Last night, prompted by a recent engine failure and subsequent upgrade, Damon of NRWSTR put together a beer and vans get together here in Portland. In just a matter of day or two, we came out of the woodwork and descended upon HUB brewing – rolling in deep with about 8 vans and one Sunrader (bound.for.nowhere‘s new rig.) While hanging out with these folks, it reminded me of how small and amazing this community is. […]
Read more
After escaping the chill of eastern Oregon in winter (Feb 1st) I headed south and spent the majority of the winter somewhere in the state of California. Honestly, in retrospect, I think I spent a lot more time in that state then I had previously envisioned. That being said, I have no regrets about my decisions to follow the paths made available and to saying yes to whatever the world was sending my way. Fast […]
Read more
There are two major aspects of living in a Vanagon that appealed to me. One, the shear adventure of being able to roam as desired. The second is the freedom of living simply. The past year I had lived in a tiny house I helped build in Terrebonne Oregon, and at 240 square foot, the place felt quite a bit bigger than necessary. The next logical step, take it to the road and move into […]
Read more
Life is full of forked roads, vanlife is no different. I often find myself thinking about where I am and how I got here, and how little decisions, made by me or for me, have led me to the place I am today. The other night I was thinking about college. In 2006 I was on the path to get my B.S. in Finance, but then when it came time to take my first finance […]
Read more
Some people come into our lives just as quickly as they leave. Passing through a moment in time where, for whatever reason, our paths cross and conversation is started. These brief interactions bring so much to our lives, if even for a minute. People that know me would likely classify me as an introvert. At a party, I am more likely to be hanging out with those I came with, rather than mingling around the […]
Read more
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 […]
Read more
Whenever I drive through an old town I instantly scan for a saloon. I don’t know why, but there is something about sitting in an old saloon and drinking a beer that is deeply satisfying. It’s as close as I will probably every get to time travel. I just sit there and look around and try to imagine being there 100 years earlier. Today was no different. On a sunny day drive out west of […]
Read more
Last time I moved into a van I feel like there was more planning, more projects, more everything, before I headed out. Today I left the tiny house I helped to build a little over a year ago. In a whirlwind of packing and ultimately just throwing things in a box and saying I would figure it out in the coming days, I rushed out of Terrebonne in hopes of missing the snow storm that […]
Read more
My tiny house, with everything in its place, looks to be far more room than necessary. There are numerous drawers and shelves with nothing in them or on them. Sometimes I even move things that could all fit on one shelf to another, just so that it doesn’t look so empty. The opposite of that is happening right now, however. Most of my stuff is out of the drawers and cubbies, strewn all over the […]
Read more
…and sometimes it doesn’t work out. In December I let my sister know that I would be moving along come the end of January, which would give me the sense of urgency I needed in order to get things wrapped up. 30 days to sell the remainder of my non-necessities, to finish up the remaining van projects, and to get things in order for a couple months of travel. At the end of December I […]
Read more