Four years ago today, we left our home in San Francisco with two backpacks and our best friend Holly. And just a few weeks ago, we unceremoniously returned our minivan camper Red Delicious back into a regular ol’ minivan and moved to Santa Barbara. We transitioned hard and fast into “normal” life: we have a “real” bed and “real”… Read more →
Red Delicious is retiring. That’s right: Beginning September 1, we will no longer be van-dwellers or full-time travelers. We’ll have been on the road for four years, with nearly three of them in our van. For those of you considering van life, do not despair! We have loved adventuring and do not regret van-dwelling at all. But we always said we’d do… Read more →
Van life isn’t always fun. Hip Instagram portrayals make it seem like one long, perfect, carefree daydream. We think van living is pretty great… except when it’s not. Sometimes, van living sucks. Sometimes, you don’t wake up to ocean waves or a bucolic park — you wake up outside a Walmart. It’s really important to us to be honest with you… Read more →
If you’re not familiar with IAmA on reddit, it’s when someone says who they are and encourages users to AMA, or “Ask me anything.” It usually looks something like this: I am a van-dweller who has lived in a minivan-turned-camper for 2+ years while traveling full time. AMA There are so many questions we get about the miscellaneous ins and outs of… Read more →
It’s hard to believe, but we’ve been living the van life for TWO YEARS. Here we are, about to embark in January 2015. So fresh-faced and full of anticipation! Since then, we’ve put 53,000 miles on Red Delicious. We’ve visited breathtaking national parks, hiked hundreds of miles, said tearful goodbyes to our best furry friend, prepared countless meals… Read more →
Don’t you ever get sick of each other? How did you agree you both wanted to do this? How do you get alone time? These are just some of the questions you might think about if you’re considering van-dwelling or traveling full time with your partner. Taking a relationship on the road — in close quarters — makes some people break… Read more →
Many of you have asked: How do you handle living so differently from other people? Is it hard? The short answer is no. It was difficult when we first got started though. Before we quit our jobs to take a traveling sabbatical, I (Tamara) had to pay a therapist to tell me I was not a bad person for wanting… Read more →
It’s no secret we think van living is awesome. I mean, this photo says it all. Swimming in the Fork River near the Idaho-Montana border But, in our travels, these five moral dilemmas have gnawed at us. Could van living be harmful? Here’s what we’ve determined. You can decide whether we’re reaching in our rationalizing or not. Dilemma #1:… Read more →
Welcome to the Pacific Northwest! We’re writing from Eel Lake State Park, a little north of Coos Bay, Oregon. Sorry for the silence; we’d spent a month in California visiting family and friends and catching up on work. The weather is beautiful here, so we’ve brought the tent. On warm nights, we sleep outside. On cooler nights like tonight, we… Read more →
We’re back in the West, logging more than 3,000 miles in a week. We camped at state parks, visited friends, and experimented with three types of free camping: dispersed camping, Walmart parking lots, and highway rest areas. If you’re wondering how to camp for free, read on for some tips! Dispersed Camping Dispersed camping in the Kaibab National Forest… Read more →