The State Of VLC 2026 - A Note From The Founder
Aidan here (Founder of VLC, if you don't know me yet),
I wanted to break down some of the big mindset shifts I've been having recently that are going to affect how VLC is shaped moving forward.
From the start my dream has been a nationwide network of home bases owned by nomads and built for nomads. What's really kept me motivated all these years is the ownership piece, to create a way for these homebases to be owned by the folks that use them. Giving us road folk a way to build wealth, without giving up the freedom (with a 30+ year loan/cage) that got us into this lifestyle in the first place.
Over the years we've added locations to that dream network of mine 2 ways, by partnering with existing spaces (and over the years we've tried with partnering with everything from raw land, to rv parks, to glampgrounds, to farmsteads, etc) while I experimented with ways to fund find, and build new locations from scratch through different co-ownership models.
Partnering allowed us to scale up the size of the network quickly, at one point bringing us up to 8 locations nationwide at once (and 20 total locations throughout the years).
What I realized quickly though was how difficult it was to manage and more importantly to ensure a quality communal experience throughout all those locations at once. What I've also realized is how few landowners actually understand the nomad lifestyle and how even fewer nomads actually own land for us to partner with.
I've always said vanlife is the gateway drug to homesteading, and since I started this thing 7 years ago I've gotten this same message at least once every single week; "This is my dream. How do I get started? Can I pick your brain?".
So last year I had an idea, what if instead of trying to build and manage a nationwide network of communities, I took what I've learned over the last 7 years and taught nomads how to fund, find, build and grow these community oriented spaces of their own?
How much better (and more permanently) could this dream of community oriented spaces for nomads all over the country (if not the world) develop if I helped others do it themselves instead of putting everything under myself and my mighty yet small team's bandwidth.
The Land Freedom Accelerator (Update):
So I tried it, last year I took on 10 students for the first ever season of what I'm calling the Land Freedom Accelerator. A 10 month program to not only learn what I know, and see the behind the scenes of how I set everything up but actually working with me 1 on 1 to build your own community/income on a piece of land.
And I'll tell you what, I've loved every fucking second of it. While being able to share all the weird and highly specific knowledge that I've developed over the last almost decade with others has been so much fun. What I've truly loved is being able to dive in and work with folks 1:1 to take action on that knowledge. Helping them build their dream life, has truly been a joy.
The Partner Program (Update):
So this is how I want to make that dream network a reality. Not by finding and trying to slot nomads into other spaces that don't really get us, but by helping nomads build, own and grow those spaces themselves.
As of today we've dropped all of our partner locations that didn't get nomads so that we can rebuild this thing the right way. By us, and for us, for real. Moving forward we'll only be partnering with perfect places who understand the lifestyle and vision deeply or who have been through the LFA (Land Freedom Accelerator) and are working with me to build their own community space from scratch.
The Investor Program (Update):
Moving forward instead of finding new and managing new spaces to partner with. The VLC team and myself are going to be focused on creating wealth building opportunities for nomads. Through the Land Freedom Accelerator but also by selling permanent plots at the locations we own. Can think of this like owning a permanent campspot inside a nomad community.
You can build a deck with shade, setup a garden or storage and rent out your rig when you're not there for passive income. All the perks of owning land, with a permanent address, a place to get mail, access to amenities and peace of mind knowing it's always there for you when you need it. With the social and safety perks that come with being part of a community of other like minded individuals.
In September of last year I opened up 7 of these plots at our Joshua Tree, CA VLC location and offered them to our regulars. We instantly sold 4 spots and just like this a new nomad asset class was born.
Joshua Tree is now the first co-owned nomad community and we've still got three more spots we don't have to rush to sell to the right people! A percentage of the funds raised through plot sales have gone back into improving the land (increasing plot owners asset value on day one) while the rest will be used to go buy and build the next VLC campground that will allow us to open up even more permanent plots for yall!
The Final Note:
At the end of the day this project has always been about helping nomads. What I'm great at is building systems, structuring win wins and apparently now, teaching people what I've learned.
Moving forward I'm going to lean into those strengths and double down on doing less, better. I want VLC to help create the pathway for nomads to still progress their life in a "freedom first" way. So as we move into 2026 I just wanted to say a big "fuck yea!" to you all, to my team, to our camphosts, to my students, to our plot owners, and to this community that has truly changed my life.
Let's build a new world.
Your friend and dude just trying his best,
- Aidan
