The starter went out somewhere in New Mexico, or was it Arizona? Regardless, it wouldn’t get replaced till Oklahoma City. I would pass through a lot of country before finally being able to start the van with a key again. Every parking spot was first scouted for incline and clearance. Gas stations were timed to ensure easy exit pushes. Every stop was questioned. Did I really want to explain to one more person that I […]
I’m not proud of the fact that I have a Pinterest account, or of the amount of time I spend looking at expedition vehicles on it. Let’s just say it is more than I feel is healthy. Hours of my life have been spent falling down the rabbit hole of what ifs. The long list of which rig and why. The figuring of how much I could sell my van for and how far that […]
I have spent a needless amount of time thinking about my van, just as a general statement. My previous two vans were tin-tops, i.e. no pop-top. So the idea of a high top conversion was always on my radar. Well, I now have an ASI Riviera, which has the vertical type pop-top, as opposed to the angled Westfalia version. The upside is that it has a low profile when not in use, and then simply […]
When I lived in my last Vanagon and traveled all over the US for 6 months, Santa Cruz, one of the first places I stayed, was my all time favorite. Sure, it is a beautiful little city and the coffee and cookies at Verve Coffee are so good I went out of my way to stop there this time around; but the best part of Santa Cruz was the “office”. In 2012 it was the […]
If you have been following along, my last post So you think you want a Vanagon huh?, addressed the romanticized concept of vanlife – specifically in a regards to the VW Vanagon. These vans are, at their newest, 25 years old and are all wearing out. Mine and my dad’s are no different. While my van is suffering through snow and sub-freezing temperatures back in Bend Oregon, not to mention an engine transplant, I am […]
Your Instagram feed is full of vans in cool locations, filled with happy campers, and a dog or two. The #vanlife is your favorite hash tag. Your new goal in life right now is to live out of a van, and what better van than the VW Vanagon? I mean, it has such a great following and is the epitome of a road trip vehicle. A current theme I see in my feed is a […]
As with all things, there must be a beginning. For me, the first step is the structure of this site and getting things up and running. I have already been working on the Vanagon, and will get to that build in the next post. But here, now, I want to quickly tell you a little about me, this site, and what the end goal is here. At the end of 2011 I purchased my first […]