An ex-Google worker has revealed how he lived at the firm's campus in Mountain View, California, for 54 weeks between 2005 and 2006, kicking off a trend.
Matthew Weaver told the BBC that he had been dared to spend a year based out of a campervan parked on one of the company's lots.
He added that while he believed he was the first to do so, several others later followed his lead.
Google and other major tech firms are renowned for the perks they give staff.
"They had three meals a day at the cafeteria and there were showers at the gym that were also on campus, so I would shower at the gym, eat at the office," Mr Weaver recalled.
"There was a free laundromat on campus, so I could wash my clothes.
"There were all sorts of rooms with pianos and foosball tables [table football], and all these kinds of things, so I had plenty to do when I was taking a break from work.
"And we had places in the parking structure where I could work on and maintain my bicycle."
Security approved
The former Google staff site ecologist explained that rather than try to hide his presence, he placed a white picket fence and astroturf in front of his vehicle for a time.
"Security didn't mind," he added. "This was all the way back in 2005 and Google was a much smaller company then. A little bit more closely knit.
"Once security figured out it was me, they knew who I was, and they basically kept an eye on the place for me.
"I'm pretty sure I was the first. Towards the end of those 54 weeks and the two or three years that followed people would come and ask me questions.
"They would be like, 'I'm thinking about living on campus, do you have any advice?'"
He added that he had been comfortable with the lifestyle, but eventually moved out because it had become "a bit weird" to explain it to women he was dating.
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