Readying for the road

In January 2015, we begin our next adventure: traveling North America by van.

The idea first came to us in June. Chris and I had just arrived in Tulum for the last leg of our one-year sabbatical. We’d spent a lot of time in big cities, and were excited to be in a relaxed, tropical paradise.

 

 

It was nighttime, and our earlier conversation was still going through my mind. What if we don’t have to choose a place to live next? What if we could live everywhere and keep traveling? What would that life look like?

I was browsing Airbnbs in different parts of the U.S. when I came across an unusual housing option: renting a minivan camper. It was so clever, so simple. And looked so liberating! I emailed it to Chris before going to sleep.

 

The next morning, he said, “That van you sent was really cool!” We indulged in some fantasies about van living, just like we do about tiny houses, and dropped it.

But it turns out we lit a spark. Over the coming months, as we talked about different plans, the van idea kept coming back up.

Fast forward to late October when, one year after our leap year began, we held the keys to our new (to us) minivan. What started as a crazy idea became a reality! We named her Red Delicious and immediately got to work converting her to a camper.

We took her on some test camps to try out the setup and make adjustments as needed. We were pleasantly surprised by how comfortable it was, but continued to make changes based on what we learned.

 

So now we’re preparing to hit the road in early January, making our way across the southwest and the south. From there, who knows? That’s the whole idea.

On this blog, we’ll share what we learn about living and working on the road, as well as tidbits from the places we visit.

Since it’s your first time here, we recommend:

• Checking out the video tour of Red Delicious
• Subscribing to receive posts by email (use the sign-up form in the sidebar)
• Listening to our road trip Spotify playlist — and perhaps adding a few songs to surprise us on the road

Thank you for your support and for following our adventure!

xo,

Tamara, Chris & Holly