Our 2023 was spent on the road living in Stevan, our self-built, low-budget Ford Econoline van. While our year began and ended with family on the West coast of Florida, we looped through a great swath of the continent. Wandering North, then around the province of Quebec, the Great Lakes, the West, British Columbia, the Pacific Coast, desert Southwest, and finally back to the Southeast: In short, we’ve been everywhere, man!
Along the way we visited with family members we hadn’t seen in a long time, celebrated big birthdays and a bar mitzvah, and pushed our comfort zone on rough roads and stealthy camping spots. We also sold our house, an emotional (though welcome) event that deserves its own post.
We are truly nomads now. Many things that seemed noteworthy in the beginning of our year are old hat. We can cope with extreme weather and “parking lot” style camping (still don’t like them much). We are down with rough roads and cacti and wild campsites. And we made some awesome new nomadic friends along the way. Among these, are Paul and Vicki of Gekko RV. Their “2023 by the Numbers” post, inspired this one.
2023 by the Numbers
20,000 (ish) Miles driven
367 Instagram posts
184 Different campsites
62 Masters Theses read and graded (Dan’)
36 Novels read (Perri)
25 States Visited
22 Blog posts written
15 National Parks visited
15 House-stays with friends and family
14 Years our old dog Milo’s been part of the family
11 Hot spring soaks
10 Playlists created on Spotify
6 Ferries taken
5 Max number of days boondocking in one spot
3 Canadian provinces visited
3 Whales spotted (none of them belugas, though)
2 Grizzlies observed
2 Worn tires replaced
2 Van Repairs: Shocks in MI & brakes in Wyoming
2 Times we used the “get out of jail free cards”
2 Audiobooks “read” together
1 New membership (Harvest Hosts)
1 System upgrade (Starlink)
1 New fan installed (Our Maxxair fan‘s motor failed)
1 Stowaway mouse (!!!)
1 Night the mouse was with us before we caught it
1 Emergency vet visit
0 Regrets
Numbers can only say so much
2023 was one for the books. For us, living on the road is just “living” now. And although it isn’t as comfortable as “house living”, it more than makes up for it in adventure and new experiences. We’re going to keep at it!
We are looking forward to sharing stories from 2024
I love a numbers post! I wish I had kept track of the different places we have slept and the number of different beds (from house sitting) we have slept in. It’s 12 years now, it would take a while to remember them all.
It amazing how after you do this for a while you have less and less worry. I used to always have a plan or a back up plan, but now, hey, I live in a van, I can sleep anywhere.
So great you got to spend time and reconnect with family.
That’s a lot of miles. And Master Theses graded. That seems like a crazy amount to me!
You need to go to Baja and up that whale number for this year!
Thanks, Duwan! Your 12 years of travel are an inspiration to us! Our Google Travel Maps really help us keep track of the places we have slept –wish it was that easy for us to track our budget! Maybe our priorities need adjusting 😉 I (Perri) like to joke about Dan’s laidback work situation, but he puts in a lot of hours. We definitely want to go to Baja… hoping for next year!