Why a Corner Brook woman is living life the nomad way

‘I just like exploring, and seeing different things, and meeting different people and having different experiences,’ says Tiffany Vincent

Tiffany Vincent has spent most of her life trying to find out who she is and the path she should be on — a quest that has led her to a lifestyle that may be unconventional to some but is exactly what she’s dreamt of. Vicent, 33, is finding joy in living a nomadic life. Vincent moved from Corner Brook to Toronto when she was 18 and spent about seven years there.

“But big city life wasn’t for me,” she said. So, it was back home to Newfoundland, and for a while, she kept going back and forth to the Mainland. Then, one day in 2019, her twin sister called from Alberta and asked if she’d ever tried tree planting because she thought it was something Vincent, who was doing some environmental activism at the time, would be interested in.

“I went to Smithers, B.C., and tree-planted. And I fell in love with the remote lifestyle. The job was tough, but I realized how much I loved being outdoors and being with nature,” she said.

“After my season ended, my rookie season in 2019, I went back to Newfoundland, and I felt like something was missing. I really liked that kind of camp lifestyle, that nomadic lifestyle.” About a year later, Vincent was living in an apartment in Corner Brook and started researching van life.

It was something she’d seen on TikTok. Vincent couldn’t afford a van and could barely afford the apartment she spent barely any time in because she was working full-time. Vincent did have a car, though, a little Toyota Corolla.

“So, I said, ‘What if I gave up my apartment? I could save so much money if I just lived in my car.’” How it began “I sold everything that I had, gave things away to charity if I didn’t want to sell it or couldn’t sell it, and then just put in my notice in my apartment and left and moved into my Toyota Corolla,” she said.

She took the passenger seat out and built a bed frame that went from the dashboard to the back seat. She couldn’t take any passengers in the car, but it was still safe to drive. She lived in her car on and off for about four years.

Each year she’d make it to around Dec. 15 before the realities of winter took over. She spent the winters in an apartment that she’d rent with friends. “That whole wintertime it absolutely killed me because all I wanted to do was be out in a vehicle and keep exploring Newfoundland through all different seasons,” she added, and after the winter passed, she’d start up again.

She had been working full-time bartending, but then some things happened that changed everything. She lost her car in a moose accident and lost her job, so in 2025, she put her nomadic life and the content creating she’d started doing on Facebook and TikTok on the back burner and went back to tree planting. When the tree-planting season was over, she went to work at a ski resort.

Then she got a call from home saying that her grandparents needed some help. They’d done so much for her that Vincent said she wanted to do whatever she could for them. She returned to Corner Brook in February.

How she’s exploring NL without a car Since being home, she’s missed tree planting and the life it gave her, and recently she took up her nomadic lifestyle again. She has an off-grid camp near the city where she stores her food, clothing and other items. She’s built a platform there and set up her three-person tent, complete with a cot and mattress.

When she’s not moving around the area or staying with family or friends, her camp is a place where she finds solitude and peace. It’s a place where she can recharge and plan her next excursion. “I just kind of wing it,” she said.

She’ll travel by hitchhiking or with friends and will plan her stops around local amenities, where she can get food or do her laundry. She’s pretty much sticking to the west coast now, and when she spoke with The Telegram on Monday, July 13, Vincent was at the Jackladder in the Bonne Bay Pond area with plans to make her way to Deer Lake for the Strawberry Festival. “It’s really just when opportunity arises,” she added.

Because it’s a hard lifestyle, she will stay inside with family or friends from time to time, but said 90 per cent of her time is spent as a nomad. “I’m only human; every now and then, I do need a break,” she said with a laugh. Vincent said her lifestyle doesn’t come without sacrifice, but it’s something she’s willing to do because it’s the life she wants to live.

“I just like exploring, and seeing different things, and meeting different people and having different experiences,” she said. “I think it’s just me wanting to live outside the norm, and live an unconventional life and just kind of be free as such.” Why she defends this way of life Vincent said she’s had some debates with people over her lifestyle, some thinking there’s a thin line between her nomadic life and being considered homeless.

It’s something she fights “tooth and nail” over. “Because growing up, homelessness had such a stigma around it and such a desperation,” she explains. “For me, I just literally said, ‘I don’t want four walls surrounding me.’”

When she retires eventually, she says, an off-grid home with four walls around her might be great. “But right now, I’d just much rather keep travelling while I’m young and just live freely. Just wake up and have a different backyard almost every day.”

What are the challenges? The life she’s pursuing does come with some challenges, with living off the bare minimum being one of them. She’s depending on her savings and picking up odd jobs here and there while she looks for full-time work.

While she loves the minimal lifestyle, being able to stretch the little bit of money she has and packing light while still eating healthy can be hard, but she’s learning to carry lighter foods and dehydrated things when she can. Sometimes finding a spot to pitch her tent can be problematic if she doesn’t know the area. She may have to consider shelter from the elements, or if a river may rise overnight and reach her campsite.

Hiking with a backpack in hot weather is also challenging. “Even though each of these are a challenge and definitely learning lessons, I’m having a great time doing it because I’m learning as I’m going and it’s teaching me to be resilient and deal with stuff when it gets rough and finding other ways of how I can actually make it and then make it work,” she said. “Learning how to adapt basically to any situation I’m put in, and there’s definitely survival skills in there as well and using all your senses.”

Connecting with others As she navigates the nomad lifestyle, Vincent is sharing her life with others. She’s reactivated her presence on social media. You can find her through her Facebook page NewfoundNomad Tiff and @the_newfound_nomad on TikTok, where she shares her experiences — both the good and the bad — and what she learns along the way.

She’s also learning from others who offer tips and suggestions on everything from the best gear to spots to visit. People have offered her places to stay or shower, to take her around, offered her meals and given her tips on employment. It’s shown her how generous and truly caring Newfoundlanders are, she said, adding that it’s something you hear a lot about but don’t really notice when you live here.

She said her journey has also inspired others who have told her they’ve always wanted to live a nomadic lifestyle. What’s next? “I’m on this mission now to get a van so that I can actually experience Newfoundland in the winter months and have a more suitable setup to try and live it all-year-long, full-time van life and being a nomad full time,” she said.

She doesn’t get paid from her social media accounts or videos but does have some subscribers and has been saving as much as she can from the jobs she finds. She doesn’t promote the GoFundMe or ask people to donate but will tell people who ask what they can do to help her about it. In about three weeks, she’s raised over $400, and expressed gratitude to everyone who has donated.

She said she doesn’t expect people to donate and will tell them to share and comment to help get her videos out there, as it might help to attract a sponsor. Her goal is to buy a second-hand van, and she expects she’ll need about $10,000. She said finding work will enable her to save more.

Fingers crossed, she’s hopeful that by the fall, she’ll be closer to having a van for the winter.