Notes from the campervan
6000km later, any wiser?
After 6000km and a few attempts at sending this edition, I am coming to you ‘live’ from the end of a seven-week campervan trip and work break. My first time traveling in a van for such a long time, first time motorhoming with a toddler, and a first for experiencing November temperatures ranging from 28 down to –7 degrees.
If you’ve ever played with the ‘romantic’ idea of vanlife, then this intro might be an interesting read. If the thought alone gives you… claustrophobia, then skip the next few lines.
10 things I learned during my first long campervan vacation
Time actually slows down. Like, properly slows down after the first week or two.
A symptom of this is that by week 3 you genuinely don’t know what day of the week it is. And why should you? (obvs only applies when not working)
With kids: campervan-traveling forces you to go long stretches without any kindergarten/school or toddler support. Challenging at most, and far from our big-city setup as working parents. I would just say, be prepared!
Most campervan people you meet are retired (and thriving). Despite what your Instagram bubble might make you believe, digital nomads and content creators are actually only a small minority on the ‘campervan road’.
Toddlers absolutely love it (evidence n=1). They truly live their best lives. Imagine being with your two favorite humans 24/7 with no walls in-between, plus beaches, enchanted towns, and playgrounds (caveat see point 3).
If you desire to be less on your screens, don’t do vanlife. Every day is: Park4Night, routes, weather, road conditions… repeat.
The appeal of campervaning decreases in perfect correlation with temperature. My hypothesis, disprove it. Without sun and under 20 degree, it’s not the same.
More enjoyed than learned but - seeing so many of my good friends as we drove through Spain, Portugal and France. I think this is my favorite point of all.
Learned to really appreciate some ordinary things: a comfy mattress, cooking in a proper kitchen, the view out of your living room window..
And lastly, I was wondering what I’d be most excited about when getting home. My husband’s “looking forward to an uninterrupted day in front of his laptop” is a bit too out there for me. For me, it’s an entire afternoon completely alone in our apartment.
PS: If you do want my favorite spots along the coast, reply to this email and I send you my curated list!
Back to the Good Stuff: Let’s talk Bryan Johnson!
Or to be clear: Bryan Johnson’s marketing moves. Love him or hate him, he has brought the health and longevity topic to an audience that is unheard of in the longevity/wellness space. So, talking marketing truth: a lot of this probably originates from his co-founder and CMO, Kate Tolo. After building a global household brand around longevity and “not-dying,” she — as the brain of the brand — always comes up with new ways to get our attention.
A few weeks ago, Bryan announced his $60M raise for Blueprint and shared his list of investors, a who’s who of US investing, plus a mix of A-list celebrities who on their own could break the PR machine. The fact that he drummed up such a cross-rank group is impressive. At the same time, he never shies away from criticism. (Watch him outshine 20 skeptics in this video.)
Then the next big announcement: he would explore the effects of a hero dose of mushrooms on his consciousness and his longevity markers. And of course like with everything, he would share it live with his community. If you’re following the public conversation around mushrooms like I am, this felt like a first test. See how his audience reacts, validate the format, and then go bigger and bolder.
For his second 5g dose livestream, they turned it into a full must-watch event. The guests narrating and joining him for his six-hour trip are a mix of super credible top investors, psychedelic spokespeople, musicians and internet celebrities. People are comparing it to their new Super Bowl or Victorias Secret show (see screenshot!). This is how you turn a simple biometrics self-study into a full-scale internet spectacle and pull in an even bigger audience.
Love your work Kate, I am sticking around (and tuning into the stream tomorrow) for more.
Female-founder I love 💃
If you haven’t heard Whitney Wolfe’s story, I won’t spoil it because it’s too good. She co-founded Tinder, left under… let’s say “dramatic” circumstances, started Bumble, and became one of the first female CEOs in the Fortune 500. Here is the trailer to get you hooked. You can watch Swiped on Disney+ (or message me for a streaming link 😉).
Note to self: I’m definitely doing another newsletter on marketplace marketing—this film touches on it, and it’s fascinating.
Some things on my radar 📡
On the dating front, this story is wild: Trinny Woodall shared online how she used AI (Perplexity) to basically replace Tinder, Bumble, or Raya and ended up with an astonishingly precise answer about who she should date.
’Tales of Toddlerhood’ is one for all the parents of the so-called tiny humans. I discovered Tim Urban ten years ago and I still read and enjoy everything he writes.
And this one is for the lovers of a good graph (or conversation starter). Derek Thompson collected the 25 most interesting ideas he has found in 2025. Very U.S.-focused but a comprehensive list that covers politics, religion, housing and much more.
Thanks, as always, for reading.