The reason I moved into a van was because I needed a big change.
It was something I wanted to do since I was probably 14.
I first realized that I could be a professional climber and I realized if I learned languages
and I travel, I could probably be part of a community much larger than myself.
It just seemed like the perfect solution, it was multi-purpose.
I could have a house, car, storage space, place for my dog, I'd have everything with
me at the same time and I'd see other people do the same thing.
I would define my relationship with cafes as a membership.
I am a Gold Star member with Starbucks.
It's my office space, go in, get a coffee, I get free refills.
I can't stay in my van because my van is more like home and I need to be in different places
to be in different headspaces.
For one, I don't look homeless, everybody's in there on their laptops already and I hate
feeling like I'm somebody who's stuck in their van because the van is supposed to be about
freedom.
When I started out at 7, I would just climb all the time, 5 days a week, 7 hours a day.
When I started getting older, I worked with a coach.
His name was Jean-Michel Casanova and he taught me some flexibility stuff, taught me
to go running, taught me how important the diet was.
From there on, I realized that when I trained, I could do a lot more.
I was unstoppable and so when I train now, I do things that have made my climbing noticeably
better, mostly shoulders, core and fingers.
For core, I think it's really important to have body tension and so I've been doing front
levers.
It's something that I added that I don't think most girls have in mind when they train, they
don't think about their core tension but because their hips are wider and their center
of gravity is a little bit lower, it's just harder for them to think of front levers as
good training.
I'm on a campus board and I'll do ladders, ladder skipping rungs.
When I do my workouts, it's a lot like my climbing, I end up using extra holds, doing
crazy body movements, if I can't figure out a crux, I'll try everything.
I'll put my feet up on my head, I'll do the splits, I'll use my own leg as a new bar for
my other leg or something stupid like that.
My name is Tiffany Hensley and I am a girl living out of a van with her dog.
It's just simple and I think people overthink a lot, I think people need to stop, think
about a riddle, figure out a small puzzle and then when they go back to their lives,
they can look at them in a fresh perspective.
