Go RVing Spotlight: Brody Leven

Brody Leven is a 30-year-old adventure skier who stars in Go RVing’s Unexpected series that has accumulated over 10.5 million views on social media. We caught up with Brody to learn more about his experiences as a millennial with no previous RV experience, his perspective on the RV lifestyle and how this journey turned him into an avid RVer.

Q: Before being approached by Go RVing, how did you perceive RVs and the RV lifestyle?
A: I had zero experience with RVs. I grew up camping and spent a big part of my life outside, but I thought RV folks spent the majority of theirs inside. So, when I thought of what an RV was, all I could picture was the 50-footers filled with a couple of grandparents and lots of TVs. I’ve never owned a TV in my life.

(Photo courtesy/Go RVing)

Q: Are there other assumptions about RVing you have heard from your friends and peers who have not RVed before?
A: I think most of my peers, particularly in the outdoor industry, had a similar mindset about RVing. Although, probably half of them own camper vans or even live in their vans, they wouldn’t consider them RVs. No one I know needs or wants a bathroom in their 60-square-foot van. When they think RVs, they think TVs, bathrooms, sinks, and other non-essentials for the outdoor lifestyle. Little did they know that they, living in their vans, are RVing. So much of what we do in the mountains and in our lives, as outdoor-oriented millennials, has a “minimalist” theme. I think a lot of folks see RVers as excessive—a giant house-on-wheels pulling a Jeep pulling a boat. Meanwhile, we feel like we have everything we need in our vans—or, often, on our backs.

Q: What was the biggest surprise or thing you learned during your first RV experience?
A: It was surprising to learn the diversity of RVers. They come in all shapes, sizes, races, genders, sexual orientations, creeds and colors. Like me, they love public lands, they love to experience the outdoors, and they love finding a great campsite. I was happy to learn it wasn’t just white grandparents from Indiana.

(Photo courtesy/Go RVing)

Q: Is there anything in particular you hope the RV industry adds to their products of the future?
A: The line of RV products is astounding and covers almost everything one could need, regardless of his/her preferred level of comfort. I do believe that the future, at least in part, of the RV industry will include modular RV setups with the ability to customize RVs to best suit an owner’s needs and wants, and not just what the manufacturer tells them they need.

Q: Do you have any hopes or plans to Go RVing in the future?
A: After an incredible year spent going on feasible, inexpensive, weekend-to-week-long road trips with my friends, I think the RV bug has bit me. And everyone who we introduced to RVing over the past year while making our film series, Unexpected, feels the same way. The ability to wake up exactly where you want to be—whether that’s a trailhead or your friend’s driveway—is the freedom we value and that which we’ll continue to chase. As it turns out, I’m an RVer

You can follow Brody and his Unexpected adventures by clicking here or check out his website here.