the bill, those repairs total cost 25k, which was just insane. 

But thankfully, I had insurance on the van and the build, so I didn’t need to pay nearly that much. I highly recommend having insurance! 

10. What’s been the most rewarding part of documenting your journey through your platforms?

I love being able to look back on my travels and adventures and just reminisce on where I’ve been and the incredible opportunities that living in a van has brought me. I’m truly grateful for every experience and being able to go back and watch those memories again through video is truly a gift.

Even more so than that, one of the most rewarding parts is the messages I get from people saying that I’ve inspired them to start their own van life journey. Honestly, that really is the best part and is a full-circle moment for me.

I started my van life journey because of videos of other van lifers and travelers I saw on social media, and now I get to be one of those people for others… It’s incredibly humbling, and I’m so grateful I get to be in that position. 

I know what it’s like to be that guy who’s just dreaming about hitting the road and starting your adventure but not knowing how. It’s hard when you have a dream but don’t know how to make it happen, so the fact that I get to help other people achieve their dreams of becoming van lifers and digital nomads is incredibly rewarding. 

That’s the whole reason why I’m starting the online community, to directly help people and guide them through the process of becoming a full-time traveler.

11. What are your future goals or plans with your business and travels? Do you see yourself continuing to live nomadically, or are there other dreams you’re excited to pursue?

I don’t have plans to stop the nomad lifestyle anytime soon, though I anticipate that day will come eventually. After 3 years of full time van life, I still love it, but I’m also excited about the opportunity to do more long-term international travel, so I’m looking forward to that. Probably doing a big Asia trip next year but we’ll see!

For business, I’m always looking for the next opportunity. I’m a pretty ambitious person so I like to have a project that I’m working on at all times. Right now, it’s launching this Digital Nomad Academy community, so I’m focusing on making that as good as it can possibly be and helping as many people achieve their nomad goals as I can. After that, we’ll see!

12. Anything else you’d like to add or advice you’d offer to van lifers looking to start making money while living on the road?

Just take the first step. You can do all the planning you want, but everything changes and you don’t really get perspective until you make the commitment. I spent almost a year watching vanlife videos and designing my perfect van before I actually started, and I learned so much more in that first month building the van than I did in the year prior. 

You don’t need to have it all figured out. Just come up with a basic plan and take action, you can refine the plan later.

That being said, make sure you have another way of making money before you quit your job. Have a plan to make money on the road, and then try and start doing it before you ever start on your travels. You’ll feel much more secure.

Connect with Joey

If you’re seeking inspiration and want to follow Joey’s van life journey, check out his account on Instagram @joeythenomad. You can also explore his videos on YouTube and TikTok, or learn more about him on his website, joeythenomad.com.

Joey is also launching the Digital Nomad Academy, a community for anyone dreaming of traveling full-time as a digital nomad or van life and learning how to make money on the road. While it’s currently in pre-launch with a select group of testers, the academy will be open to the public in early December. For more information and to ask questions, visit Joey on Instagram and send him a DM.

Joey’s story reminds us that with determination, resourcefulness, and a sense of adventure, it’s possible to design a lifestyle that aligns with your passions. Whether you’re inspired to hit the road, embrace remote work, or simply rethink how you live, Joey’s journey shows that the road less traveled might be the one that leads to the most fulfillment.

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