Island presents the 'Ride the Vibe Van Tour'

In the wee hours of the morning, before the sun broke the horizon, the last case of beer was carefully secured in the van. Packed to the brim with Island, Active, snacks, and surfboards, the maiden voyage was underway. Driving straight into the sunrise, it was time to ride the vibe in a van tour across the coast, starting in the Outer Banks.

We decided to embrace the nomadic lifestyle for a while for several reasons. Obviously we wanted to spread the word of Island Brands, and share our beer with friends both new and old, but we wanted to do more. We wanted to find the good vibes across the coast and figure out where they come from. So we asked our talented friends from Kanga Coolers to join us, and they were more than happy to lead the effort on video and photography and bring their #koolerthanacooler along!

“When Island presented us with this opportunity, we knew it was going to be a sick trip that we couldn’t pass up. Having the opportunity to film local surfers and share a few beers is legendary,” said Teddy Giard, Kanga’s head of branding. “I don’t think there would be two brands more fitted to do this than Island Brands and Kanga Coolers, we're stoked to be a part of it!”

When you visit these beach towns across the coast, and see surfers doing sick things, do you ever wonder who they are? In short, they are locals, and we wanted to highlight, support, and get to know these rad people we so often admire. So here we are: driving along, interviewing surfers and townies, capturing gnarly surf content for some short films, and sharing lots of beer.

“Locals and surfers in these towns are some of the coolest people and I can’t wait to sit down with them, hear their stories, and ride some waves together," said Colin Hansen, Island Brands' head of Big Waves and Good Vibes. Follow along with our journey on @islandlocals and #ridethevibetour. Maybe you’ll even see our colorful ride in your town. Be sure to snap a pic of the van and share on Instagram, and we’d love to give you some merch for coming along for the ride!

Sounds pretty dreamy, right? We’ve become so infatuated by the lifestyle of these locals, so we thought – why not bring this way of life to everyone? We are capturing the vibe of these people we meet and are offering the same experience to our friends, like you!