Many millennials have integrated themselves into all levels of today's workforce from burger flipping to high finance. Others have taken a look at the mainstream options, said, "No, thanks," and hit the road. But while the hippies and explorers of previous generations scraped by, today's beatniks are using their social media savvy to turn their lives into permanent paid vacations. And there's real money at stake. As Rachel Monroe reports for The New Yorker in a piece called "#Vanlife," after the hashtag with over a million tagged posts on Instagram, "the social media influencer market was worth five hundred million dollars in 2015; the market is expected to increase to at least five billion dollars by 2020."

Participants in #vanlife culture make money by building followings on platforms like Instagram and then partnering with brands, companies and even TV shows to incorporate product placement into images that are otherwise earnest and wholesome. As they see it, they're not selling out, they're just settling, and that's still preferable to settling down. Monroe follows Emily King and Corey Smith, who live in a VW bus with their dog Penny, burning incense to obscure the smells of overcrowding and hunting for free WiFi. They surf, journal, cook, do yoga and document their boho lifestyle for the fans without whom they wouldn't be able to keep what they call "alliances" with companies like Hydro Flask water bottles, Kettle Brand potato chips, Clif Bars, Synergy Organic Clothing and Go Westy van parts. Other paid partnerships, Monroe reports, have included the tourism board of Saskatchewan and the WGN show "Outsiders."