The Open Road is an iconic image.

Watery waves of heat rising off the blacktop, wheels purring as they rush over asphalt. The ever-changing picture show rolling by outside: the motley greens of a forest, the pastel brushstrokes of a desert, the sharp lines of a mountain, the open blue sky over a canyon. The windows rolled down, the radio turned up, and all the world before you, accessible from the endless miles of connecting roadways that weave and curve and loop their way across the land.

The road has always called to me. After graduating college, I decided to answer it. I packed up, built a tiny home into the back of a cargo van, and took off. Every step of the way was an adventure, from buying the van to saying goodbye to it.

You can read about it all here, starting with buying the van and converting it into a tiny home, a process which took 2 years. I took two major trips in the van: the first through Canada and around Alaska, and the second in a loop around the United States. Ultimately, Danica and I visited 25 American states and 4 Canadian states together, including national parks, capital cities, historic sites, and more.

Unfortunately, I realized that as great an experience traveling with Danica was, van life wasn’t really for me. In 2020 I decided to sell Danica and use the money to embark on new adventures, which you can read about on Pushpins and Passports.

Posts tagged Progress

Making Great Headway

For about 60 seconds I felt like I was going to pass out with horror, but the solution is pretty obvious and not that big of a deal, even if it wasn’t going to turn out super pretty.

Construction 101: My Journey From Clueless to Clued-In

I don’t think I’d ever so much as touched a saw of any kind, I had no idea that 2x4 really meant 1.5 inches by 3.5 inches, and the descriptions of some of these screws sounded like gibberish to me (how can a screw be both a Phillip’s and flat? Why is it a #8 but it’s 2 inches long?).

Pre-TripCarson CostaMay 31, 2019Carpentry, Wood Working, Drills, Things Breaking, Progress, Problems, Walls, Flowers, Vanlife, Van Build, Furring, Framing, Learning, Sealant, Subfloor, Self-doubt, Inner Thoughts, Planning, Mishaps, Time Crunch, Tools, Layout, Trial Run Comments

The First Major Mishap (And Hopefully the Last)

We tugged, and yanked, and pulled, and wiggled, and pled. It was completely anchored down, not moving an inch, and I realized I’d made a massive mistake.

Pre-TripCarson CostaApril 21, 2019Mishaps, Insulation, Panic, Progress, Self-doubt, Van Build, Vanlife, Subfloor, Framing, Step, Time Crunch, Stress Comments

A New Plan, and Reflections So Far

I wanted this experience to change the way I live my life, to help me become the kind of person I want to be. Maybe it’s working.

Pre-TripCarson CostaApril 4, 2019Vanlife, Van Build, Insulation, Planning, Reflections, Inner Thoughts, A Peek Inside My Weird Brain, Progress, Goals Comments

The Open Road is an iconic image.

I wanted this experience to change the way I live my life, to help me become the kind of person I want to be. Maybe it’s working.