NORTH AMERICA
Since 2014 I have been traveling around the United States living in a van, working from coffee shops, and adventuring at every opportunity.
In 2014 I spent 11 weeks on the road, visiting friends and family in Arizona and Indiana, and working full time for a tech startup in Santa Barbara. The experience gave me a taste of #VanLife on the road and I wanted more. In 2015 I transitioned from a W2 employee to a 1099 freelancer, got rid of anything that didn’t fit in the van, and left for the open road. For the next 6 months I drove 20,000 miles, visited 22 states, 3 countries, 11 National Parks, and worked on freelance projects in coffee shops along the way. In 2016 I drove across Canada on the Trans-Canada highway, taking several months and adding another 25,000 miles to the odometer. 2017 was another van tour of the west, and in 2018 I sold the van and replaced it with a Toyota Tacoma for more off road adventures.
ALL NORTH AMERICA ADVENTURES
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 50's it was closed and [...]
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 Run Ultramarathons becomes less of [...]
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, "Hey, do you want to [...]
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 an old Volkswagen van and [...]
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 ask of a 30 year [...]
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 friends, and get my feet [...]
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 night trying to sleep in [...]
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 started our Thru-Hike and told [...]
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. I let the defrost melt [...]
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 home with some cold beer. [...]
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 my sights were set on [...]
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 trip a little more? Or [...]
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 I was already yearning for [...]
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 first two I could do [...]
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 work and I'd have someone [...]
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 access to hot showers and [...]
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 VanLife. Watch the interview below. [...]
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 while fording the river, only [...]
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, but I had places to [...]
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 a single night since leaving [...]
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 Escobar is fond of saying, [...]
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 across Death Valley in 130 [...]
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." My uncle looked at my [...]
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 north Georgia. We were on [...]
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 would need to get rid [...]