Van Life with My 88 Year Old Grandpa (getting his life advice)

This is Pop, my 88 year old grandfather. I may be biased, but Pop is truly a one of a kind. And I know he's not going to be around forever. So personally, I really wanted to make this video just to capture who he is and what makes him so special to me and my family.

I'm getting ready to pull my pants off.

Okay.

And I want to bring you along for the ride. This is going to be pretty different.

From our usual videos. Is this canvas?

Oh, my goodness. But it's one that I've been wanting to make for a while and I knew I would regret it if I didn't make it.

So I hope you enjoy getting to know Pop.

Hello. Hey, Pop. Is this our number one grandson?

If you say so.

Well, at least one in chronology.

I am the oldest. That's right. Would you be interested in a spontaneous camping trip?

Well, what time frame do you have in mind?

How about tomorrow night?

Tomorrow night? Okay.

Do you think Ma' am will be okay with it? Do you need to check with her first?

Hold on just a second.

All right.

Yeah, she's fine with it. Nate. This will be the maiden voyage of the van since it was restored.

Wow, look at this.

Pop.

What is the bathroom situation?

No bathroom in the van.

So we have two options. We can either bring a shovel, or we can pull the composting toilet out of the van and put it in here.

Oh, it fits like a glove right beside our fresh water.

I don't have a straight map. I guess your foam will get us there.

Okay.

Google Maps.

We're good.

Okay.

Bob, it looks so good. I feel very honored to be invited on the maiden voyage. Do you think it's gonna make it 78 miles? I think so.

Bye. Bye.

As much as I hate missing out, I am very excited for them going.

To be an adventure.

I'm sure.

So the last video we promised we.

Were going to go on a group.

Camping trip with Pop and Mama and Cara. But we spent the last year and a half trying to talk Mamaw into camping. So we decided to just finally go on a guys trip. Yeah, so we have to make it look really fun.

Yeah, that won't be any problem.

Oh, dear. While Nate and Pop are hanging out, I have a lot of work to do on our van for our next big adventure.

Where's the air conditioning in this thing?

Yeah, right here.

Those are some crazy looking pedals down there.

I didn't realize it until now, but I think I may get my sense of adventure from Pop. I called him less than 24 hours ago. And he showed up not even knowing exactly where we were going. Not only is Pop the wisest person in my life, but he might have the best memory of anyone I know. You'll see what I mean later.

All right, Pop, we're on the interstate. What's our top speed? Working on 60 right now.

I will say it feels surprisingly comfortable.

I thought it would shake more. You've done a good job on the restoration.

The amount of knowledge, stories, facts, and points stored in Pop's mind is pretty amazing. We've been in the car for less than an hour, and he's told me the name of every tree that we've passed and the story behind each person's name that the street signs have been named after.

They call this pov. So it's like what you're seeing with your eyes. Other people are seeing the same thing.

Wow. Wonderful.

All right, we have made it to the halfway point. Although we have been passed by every other car on the interstate. I would say the van is running surprisingly smooth. And we're gonna stop for a quick lunch. Even the doors were built different back then. This door is so light and flimsy.

All right, you think we should take the toilet out to eat? We'll just set it in the parking lot right here.

We're gonna get the table set up for lunch. There we go.

Well, you can tell that we didn't bring the girls with us. And neither one of us are the cooks in, because for lunch we have a protein bar, peanut butter, and crackers and an orange. And you should see what I have in store for us for dinner. These crackers will always remind me of Pop. Anytime he came over to my parents house, he was always too nice to eat the food at their house. So he would bring his own lunch. And this is what he considers lunch. So you were born during the Great Depression, before World War II. A lot changes in 87 years. 88. You're 88. 88. What are the three biggest changes that you've seen throughout your lifetime?

I can remember when I was high school visiting Lexington, Kentucky. This would be the early 50s. I saw the first television. Television hadn't made it to our town then at least. Obviously, another change would be the space race. When I was in graduate school, John Glenn took his trip around the earth. It was predicted by a college professor that I had, and he said, I won't live to see, but you guys will live to see the time. People will be going to the moon and back. Many of the students laughed at Dr. Rust. They thought, you know, he doesn't know what he's talking about, but I saw that come to pass.

How does he recall this stuff? Maybe this is what people's brains used to be like before the Internet and constant simulation with social media and video games.

Now for the best part of the meal. My grandmother made brownies. That is hefty.

There's just something different about food that your grandmother's cooked.

Whoa.

This thing's like driving a bus. This steering wheel is so big. Oh, and there's no power steering. How have you not been sweating over here?

No power steering. That was. That was way in the Future. In the 50s.

I'm just driving with a big, goofy grin on my face because everybody that passes us on this side just turning and looking at the van.

I don't.

Even think this road is on this map.

So even though Burgess Falls is a state park, there's not actually a campground. So instead, we reserved a spot on someone else's land using an app called Hip Camp. And we're meeting the owner now who's.

Going to show us where to go. This seat belt doesn't really let me stretch all the way over. Thanks for having us. This is a cool rig here.

Now Nate's bringing me on the first trip.

He didn't mention the off roading portion on the listing. Where in the world are we going? I've got the emergency brake ready. It's hard on the grass, huh? You got to find a flat spot.

All right. This is home sweet home. I thought I booked a field on the Internet, but this is way better. We're right beside this little creek in this beautiful shaded little meadow. This is why you come camping. To be alone in beautiful nature. What do you think of our spot?

Beautiful. You got a lot of Tennessee state trees in here. Poplar. Cute little poplar. State tree.

There is one thing that I can always guarantee when I'm with Pop, that's that I'm going to learn something.

Well, not that it's useful information, necessarily.

Oh, excuse me. Sorry to interrupt. Just give me 60 seconds of your time and I could change your life. This video is sponsored by AG1, but they are so much more than just a sponsor to me. If you can't already tell. We love AG1 and have been drinking it for three years straight. That's not an exaggeration because it is a daily foundational nutrition supplement that supports whole body health. And since we pretty much live off of airplane food and van life snacks, we need all the help we can get. Just one serving of AG1 is absolutely packed with tons of essential nutrients. And they all promote your gut health, your energy levels, immunity. I don't know what we ever do without it. It is the most convenient way to get our daily dose of vitamins and minerals. Pre and probiotics, adaptogens, superfoods. The list goes on and on. And as an added bonus, we think it tastes great. Nate actually brought some on his camping trip with Pop. So see what Pop has to say.

There you go.

Nate. You haven't been stretching the truth. I've seen the video and now I know from experience what you say is true.

Pretty convincing, huh? And if you use our link in the description below, you can get our special offer. Your first purchase will include a free bottle of these immune supporting vitamin D drops, which we also take every day. And five of these travel packs for free. We don't go anywhere without these link below. Hope you love it as much as we do. Okay, back to Nate and Pop.

Are you embarrassed of the toilet?

No, no.

Where should we set this up?

Right there, I guess. That's good places in it.

There's no one around for miles. Maybe I'll set it up behind this little building back here.

Man, it looks so good, Pop.

Really?

Yes, it's just shining in the sunlight. All right, Pop, do you mind to walk me through what you've done with the inside?

Well, we've upholstered the seats, which become the bed. When you fold it down, this comes up, pulls forward.

And you're converted from a seat to a bed.

That's about 10 less steps than it is to do it in our van. We could have learned something from engineering 50 years ago.

Refinished the wood on the inside. The ice box has been restored. This becomes a work table. This becomes a table that's available for the outside. Maybe the flooring has been added since we photographed it last.

That was almost a year and a half ago. It was over a year and a half ago.

Can't believe it's been that long. Well, when you get my age, time passes fast, so I can believe it's been that long. Here's how quickly you have an extra sleeping space, Nate.

That was easy. So who gets the top bunk?

Will draw straws.

I think Kara was the one that tested this bed out last time.

I mean, it's comfier than you would think.

It's way skinnier than I remember. You just jump. Is that the.

I've never been in it, mate.

You've never been up here. All right. Okay. It's not quite as long as it. I think I'm turning the wrong way.

Is this.

Is this canvas?

Oh, my goodness.

I was about to ask how old it was. Oh, I feel terrible.

Well, that proves the canvas is a hundred years old.

Oh, no. Well, I think definitely. Nate, we're gonna be sharing a bed tonight.

Whether you want to or not.

I think that's perfect.

We're finding all the weak points. You know, Nate, this reminds me of a story in literature. It's called the one Hoss Shay. In the poem, the guy says, you know, every Shay has a weak point. I'm going to build a Shay that where no point is weaker than any other point. It's not going to break down, you know, just piece by piece. So he built this one Hoss shade, and it seemed like it would last forever. He rode it and rode it and rode it. And one day it was parked out in front of the house under a shade tree, and they heard this terrible calamity and they went out. No part broke before any other part, but it all fell apart at one time.

I have one question.

What is a shay? You know, like a horse and buggy?

We said this was a shakedown trip, but I did not expect to go through. The bed canvas was installed in 1970. I think another big change to the van, since everyone's seen them last, is the hubcaps. These weren't on last time. So the license plate says Ruby. The color of the van is ruby red. What's the Ruby story?

Well, your great grandmother, his name was Ruby. Your grandmother was not thrilled about my getting this van, and she never showed any enthusiasm for it while all the time I was restoring it. But your aunt Galena said, let's name it Ruby after your great grandmother. Once we put the plates on there, your grandmother took a completely different attitude about this van. I think it was okay. Then she accepted it. Finally, it worked.

Nice. We just still need to get her to get in it, right? All right. So this is really just a camping trip disguised as an interrogation, right?

Remember, be kind to your granddad.

So you are 88 years old. Did you ever think you would live this long?

Never realized I would live this long because my dad died at the the ripe old age of 30 when I was about 2 years old. And going all the way back through the generations. Of course, people are living longer now than they lived years ago. Realistically, I've outlived the average, you know, so I'm going to enjoy the rest of it, though, while I can. And this is one of the enjoyable parts of getting old. Have a grandson who's famous around the world and to get to sit down with him and be interrogated by him.

Wonderful.

Do you have any life mottos or sayings that you live by?

When I graduated From High School 1953, the principal brought all the graduating class together to practice graduation. And I remember something he said to us. He said, this is the last time I'll have an opportunity to talk to all of you as a group.

Alright, what do you think pop? Are you up for 3/4 of the mile of a strenuous height?

No problem.

I just hope I'm in as good a shape as you are when I'm.

88, she says, I want to tell you something I hope you'll remember all of your life. Within each one of you are two beings, spiritual and a physical. If you neglect one, the other is going to suffer. So I've tried to keep that in mind and I had a kind of a physical fitness program trying to keep myself physically fit. You know why you want to be in the back?

Why is that?

You want to be ready to catch pops when he falls.

Well, you're practically running.

One of my physical fitness goals is to run around the world before I expire. I've not told it up lightly so. So I don't know what score is right now, but I'm hoping to do total of 25,000 miles of running before I pass home.

Nice work. Not a bad view about where do you think you are?

I'd say I'm beyond the half point, so I'm still got a ways to go. I've got a ways to go and I'm going to have to get with it.

Alright. We need to total it up and I want to be there on the day when you run across the finish line. Well, the sign at the top of.

The trail is not lying.

Three quarters of a mile of a strenuous hike seems like 1 in 3 4. It did feel long. If you could go back and give your 34 year old self one piece of advice, what would it be?

Don't let other people squeeze you into their mold. You need to have your goals, you need to have your ambitions. You need to know by that age what your talents are and keep your eyes on the goals that you're working on. And if you're in a job that's going to keep you from going in the direction that you think you need to go be going. It's time to change job.

I'm Smiling really big right now, because that's not what I thought your answer. I don't know what I thought your answer was going to be, but that's not what I thought it was going to be.

Sit up. Perfect.

So the cooking situation in the van is kind of like the cooking situation if you were camping out of a tent. All right, so we can either heat up some chili in the pot, or I have instant noodles or instant mashed potatoes.

You're gonna make this difficult.

I'm leaning towards chili and instant mashed potatoes.

Imagine for a minute, Nate, you're my great grandfather. Your great, great, great grandfather whose dad took him to Texas in a covered wagon before the turn of the century. I wish I had asked my granddad more questions when he was telling me the story. Like, how did you get across the Mississippi River?

This would have been luxury for my great, great, great, great gr.

Oh, we're already boiling.

All right, this is a free ad for buttery home style Idahoan instant mashed potatoes. These always remind me of the Trans Siberian Railway.

I'd say we did okay for ourselves without the girls. All right, Pop, dinner is served.

Oh, thank you, sir. Nate, all these potatoes are not for me, surely.

I got one and you got one.

You got one that big?

I have one request.

Okay.

Can you give me your best Cara impression of trying the chili?

Okay. Let's see what Nate has done for us.

Mmm. Mmm. Best food I've ever put in my mouth. I think this is the best I have ever tasted.

That was perfect.

And seems like when she goes to a new place, it's always, that's the best.

It's so hot.

I almost burned during our wedding vows. I made a joke that every sunset was the best sunset that Kara has ever seen. And that is one of my favorite things about her, because she genuinely believes it. Every time she tries a new food, every time she sees a new sunset, it's always the best. And I love that so much about her. Can you believe how much gray hair I have? Can you see it on the side?

I saw some the other day.

If Kara and I choose not to have kids, do you think we'll regret it?

Nate, I'm glad you asked me that question. You and Kara are the ones to make the decision. Don't make let somebody else force you to do what's not your decision. You guys are living a fabulously enjoyable and successful life right now. I think if I were in your situation, I would begin to think, okay, do I want to go into old age without passing on my wisdom, my knowledge, my financial success. To someone that's not an offspring of mine. There are lots of places you can do that. You can give to many good causes. But if you're asking me to lean one way or the other, I would like to see more grandchildren. You and Kara would be, in my opinion, excellent parents.

Thanks for that.

Wow.

Nice. That is a fire. Yeah, those sticks are brand good. It doesn't get much better than this.

Pop.

Do you think that it's important to leave a legacy? And what do you want your legacy to be?

I hope I'm passing down to my children, grandchildren, great grandchildren. To children not yet born. A legacy that respects God, that tries to be a genuine person, that not only values people, but tries to help people become better.

I had written down three words that I thought described you. You said discipline at some point, and I think you're the most disciplined person that I know, and I respect that a lot. In your legacy. Said genuine, and I think you're also the most genuine person that I know. And the third word was selfless, because you're always helping other people. So those were the three words that I had written down to describe you. So you're doing pretty good.

Ah, Nate, you're. You're a biased person because you're my grandson.

Feels comfy.

Pop, how old is this sleeping bag? This sleeping bag is probably as old as the van. Also, we realized we forgot pillows, so I'm using a towel and a puffy jacket.

Oh, are you photographing all this?

I'm getting ready to pull my pants off.

Okay, we'll turn it up.

You'll remember this experience a lot longer than you remember staying in a fancy hotel.

That's exactly right.

All right.

Good night, Pop.

Good night. Wow, These cushions are pretty good. How long's it been since you slept.

In a sleeping bag?

Several years.

Been a fun day. Thanks for doing it with me.

Oh, it's been a lot. A lot of fun. Love you, Pop. Love you. Sleep well, and we'll see one another in the morning.

You gonna get up and turn the camera off for me?

I don't know.

I'm just kidding.

Not a bad way to start the day.

I give the bed and the van a 10 out of 10. Plus, I think I've made a very core memory with my grandfather. You want to tell the story from last night, or you want me to?

I think you're a better storyteller than I am.

No, we were literally crying, laughing, in the middle of the night. His zipper got stuck on his sleepy bag. And he was stuck in his sleepy.

Bag and he had to pee. And we were both.

Doing this in.

The middle of the night. Oh, yeah.

The bed's surprisingly comfortable, and it was actually a great night's sleep.

Coffee?

I'll hold it for you.

Just hold it.

Get my hands warm.

Somehow Pop has made it 88 years on this earth and has still not learned to enjoy coffee.

All right, Pop, before we drive home, I have one final question of the trip. All right, you and Mamaw have been married for 64 years. What are one or two secrets to a long lasting marriage?

Well, let me answer that. Nay, by giving you the answer that a seminar professor gave me. He said, when this couple got married, they decided at the very beginning that their marriage was not going to be fussing and fighting and arguing that they just weren't going to do that. And the agreement was that if one of them felt like the other was getting to the point where it was about to go into an argument, he said, what I will do is just go outside and wait till both of us have cooled off and are able to act civilly to one another. And he said, through the years, I have learned to be a great lover of the outdoors.

So I think that pretty much answers the question.

Do you feel like being married for 64 years has been easy or has it been work?

It's been work. You have to work at a relationship, any relationship, employer, employee, husband, wife, parent, child. It takes work and effort. And building strong, positive relationships is more important than getting almost anything that you could hope to ever possess.

Wise words.

Ready to call this.

Trip to an end?

Thanks for all the wisdom.

Hope it helps.

Is this how they used to make seat belts? There's no give if you.

Wow.

Hope you're good at driving this thing.

What do you think.

I'm about to say? Something you don't want to put on camera. You can do it, Pop. Hold it up. Hold it up.

Oh, it sounds like I didn't empty.

All the pee from last time. That's been sitting in there for a long time.

What do you think you'll remember most from this trip, Pop?

Eating your prepared meals from the fireplace.

And must not have been a very good trip, that. I'll remember all of our conversations, and then I'll also remember you trying to get out of your sleeping bag in.

The middle of the night. That made an impression on me, too.