Chet Hanks, the 35-year-old son of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, traded his fancy Los Angeles condo and hotels for an RV parked in a Nashville trailer park.
He talked about the move on The Tonight Show and said it was a real choice to live with less while chasing his country music dream with his band Something Out West.
Why Chet Hanks Chose RV Living Over Apartments or Hotels
Hanks, who has been in shows like ‘Running Point‘, said the whole thing came down to not wanting to spend more money on a new place. “I didn’t want to get an apartment because I literally just got a condo in L.A. and I furnished it,” he told Jimmy Fallon. “I didn’t want to do that again, and I didn’t want to furnish it. So I was, like, staying in Airbnbs and hotels, and that gets really old because I just like having my own space.”
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The idea hit him during a solo road trip up the California coast. He was bored and wanted to get away, so he drove to Carmel-by-the-Sea. “I stayed in an Airstream trailer and I really loved it,” he said. “I was like, ‘Man, I want one of these.’” Soon after, he bought a 27-foot trailer, scared himself while towing it for the first time, and parked it in Nashville.
Life Inside Chet Hanks’ Nashville Trailer Park
Hanks also pushed back on what people think about trailer parks. “It’s not what you think,” he said. “You think, ‘Oh, you’re gonna live in a trailer park. It might be a little sketchy. It might be a little dangerous.’ It’s all just retirees, you know?”
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He laughed and said, “I’m probably, like, the youngest person in the trailer park by like… probably by like 30 or 40 years!” He called his neighbors “great people” and said he has a kitchen, a walk-in shower, and a patio.
How the Nashville Move Supports Chet Hanks’ Country Music Career
Chet Hanks has always done his own thing. He’s been open about his past struggles with drinking and drugs, which he says he’s gotten through. His friends say the trailer life lets him focus on music without the headache of a big house.
Some people online have joked about a rich kid playing poor, but Hanks seems to really like the peace. He said it’s peaceful and hopes that giving up the fancy stuff for wheels will help him make better music. Whether he’s playing guitar on his little patio or playing shows around town with his band, he’s writing his own story.
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