21 Days of Van Life in Japan (EXTREME WINTER ROAD TRIP)
Embark on the ultimate van life Japan adventure in this movie-length journey to the snowiest city in the world! 🚐❄️ [Remember to start your 2025 Language Goals with Rosetta Stone Here: https://partners.rosettastone.com/phillyandkeely7ba ] Back in 2022 we journeyed from Tokyo and travelled into the breathtaking Japanese Alps, braving relentless snowstorms, sub-zero temperatures of -23°C, and some of the most extreme weather conditions we’d ever faced.
Along the way, we encountered snow monkeys soaking in hot springs, explored remote snow-covered mountain roads, and even suspected a wild bear encounter! Heading further north, we reached the snowiest city in the world, where the challenges of vanlife in winter tested us like never before. Yet, through the ice, storms, and awe-inspiring landscapes, we completed an unforgettable 21-day loop back to Tokyo.
This isn’t just a road trip—it’s a test of endurance, adventure, and the magic of winter vanlife. Grab a hot drink, buckle up, and join us for one of the most epic vanlife road trips we’ve ever tackled in Japan’s frozen wilderness.
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⤈ VIDEO CHAPTERS ⤈
0:00 – 1:05 – Intro
1:05 – 16:00 – Vanlife Begins
16:30 – 18:05 – Rosetta Stone
18:05 – 29:20 – Vanlife Admin
29:20 – 31:50 – Winter Wonderland
31:50 – 35:30 – Snow Monkeys
35:30 – 41:46 – Kiyutso Gorge
41:46 – 50:48 – Snow Day!
50:48 – 57:20 – Exploring Japan
57:20 – 1:04:00 – Rainy Days In
1:04:00 – 1:10:00 – Snowy Samurai & Bridge
1:10:00 – 1:14:00 – Extreme Weather Conditions
1:14:00 – 1:19:00 – Is that a bear!?
1:19:00 – 1:29:00 – Lamp Onsen
1:29:00 – 1:33:30 – Snowiest City in the World
1:33:30 – 1:39:12 – The Journey Back
⤈ WHO WE ARE ⤈
We are Philly and Keely and we live full time in our tiny home on wheels Martha. After building our DIY home in a Citroen Relay camper we spent a year living on the streets of London before quitting our jobs only to be met with lockdown. Then we took our van further than she had ever been before to the very beautiful Turkey. Enroute, we stopped off in Spain for a few weeks where we experienced every van lifer’s worst nightmare, we were robbed and they stole all valuables in our van. But then we were back on our feet, fully MOT’d and back on the road through Europe before we experienced another vanlife nightmare… our van caught fire!! After the trauma of that we had a massive change of plan and made our way to Japan. We enjoyed a three-month Japanese Adventure and then got back to Martha for some new European Adventures. After an incredible three-month Scottish road trip, we packed up our van and headed to Australia and built a new van and had an epic six-month adventure! deep into the outback. Now we are back in Martha!
#VanlifeJapan #WinterRoadTrip #JapaneseAlps #ExtremeVanlife #SnowMonkeysJapan #SnowiestCityInTheWorld #AdventureTravel #VanlifeAdventures #ExploreJapan #traveldocumentary
30 Comments
Hope you enjoy our trip down memory lane on one of the best vanlife adventures we've ever had! Japan is epic 🎉🇯🇵 Remember to get Rosetta stone for 60% off here: https://partners.rosettastone.com/phillyandkeely7ba
Blue💙💙💙🧢🧢🧢
It’s blue, blue, blue. Roses are red, violets are purple, and Phillies bobble hat is blue, truly blue 😆xoxo
Great photography 🎉🎉👍🏻🌨️🌨️🌨️☃️☃️☃️
I so wish I had known you were coming to Japan. I could have given you a space to stop and chill in Osaka – with me and my cats and my rooftop garden. And a washing machine and kitchen! Next time please come and stay in Osaka with me.
Love you guys and so does my family, just so you know it is kind of disrespectful to be in swimsuits in an onsen. Reason is that water is pure with not additives and who know what your clothes are washed in. No, offense but just to let you know for the future. . So glad you both had such a great time. Sending prayers, love and traveling mercies to you both.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻❤️❤️❤️it’s blue. Blooming brilliant guys
Blue
I'm surprised the van was not fully stocked with all your cooking equipment. You really could have used a saucepan with a spout!! And a flipper!
Are you taking the Mick? That didn't age well 🤣🤣
If you can't handle hot weather then why spend the money on a van in cold weather.
Why don’t you leave the diesel heater on all night? ❤
Have fun, the travel Beans had that van when they in Japan. Have a look at their channel. Love your channel safe travels 😊✌️🫶 cheers Chrissy
Blue hat😊
Blue..
blue… maybe it depends on the screen filters?? Really enjoyed your wintry travels. Gorgeous! Fabulous! Unreal! Thank you so much!!
Blue x
It's starting to come together and you can see your vision. Over the worst now, from here on it's the fun stuff😊
Well that was brilliant to see. Loved it, and can understand why people love Japan. It's stunning. Thank you !!
NEW SUBSCRIBER – hello. Great video. Love the drone footage
Philly and Keely, i ve only been following you for about a year, since my other half died. your videos bring me distraction and warmth to my heart. it has been wonderful to watch this video of yours from a few years ago, such a wonderful adventure. love to you both and to everybody.
Philly your hat colour is Indigo. Thought I would throw in a third colour to confuse Keely
Omg the hot chocolate section, i was worried about the curtains getting chocolate on them & then i thought the curtains where going to catch alight by the burner or the candles. Beautiful throw back in time & never had Japan on my goto list, but you guys have shown that there's so much more to see & the natural environment is just beautiful!
Love this video! You are so cute. This amount of snow is a normal Norwegian winter so if you should ever miss snow come to Norway december to april☺️. Japan is for sure a place on my list😍
Blue 👍😄
Seeing you cold in the van reminded us of our trip in NZ, with a little Toyota Camper ‘Happy Camper’. Freezing 🥶, until we spent 200 dollars on 2 sleeping bags 😂. Great movie! ATB
Blue hat 💙
Missed you guys. Hope you’ve had a safe trip to the USA & Canada. Loved watching all the Japan adventure again, just brilliant ❤️
Morocco is just fantastic and we’ve seen loads of camels!! Your tote bag will remind me of them 😁 lots of love to you both, safe travels xxx
Yeah it’s definitely a blue hat👍
I don't normally watch long videos but seeing it was you guys, how could I not ❤❤❤