Cozy Vanlife Winter Camping _ Cooking (CHRISTMAS SPECIAL)

Well Mills, it's about that time of year again. It's December. Christmas is right around the corner and here we are, spending it alone yet again. But hey, at least we've got each other, right? That's all that matters. That's all that matters. Look, there's no reason to be sad. I know. I'd much rather be back home with family, sitting around a cozy campfire, decorating a Christmas tree, doing all the Christmas festivities together, but life doesn't always pan out the way that you want it to, you know? And sometimes you just got to make the best out of every situation. I mean, yeah, this isn't the most ideal situation, but look at where we're at. We get to spend Christmas in one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen in my entire life. What do you say we head back to the van, get some much-needed rest, and first thing in the morning I'll go to the garage in the van, dust off those old Christmas decorations, and we'll go all out like we did a couple years ago. Doesn't that sound fun? I can wear my Christmas hat. We can bake cookies. We can write letters to Santa. Doesn't that sound fun, girl? Yeah, I say we do that. Okay, let's go. All right, everybody. It is officially Christmas here in the van, and it feels so cozy in here with all of the Christmas lights, the decorations, and my cozy little fireplace that I have on my computer monitor here. And even though it's not emitting any real heat, I certainly feel some warmth coming off of it mentally. And I am just so stoked to just hang out in the cozy vans tonight and do some Christmas activities. I'm gonna make some good food, bake some cookies, decorate a gingerbread house, you know, the usual. And as a matter of fact, spending all day decorating the campsite made me work up quite an appetite. So I think I'm gonna get started on dinner, and I'm really excited about it because I'm doing something new and fun. But first, I need to let you guys know that today's epic van life Christmas special is brought to you and sponsored by Fantic. The X9 tire inflator is the fastest 18-volt portable tire inflator on the market. This thing is completely wireless, which makes it super easy to tote around your vehicle. And it's got a super nice LED display on the top where you can set your desired PSI for your tire. And when you go to pump up your tire, it'll automatically stop at that PSI. And it even doubles as a 92-watt hour portable power station with USB charging ports, and it has a flashlight. And the V8 Apex portable car vacuum is just as cool because it's literally the size of a water bottle. And it doesn't just vacuum. It can blow, pump, and inflate. It comes with tons of different attachments, like this extendable hose that helps you get to those really hard-to-reach places. So if you're looking for a gift for the holidays or you want to treat yourself to something nice, I'll leave a link to both of these products in the description of this video, along with a code that you can use at checkout. Thank you, Fantic, for sponsoring this video. I really appreciate you, but I'm getting hungry, so I'm going to start whipping up some food. Are you cold, Mills? I know, it's freezing out there, huh? Here, let's cover you up so you can get warm. All right, what's on the menu for tonight's Christmas feast is some Christmas enchiladas, which isn't something I've made before. I'm just going to follow a recipe. I don't know how good this is going to be. I actually forgot one of the ingredients, which is some bell peppers, but I'm going to try my best here. And the only thing that really makes this Christmas enchiladas is the fact that it uses both red and green enchilada sauce. So, I don't know, it'll probably be pretty good, but if anything, it's going to be fun to make. My olive oil has completely solidified because of how cold it is outside. Look at that. Oh, this looks amazing. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. This actually looks so freaking good. I'm scared to even put it on the plate because I know it's not going to look as good on the plate once I pull it out of this pan. All right, hopefully we don't ruin it. Oh my gosh, I plated that perfectly. Look how perfect that looks. Oh my gosh. I'm going to add a little bit more of this red onion on top. Shoot, might as well do some more cilantro because we got it, you know? Oh my gosh. I am so ready to sink my teeth into this. This looks incredible. Like, I'm talking five-star restaurant incredible. This looks so good. And honestly, the red and green enchilada sauce definitely does make this feel like a very festive dish. So, it's very fitting for today. I'm starting with the green side first because it's the hatch green chili, which is, I think, from New Mexico. And dude, hatch green chili is so good. So, cheers. Dude, 10 out of 10. The green chili sauce has a little kick to it though. It's a little spicy. I'm not much of a mushroom fan. It's not that I don't like them. It's just, there are better things out there, you know? And I was a little hesitant to include them in this recipe, but dude, I freaking love it. Millie, what are you doing? What are you doing, girl? Did you come to say hey? Come here. Come on. Now, I know you're pretending to come over here to say hey, but I know the real reason why you're over here. Well, girl, as much as I'd love to let you have some of this enchilada, unfortunately, it is quite spicy and onions are really bad for you. So, I'm sorry, girl. Wow. That was so freaking good. Hey, I'm trying not to eat more because I want to leave room for chocolate chip cookies. Right, Mills? We got to make a gingerbread house. We got to get ready for Santa. Girl, we got a lot we got to do tonight. You want to help me clean up? Yeah? You do? All right. Let's go. You're doing dishes. No, wait. Just kidding. You can't do dishes. Well, guys, a little predicament here. I'm trying to wash dishes, you know, clean up my one pan to bake cookies, and my water system's not working, and I'm suspecting that because it's so cold, my water system is frozen up. And believe it or not, this is something that I deal with quite a So, I'm going to have to get a little creative tonight so I can wash dishes, but don't worry. This ain't my first rodeo. I know exactly what to do. All right. So, here's the game plan. I've got my two and a half gallon jug that I keep in my fridge, which I usually use for drinking water. I'm just going to use that over the sink, use a gravity method to flow water onto the dishes so I can clean them up a little bit. And I don't have a lot of water in here, but I'll do my best. Well, I didn't wash all the dishes because, well, I'm being kind of lazy, but I did wash exactly what I need to bake cookies. Wow, that's weird. It looks like someone's already eaten some. What? That's crazy. Oh, my gosh. I'm just so tempted to eat these raw. Cookie dough is so good. No, I shouldn't. I shouldn't. I shouldn't do it. I don't need it. I would much rather have nice, warm, baked cookies instead of some cold, solid cookie dough. Right? Freaking screw it, dude. I'm almost 31 years old. I can do whatever the heck I want. And in the oven they go. All right. While those cookies are baking in the oven, I think it's time to start assembling this gingerbread house. However, before I do that, I just want to, I don't know, I just want to level up the cozy vibes in the van just a couple more notches. You know what I mean? You guys know me. I love me a nice cozy candle to help me wind down at the end of a long day. As a matter of fact, I love candles so much that I decided to develop one of my own called So Cozy. And guys, it smells so, so good. And I actually helped develop this unique scent with Denise of Smell This Alaska, who I met while I was traveling through Alaska this past summer. But essentially I met Denise while I was at a festival in Fairbanks, Alaska called the Midnight Sun Festival, which is this festival that celebrates the longest day of the year. It's super cool. There's vendors, food, there's even a 5k run. And I stopped by her booth where she was selling candles, wax melts, and linen sprays. And I'm a sucker for a good smell. So I went in there, smelled a couple candles, then had one of the purchases of my life. And through that interaction with Denise, we got to talking about how cool it would be to have my own scent that we developed together. So over the next couple of weeks, we sat down and literally developed a very unique scent that, in my opinion, really encapsulates that cozy feeling that I've been talking so much about for the past couple of years. And this isn't just for me. It's for you guys as well. So if you want to add some more cozy vibes to your home, level it up a couple notches, consider getting a so cozy candle, some linen sprays, or wax melts. I really think you're going to enjoy this scent. I love it. It's one of my favorite scents. And this is what my van has smelled like for months at this point. So if you want to know what my van smells like, this is it. And I'll leave a link to all these in the description of this video if you want to pick one of these up. Denise is selling them on her website smellthisalaska.com. So don't be alarmed if it leads you to somewhere other than my website. She's the one making them. She's the one selling them. This scent is just inspired by me. But by purchasing one of these scents, you will be supporting me and my travels. And also, you'll be supporting a really awesome local Alaska business. Again, all these candles are made and shipped straight out of Alaska, made with love, straight from Denise and her awesome business. So go support her. Go check out some of her other scents on her website. Again, her candles smell amazing. So if you don't pick up a So Cozy candle, that's cool. Go check out some of her other scents. And go support a small business and come out with some good smells, you know? Oh, they're perfect. Oh my gosh. They melted together just a little bit, but hey, that looks like a pretty perfect cookie in my opinion. As a matter of fact, don't mind if I do. Now that tastes like Christmas right there. All right. Batch number two going in the oven. I think those will be Santa's cookies and these will be mine. All right. I figured I'd sit at my desk, enjoy my cookies while I decorate my gingerbread house. It doesn't sound very good. Kind of sounds like it's broken. Okay. Got the icing. Check. Oh, man. It is broken. Frick. Dang it. Now let's try not to break it even more. All right. Starting off strong, Trent. We're starting off. Gosh dang it. Frick. This is a disaster already. A couple seconds into this gingerbread house adventure and I've demolished it. I'm feeling a little parched. I think I need me some milk. The cool thing about living in a van, you don't have to go very far to grab a bevy. You can just stay seated. It's just too daggum convenient. I think I did that right. Okay. We might have another problem. Oh, frick. The icing is frozen. So I don't know if this is going to work out. You know what? Let's just keep going. Let's see what happens. Why give up now? I think this is going to be beautiful. Just wait. Just wait. When I'm done with this, you're going to be like, wow, he's a construction guy. He builds stuff. All right. Looking pretty good so far if you ask me. I'm going to put this over here. Dreaming of a white Christmas just like the ones I used to know. All right. I mean, that looks pretty good to me. What do you guys think? Look at this monstrosity of a gingerbread house. Oh my gosh. You would think that a four-year-old did this, but no. Nope. A 30-year-old man did this. And you know what? It might look ugly, but hey, I had fun making it and that's all that matters. Wow. What a beautiful night it is. It's so bright out here, which is crazy because it's midnight, but it's because of the big, bright, full moon up there. Wow. Look how well the moon is illuminating this landscape here. You can even see the mountains way off in the distance over there. This is crazy. It's like someone turned the light on or something, but it's just that big light up there. And wow, look at all the stars, man. It is a beautiful, beautiful night. All right. It's about that time, everybody. The van is cleaned up, at least to the best of my abilities considering my frozen water system right now. But there's my super sick looking gingerbread house right next to my so cozy candle and a big old platter of cookies for Santa. Which, speaking of, I think I heard his sleigh outside flying through the air while I was outside turning off the Christmas lights. So he's probably going to be making his way to our van here soon, Mills, so we better get some sleep. Ain't that right, girl? Although she's already like 15 steps ahead of me. But before I go to sleep, I want to get my extra blanket, which is under my mattress here, because it's going to be cold tonight. Which, by the way, van life hack, if you need storage for extra blankets, under your mattress is a great spot. Good girl. Look at how cozy the van is right now, guys. I love this time of the year specifically for the fact that I get to have Christmas lights in the van. I just love Christmas lights. It just makes small spaces feel so cozy. And honestly, despite how cold it is outside, it's really not that bad in here. So I think I'm going to sleep pretty good tonight. So with that being said, guys, I'm going to get some rest because tomorrow is a big day. Tomorrow is Christmas for me and Millie, and Santa's coming to town, and we need some good rest so we can welcome him with open arms. So I'm going to get some sleep, guys, and I will check back in with you guys in the morning. Good morning, Millie. Are you excited or something? Do you know what day it is? Oh, you're so excited. Oh, it's like you know you got presents waiting on you or something. Hold on. Hold on. Let's take a peek. Oh, I see some presents under the tree. Oh, I think Santa came. Look, the cookies are gone. I'm coming. I'm coming. Millie, look. Look, the cookies are all gone. Santa ate them all. What's that? Is that your stocking? Hold up. Hold up. Wait. Oh, look at this. It's a new rope toy with a cool ball on the end. Whoa. Hold up. Wait, Millie. There's more. There's more toys in here. Look. Look. Right here. No, you don't care? Are you sure you don't care? Because I think Santa brought you some bully sticks. You love bully sticks. She just wants to go outside and play with this new toy. There we go. These smell so good. I love you, girl. Merry Christmas. All right. It's my turn to check my stocking. Let's see what we got. I can already tell Santa hooked me up with some Reese's. These are my favorite candy. They're so freaking good. And some nice milk chocolate. All right. Let's see what else we got in here. Deodorant? A loofah? Hey, Millie, you want to go outside and check under the tree? Yeah? Okay. Let's go. Oh, what a beautiful day. Oh, Millie, there's more presents under the tree. Look. Come on. Wow. Look at this, Mills. Look at all these other toys that Santa brought. Look at this. Another rope toy. But wait, look. Is that a skunk? She's going to tear this up so quick. Give me that. Millie, I got to take the tag off. I don't know why, but Santa didn't do it. He also didn't wrap the present, so I guess he was just being lazy. I don't know. Okay. Let's see what else we got under the tree. Millie's got her another rope toy. Sheesh. And she got to chuck it. Millie's been wanting one of these for a hot minute. Millie, you got a new collar. Look, you've been needing one of these for so, so long. Let's try your new collar on, huh? Oh, it looks so nice. This is going to look so good on you. Uh-oh. Well, Mills, I think Santa might've thought you were a little bit smaller than you actually are because your new collar does not fit. Whoops. Okay. Well, you know what? I'll just have to call Santa up and let him know and he'll bring you a different one, I think. Now, as you guys can tell, there are no presents for me under the tree this year. And that's on purpose because when I was at the store shopping around for gifts, I mean, when Santa was at the workshop making all these toys for you, Millie, and while I was writing my letter to Santa to tell him what I want for Christmas this year, I was just thinking about my life and everything that I have and own. And when I was trying to list out things that I want for Christmas this year, like, nothing was coming to mind. Nothing. And I think that's because I have everything that I need right here. I don't need anything else. I don't want anything else. Literally, everything that I could possibly want out of this life is right here. Having the opportunity to live and travel out of my van and see the world from this unique perspective is such a blessing. And being able to spend Christmas in a beautiful place like this with the cutest puppy in the world. Dude, what more do I need, you know? I've got all the essentials in this van right here. I've got enough to survive. I've got my luxuries like my gaming system, my internet, power. And despite the way that this video started out, I do have a loving family that supports me in this lifestyle. And I have the unique opportunity to share all of this with you guys. And from what I've seen in the comments these past few years, I've inspired so many of you guys to seek out a life you feel you deserve. And that is more valuable to me than anything in the entire world. There is no physical thing that could top that. And I know this moment right here is really cheesy. A lot of you guys out there are probably cringing right now. But these are my real, genuine, honest feelings. I am so grateful for my life. I'm so grateful that I get to share it with you guys. I'm grateful that I have family and friends that support this lifestyle. And I'm so grateful for a beautiful day like today. Really? You want to play? You want to play? You ready? Right here. Bring it back. Well guys, I think I'm going to end today's Christmas special here. And if you enjoyed this cozy Christmas special with Millie and I, let me know down in the comments below. And don't forget to like the video as well. And if you're not already subscribed, go ahead and do that too. So you can keep updated with my travels. And speaking of subscribers, I think by the time that this video releases, my channel will have hit 1 million subscribers, which is crazy to me. And I am so grateful for every single one of you for helping me hit this insane milestone. Like it's, it's absolutely crazy. So thank you from the bottom of my heart. And for those of you guys that have been begging me to release some Millie merch, I figured since we hit 1 million subscribers, you guys want Millie merch. What a great opportunity to launch some 1 Millie merch. I have sweaters and t-shirts that say 1 Millie to celebrate 1 million subscribers here on my channel. And I've got a bunch of Millie pictures all over. They're super cute. So if you guys want to grab one of these, you can go to my website at TrentTheTraveler.com and help us celebrate this huge milestone. And also don't forget I have candles, linen sprays, and wax melts with my own unique scent that I developed with a small local business in Alaska called Smell This Alaska. And I'll have a link to all that in the description of this video as well. But anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this cozy Christmas special as much as I enjoyed making it. It's the best time of the year guys. And I really hope you guys have a cozy, wonderful, relaxing Christmas and holidays ahead. You guys deserve it. Take some time. Spend some time with your family. Tell them you love them. Do things that you love for yourself. Take care of yourself. And just enjoy this wonderful time of the year. But with that being said guys, thank you so much for watching this video. I appreciate you. And I will see you guys in the next one. Peace.