NORTH AMERICA
Since 2015 I’ve been traveling around the North America living in vehicles, working from coffee shops, and having adventures along the way. In 2014 I spent 11 weeks on the road working full-time for a tech startup and caught the #VanLife bug. In 2015 I transitioned from an employee to a freelancer, got rid of anything that didn’t fit in the van, and left for the open road. Over the next 6 months I drove 20,000 miles, visited 22 states, 3 countries, and 11 National Parks. In 2016 I drove across Canada on the Trans-Canada Highway, taking several months and adding another 25,000 miles to the odometer. In 2018 I sold the van and replaced it with a Toyota Tacoma for more off road adventures and eventually drove that rig to the top of Alaska and the start of the PanAmerican Highway at the Arctic Ocean.
North America Videos
North America Highlights
Seeing The Sailing Stones in Death Valley
Published: July 1, 2023
Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
Published: November 14, 2017
Summer In Alaska
Published: October 30, 2019
Hiking The Wave
Published: March 6, 2017
Getting Stuck In Slab City
Published: June 9, 2016
Driving The White Rim Road
Published: March 1, 2019
All North America Posts
Brr, It’s Cold In Here – Back In The States
After 5 months in Europe it was time to move on. It had been an amazing summer exploring new places like Istanbul, Athens, and Crete, trying out a mountain town…
Spring In The States
Driving into Santa Barbara always feels like coming home, even though I haven’t lived there full-time since 2015. There’s definitely something about the sun, sand, ocean, and mountains that I…
Holiday Rambling
After a few months in Asia I headed home to spend the holidays with family. My flights took me from Tokyo to Indianapolis via San Francisco and it just so…
A Year Domestic
After getting “stuck” on Koh Lanta during the pandemic and spending more than a year and a half abroad it felt good to be finally home in the United States….
Living Full Time In A Slide-In Pop-Up Truck Camper
I’ve been living in vehicles since 2014, starting in a Honda Element, upgrading to an ’85 VW Westy, moving into an off-road equipped Toyota Tacoma, and recently adding the luxurious comfort of a…
Fall In The Lower 48
After spending the summer wandering the wilderness of Alaska, Las Vegas was a shock to my system, and 10 days working at a trade show in Sin City left me…
Alaska Road Trip – Valdez, Haines, & Yukon
Having wrapped up our Arctic Ocean adventures and exploring the Kenai Peninsula, we were excited for the last few Alaskan stops before returning to the Lower 48. Driving out of…
Alaska Road Trip – Anchorage & Kenai
After driving the Dalton Highway to the Arctic Ocean and back, we resupplied in Fairbanks, cleaned the truck, and were ready to move on. Our first stop along the Parks…
Driving The Dalton Highway
The Dalton Highway is one of the most remote roads in the world, connecting Fairbanks, Alaska to the Arctic Ocean at Prudhoe Bay. Often referred to as the “Haul Road”,…
Crewing The Western States Endurance Run
After 5 years of qualifying and entering the lottery, my brother was finally selected to run the 2019 Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run. He put together a serious training program…
Driving The Alaska Highway In A Truck Camper
Another Born To Run Extravaganza had concluded and I’d somehow survived. My body needed a detox, and after a week of festivities with my wild dirtbag hippie friends I was…
Moving Into Terk The Truck Camper
After a several month renovation project in Indiana I was finally moving into my truck camper. I rolled west, making my first stop in Denver to visit my brother. Unfortunately,…
Driving The White Rim Road
In February of 2019 my brother joined me in Canyonlands National Park with the goal of driving the White Rim Road, a 100 mile, off road track in Utah. I’d…
Remodeling A Slide-In Pop-Up Truck Camper
In February 2018 I was drinking a bottle of wine in New Zealand when I found a 2002 Toyota Tacoma on Craigslist in Colorado. A few hours later my brother…
Summer In A Truck Camper
It was a whirlwind of a spring, from exploring New Zealand in a campervan, to buying a Toyota Tacoma in Denver, flying back and building my home in it, and…
Living In A Truck Camper
I spent the summer of 2018 living a truck camper that I custom built in a first generation Toyota Tacoma. Since 2015 I’ve lived in a Honda Element, an old…
Western Ramblin’
The summer kicked off with Born To Run and was quickly followed by Race Across America. I enjoyed both, but was looking forward to hitting the open road with less…
Crewing The Bear 100
When my brother registered for The Bear 100 he asked if I’d be willing to crew him. I’d be two weeks past my Plain 100 race and able to drive…
The Plain 100
Several years ago Luis Escobar said “Hey Tarzan, you should check out the Plain 100, a self supported 100 mile race up in Washington.” I thought that was crazy and…
Race Across America 2017
Race Across America is the world’s toughest bicycle race, so naturally, I was in. The wheels started turning for RAAM in 2016 when I crewed my friend Rob for his…
Born To Run 2017
There few certainties in this vagabond life that I’ve built. Taxes, oil changes, weekly showers, and Born To Run. #KeepItSimple I returned to North America from El Grande Sur in…
Colorado Trail Fail
My goal was to hike the 485 mile Colorado Trial in less than 14 days.Mother Nature had other plans. While contemplating an upcoming 100 mile running race I remembered how…
Winter Ramblings
The best way to ring in the New Year is to run a beer mile with your closest friends at midnight! Well, I’m not sure if that’s actually the best…
Hiking The Wave, Arizona
The Wave sits peacefully in no man’s land at the border of Arizona and Utah. This unique sandstone formation displays vivid red desert strata that have been eroded overtime into…
Westward Westy
I thoroughly enjoyed exploring Canada and driving through New England, but my heart, and Tantor’s motor, were both yearning for the place we feel most at home, the Southwest. Before…
Nuevo England
I approached a federal border crossing one last time to bring an end to my Great Canadian Road Trip. I’d enjoyed bouncing between the United States and Canada all summer,…
The Great Canadian Road Trip – Part 2
After a brief visit to the United States my Great Canadian Road Trip continued in Ontario. I left Chicago, crossed Michigan, and made it through the border crossing with no…
The Great Canadian Road Trip – Part 1
While basking in the February South American sun on a beach in Ecuador I wondered, “What should I do for the summer?” The previous year I spent 6 months driving…
Crewing RAAM 2016
Crewing RAAM 2016 was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Period. Writing a blog post about crewing RAAM was the second hardest thing I’ve ever done, which explains why this…
Top 7 Things To Do In Slab City
Slab City is an off grid “community” in the Southern California desert a few hours inland from San Diego. Originally built in the 1940’s as a military base, by the…
Born To…Run?
My training regimen for Born To Run 2016 was simple. Eat lots of burritos, shower less, drink cheap beer, and oh yeah, run a little. Each year the Born To…
Running Rim-To-Rim-To-Rim…Again
It all started in Ecuador. Tyler and I were each on our 5th bomber of Ecuadorian Pilsener (think PBR, but cheaper) when a buddy from the States messaged and said,…
20,000 Miles
24,901 Miles – The distance around the earth 20,000 Miles – The distance I traveled in my van around the United States in 2015 In March of 2015 I bought…
Arizona
I could almost hear a sigh of relief from Tantor as we slowed to a park in front of Grandpa’s townhouse. 20,000 miles in 5 months was a lot to…
Go Westy Young Man
Leaving Florida I had 10 days until I needed to be in Arizona for Thanksgiving. It wasn’t a lot of time, considering that I wanted to see new cities, visit…
Florida
I woke up sweating in a truck stop gas station just a mile north of the state line. The overnight temperatures hovered near 80, meaning I had a warm balmy…
Georgia
My first stop in Georgia was Hiawassee to see Jim and Maggie, our first “Trail Angels” on the Appalachian Trail in 2012. They had met us the day that we…
Appalachia
The day that I left Indiana I woke up on a couch in my buddy’s basement, which was good because it was below freezing inside my van in his driveway….
Back Home Again In Indiana
I speed across The Great Plains (read as ‘I pressed the pedal to the metal and almost hit 65’), focused on reaching Chicago and kicking off my 3 week visit…
The Great Plains
With Tantor back in running condition we were ready to cover some miles. I had a few more places I wanted to see in Wyoming and South Dakota, but then…
Broken in Bighorn
Sunday morning I woke up at 3:00 AM in a Walmart parking lot in Cody, Wyoming. “Am I moving too fast?” I pondered. “Should I slow down and enjoy this…
Yellowstone Take 2
On a crisp autumn morning I drove toward Yellowstone National Park through patchy clouds below snow capped peaks. My first visit to Yellowstone had been just one month ago, but…
Glacier National Park
I had a few simple goals for my visit to Glacier National Park. Stand on a glacier Unplug for a few days Not get eaten by a grizzly bear The…
Washington
I was looking forward to my visit to Seattle, partly because I had never been to the city, but mostly because my cousin Brad had just arrived in town for…
Oregon Coast
It was late August and I’d been FunEmployed and living on the road for just over 2 months. Most of that time I’d been staying with family, sleeping indoors, with…
Going Green TV Interview
Living in a van has a lot of benefits…simplicity, freedom, adventure, and this week I was interviewed by Brooke Welch of WFFT-TV in Fort Wayne, Indiana about going green and…
Ashland, Oregon
I drove east along the Oregon Trail and got lost in the nostalgia of sitting in the middle school computer lab, shooting pixilated deer, and praying that I wouldn’t drown…
Yellowstone
I left Breckenridge and drove north through Colorado and into Wyoming, covering 500 miles in a single day. It was more driving than I like to do in one stretch,…
Colorado
My first month of FunEmployment was spent based in Arizona, as well as traveling to Michigan and the Appalachian Trail in New England. I had not slept in the van…
First Stop – Arizona
It was 5:00 PM on Friday, June 12, 2015. I closed my laptop, opened a cold beer, and exhaled. Ahhhh…I was finally…unemployed. Well, self employed, but like my buddy Luis…
Scott Jurek on the Appalachian Trail
When Luis Escobar asks “Do you want to do something epic?” you should either sit down, or run away. You never know what to expect. You might end up hitchhiking…
The Prescott Circle Trail
While sitting around having Arizona craft brews with my family I mused, “I think I’d like to run the Prescott Circle Trail someday…maybe even before I leave town next month.”…
Back to Backpacking
There we were. Three novice backpackers (rookie may be a better term), standing at the check in counter of LAX with one way tickets booked to some backwoods shelter in…
Brittany’s Birthday In Yosemite
What does a van dweller get his girlfriend for her birthday? Good question. A special coffee table book? Nope, no coffee table. A new sweater? He could, but then she…
Living Free In Death Valley
“What are you doing this weekend?” a co-worker asked. “Heading to Death Valley!” I enthusiastically replied. “Really, is there anything cool to do in Death Valley?” Ummmm….yes. Friday after work…
Re-Creating in Big Sur
Recreation. Re-Creation. To create anew, restore, refresh. As 2015 began, we knew that we not only needed adventure and recreation for the fun, but to also continually “re-create” ourselves, to…
Adventures In Yosemite
Three years ago we stood atop Half Dome, enjoying the grandiose views of the Yosemite Valley, arms still shaking from pulling ourselves up the cables (okay, mine were shaking because…
Running with the Spirits of the Navajo – Canyon de Chelly Ultra
The day was perfect. We moved through cool high desert air, the sun peaking out behind the canyon walls turning everything bright red, the gentle breeze blowing through the leaves…
Man Against Horse 50 Mile Race
I ran an obstacle race last weekend. I know…I’ve said I would never run a Tough Mudder/Warrior Dash, but this one was a little different. I ran 50 rugged miles…
Summer Vagabonding
Vag·a·bond (ˈva-gə-ˌbänd) 1: moving from place to place without a fixed home: wandering 2: of, relating to, or characteristic of a wanderer My life changed a lot in 2014. I…
Running with the Hopi
As my nine week summer vagabond around the country came to an end I had the option to drive back to Santa Barbara on Saturday and spend Sunday at the…
Chris Clemens – Burning River 100 Mile Run
“Should I do it?” I asked with my finger hovering over the submit button. It was New Years Eve in Santa Barbara and I was at Figueroa Mountain Brewing with…
Crewing Through Hell
“What are you doing in July?” That’s how it all started. A simple question, a few quick words that lead to crewing the Badwater 146, sweat evaporating out my pores…
Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim
It started with a mug of Pale Ale at Figueroa Mountain Brewing, as most good ideas do. We were sweaty, smelly, and dusty from the Rancho San Juan preview run….
Katahdin – I AM DONE!
July 21. SUMMIT DAY! I wasn’t too cold overnight…which was good, but it also meant that I slept in until 5 AM. No matter, I thought if I woke up…