When it comes to living the “vanlife,” not many people would be better suited for the lifestyle than professional snowboarder John Jackson. Jackson’s ethos hinges on the motto of “life first, money second,” putting material possessions on the back-burner and prioritizing living a life outdoors, dressed in many disciplines. His passion for the outdoors transcends just the snowboarding world. When he’s not shredding powder, he’s climbing, surfing, fishing, hiking, playing the mandolin, guitar, and simply relishing a life that’s lived in the moment. In 2012, Jackson and his brother Eric set out on the beacon of road trips known as “Brother's on the Run,” a series sponsored by Red Bull chronicling a 12,000-mile trek surfing and snowboarding their way from Alaska down to the southern tip of Chile. It was during this trip that the “Riff Raff,” a custom-built Ford F-350 beast-of-a-rig, was born. Since this trip, Jackson has adopted the Riff Raff as his own, transforming it into his personalized home-on-wheels.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Yard's looking pretty good.
00:12Hop in the van, let's go guys, come on.
00:19We're going on tour.
00:21What do you want to do?
00:25You want to go skate?
00:26You want to go snowboard?
00:27You want to go surfing?
00:28You want to go Mexico?
00:29Let's go.
00:30Yeah, let's go, saddle up.
00:53My name's John Jackson.
00:54I'm a professional snowboarder, and I'm going to give you a tour of my rig.
00:59It's called the Riff Raff Rig.
01:01It's a Ford F-350 with a custom-built box on the back.
01:05I started snowboarding around age 11.
01:08I rented a board with a buddy and was like, oh, this is awesome, I'm ditching the skis.
01:13And then my parents got us, my sister and I, a board to share.
01:17It was kind of all we could afford.
01:19We were a family of six in a pretty small house, but beautiful environment.
01:25I give it up to my parents for raising us in such an awesome environment, Crowley Lake, without a lot of money.
01:35Four kids, one room, bunk beds, we're happy.
01:39My mom's always been pretty adventurous, too.
01:42And they're always supportive of what my brother and I wanted to do.
01:49My brother and I chose to snowboard, and I've been doing it professionally for like 15 years.
01:59Yeah, the Riff Raff was kind of a collective effort on the name.
02:03It was born on our trip called Brothers on the Run.
02:06We were trying to drive from Alaska to Argentina.
02:09Home, the mother—
02:10We're out!
02:11Chile, here we come!
02:13Settle down there, seal.
02:14Yeehaw!
02:17We had two of these vehicles.
02:19One of the rigs was like my brother, myself, our filmer in there.
02:25And then the other rig was like our logistics guy, our director, and our editor, who wanted to be in our rig.
02:34Those guys are pretty serious about our destinations, rightfully so.
02:39And what we needed to get done, and we were just wanting to party.
02:45We wanted to surf, we wanted to stop everywhere.
02:48So their rig became the reality rig, and ours was the Riff Raff.
02:52It's kind of a joke, but Riff Raff stuck.
02:55This thing sat for a few years, and then finally they called me up and they're like,
02:59Hey, you want that truck?
03:01And I was like, Nah, not really.
03:05Yeah, of course I do. Are you serious?
03:07Didn't want to give my hopes up, you know.
03:10So I fixed it up.
03:12It's awesome.
03:16When I first got it, there was a little bit of engine work that needed to be done.
03:20Pretty minor.
03:21It had a single rear wheel axle.
03:23It was pretty sketchy.
03:24Like, I've upgraded all the leaf springs, and the suspension, and had custom airbags welded into it.
03:32It's totally capable now.
03:37Lots of storage back here.
03:39Usually keep some tools, soccer ball, jerrys.
03:44It's actually really roomy right now.
03:47I have a barbecue over here.
03:50This thing hooks up on the side, and I can plug right into my propane.
03:54And so it has a little notch over here where you just put it in there,
03:59and then your barbecue slides on here.
04:02And then you've got these little safety retainers.
04:05And then you'll cook it.
04:07Ribs, steaks, maybe some fish.
04:10I don't know. Whatever you want.
04:12Going up to the yoga studio.
04:15It's a little crowded up here right now.
04:18Got the rocket box with a bunch of crap in there.
04:20My road bike.
04:22This is my getaway vehicle.
04:24Solar.
04:26Nothing fancy.
04:27Do some yoga up here.
04:31Check it out. Welcome to the riffraff.
04:35It's amazing.
04:37It looks like there's not a lot of space,
04:39but I sleep so well up here.
04:42This little mattress is so comfortable.
04:45Couple instruments up here.
04:51Miss the do-right in case anything weird happens,
04:55or I want to go play some baseball.
04:5721-inch oven.
04:59Throw a turkey in there in a couple days.
05:02Nice little comfy sleeper.
05:07If you guys want to go up and see the Shiloh,
05:11if we drink too much, you know,
05:13here. Mikasa Sukasa.
05:15Chalkboard. Make your notes.
05:17Remember what you've got to do throughout the day.
05:19Right now I've got Easy Giant on there.
05:21One of my favorite bands.
05:23I was just hanging with in Europe.
05:29You know, I kind of need to restock.
05:32Obvious storage compartments up here.
05:34These little telescoping compartments.
05:36Built some candles,
05:38some solar lights, bike tubes,
05:40rubber bands, a chess board.
05:42Oh my god.
05:44Oh my god, what is that?
05:46No, that sucks.
05:50I definitely think
05:52it's not received
05:54very well down here.
05:56It looks
05:58maybe a little sketchy,
06:00maybe a little scary.
06:02People are like, what is that?
06:04I'm sitting in there the other night
06:06and I hear these people come walking by
06:08and they're like,
06:10wow, this thing is menacing.
06:12I was like, menacing?
06:14It gets a lot of attention
06:16just how it looks.
06:18I like that.
06:20I'm not really like, get away from me.
06:22I like bringing people in and showing people around.
06:24It's really enabled
06:26these magical experiences.
06:29Every time I pull over,
06:31it's like a cool little chapter in the book.
06:33Whether it's someone you meet,
06:35whether it's a beautiful location you find,
06:37it's all about exploration.
06:39It's all about simplicity.
06:41Being able to pull over
06:43and just park it.
06:51Got the pups' quarters right here.
06:53She's loving it.
06:55Alright, thank you guys for checking out my rig.
06:57Hopefully see you on the road.
06:59Somewhere beautiful.
07:03Sayonara.
07:05You gotta wait to start it.
07:07It's a diesel.
07:09Yeah.
07:13See you in Mexico.
07:15Woo!
07:17Since he got excited.
07:29Subscribe for more!