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.
Can You Experience Yellowstone National Park in Less Than 48 Hours?
With the surplus of people and deficit of safety measures, in addition to the sprawling area which made finding an overnight parking spot difficult, I decided to toss my four-day plan out the window and just try to do as much of Yellowstone as I could in as short a time as I could.
What to Expect If You Throw Your Keys Away in a National Park
And what the hey, if I was going to be stuck in the parking lot until Monday, apparently hallucinating trail information, and things literally falling apart around me, I figured I would just pop open a cold one and watch Disney movies.
Community in Nature: Welcome to the Rockies
I don’t have to know you, because in this small way, we’re the same. And we’re in it together.
From the Darkest Skies to City Lights: Salt Lake City
Follow your instincts, be spontaneous, discover things you never knew were there to be discovered.
And that’s how I discovered vanlife.
Wrapping Up Great Basin National Park
The Bristlecone Pines are worth a visit to the park all on their own. It’s difficult to capture the brutal elegance of their gnarled branches, the rich color of their weathered trunks.
The World From 13,000 Feet
It’s hard not to feel invincible standing at the end of the crest, the mountain dropping straight down on nearly every side, the world unfolding before you like a butterfly spreading its wings.
Crunch Time
I’m absolutely excited. Practically vibrating with joy and determination and general bubblegummy-ness. I’m also terrified.
The First Night Alone
It’s midnight when I finally stop, so wrung out that I stumble a bit as I drop down on the steps.
How to Build a Van Dweller
If we’d never hosted an exchange student, I don’t know what I would be, or if I would have this same urge to go, go, go.
Stepping Back in Time in Seattle
Basically, it’s educational, fun, affordable dining with great theming and a better view. If you’ve only got a few hours in Seattle, Smith Tower is the way to make the most of them.