Crazy Brave Adventure

Our “Vanniversary” Stats

It’s been a full year since we turfed most of our belongings, handed over the keys to our home and headed off on this crazy brave adventure.

We remember the wobbly, on-the-ledge feeling we had while “camped” in the driveway of our emptied out house, and also the giddiness of setting off down the road, full of high hopes and a bare-bones plan for the future.

Do we regret it? Not a bit.

We weren’t sure if a low-top, self-built van like Stevan, would be comfortable in the long term. Would our 12 year old dog, Milo, adjust to life on the road? What about that disturbing lack of toilet and shower? How would we manage financially? Emotionally? Would all that “together time” fray our easy relationship? Would we be bored or anxious, unhappy or frazzled?

Nope. Nope, and Nope. Turns out, living in a van was a great fit for us.

We’d planned to “van life” it until we didn’t want to anymore. A year later, we still want to.

This month, we are reflecting on our year of campervan living, its joys and challenges. Maybe we’ll set some goals for the year to come. Maybe we’ll keep winging it. For sure we’ll share some thoughts about all that in our coming posts.

Today, though. We’ll share a few statistics we compiled over our first year of van living.

A Year of “Van Living” by the Numbers

On The Road

30,000 –Miles driven since we set off from our hometown of Colrain, Massachusetts

28 –US states visited

4 –Canadian provinces visited

19 –National parks and monuments visited

10 Dips in Natural Springs (From cool clear springs in Florida, to the ritzy spas of Arkansas, and the steamy sulphery baths of Wyoming, Colorado, Montana and British Columbia, we loved them all!)

2 Times we got stuck in the mud and used our traction boards (AKA “Get out of jail free cards” to extricate ourselves)

6 New Playlists created on Spotify

Uncounted The many, many miles of dirt and gravel roads over which we bumped and bottomed out in pursuit of dispersed campsites, cool rocks and remote hiking opportunities

Van Design

1 Change we made to our original van build (We added a cupboard/bookshelf behind the driver’s seat)

2 Additional solar panels bought to efficiently charge our Jackery Power Station

2 Systems added to provide cell service/wifi on the road (We bought a weBoost sytem early on but found it didn’t meet Dan’s work needs and upgraded to Starlink )

4 Times we pulled it all out and rearranged all the stuff in the van

5 Times we actually used our inflatable kayaks (We ended up giving these away in August)

10 Gallons of fresh water we typically carry in our van

3 Times we drove off and accidentally ditched our multipurpose bucket. (The lidded bucket is a seat, trashcan, recycle bin, and– when absolutely needed– a toilet. A crucial item for sure!)

0 Times we converted our bed into a booth for daytime use (This was a definite design fail)

We Slept Here

188 Different campspots in total (We definitely zipped around waaay too much. Hoping to slow down a bit in the future. Yep, I said that 8 months ago but we are still working on it.)

50 National Forest Campgrounds (Ranging from $3-$12 with our America the Beautiful half price “Senior” pass)

40 State parks, forests, and recreation areas (These ranged from free to around $30. We mostly stayed at the cheaper ones, or those that gave us half price with the America the Beautiful Senior Pass. In the midwest and southeast, we had fewer choices and resorted to these more developed spots pretty often.)

38 National Forest Free Dispersed Campsites (LOVE these! For most of the year, we were limited by our need for cell signal but, no more. With the Starlink system, we plan to disperse camp even more in the year to come.)

23 “stealth” or urban campspots …Not our favorite, but we “camped at” Cracker Barrels, Love’s truck stop, rest areas, fishing piers, boat ramps, town centers, marinas, train stations, even a university parking lot! However, we have yet to stay at Walmart. Want to learn more about stealth camping? Check out THIS POST from our friend at Autogenic Amusements

17 Town or county campgrounds (We love the low-key camping spots small towns offer. Many are free or by donation. Especially enjoyed the ones in Lander, WY and Meeker, CO this summer.)

10 National Park Campgrounds (We love national parks, but aren’t so fond of their expensive, crowded campgrounds. An exception was Alamo Campground in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, which we loved.)

8 “Moochdocks” or stays with family or friends

6 Private Campgrounds (An option only when we needed wifi, electricity, or shelter from the elements pretty desperately. A tornado warning, an early snowstorm: fun times, fun times.)

5 Airbnbs (We shared inside spaces to visit with family and friends a few times over the year. Costly, but not so bad when you share the expense)

1 Motel (One rough day when Dan had COVID in Quebec)

Stevan’s Stats

2 Unexpected vehicle repairs (A blown spark plug in Florida and new shocks in Michigan)

2 New tires (due to the bad shocks above)

2 New brakes

2 New rotors

6 Oil changes

14 Miles per gallon average (Yep, he’s a guzzler!)

2 Nifty magnetic work signs given to us by our brother in law, Mike, to up our stealth camping game

Milo’s Miles

13 1/2 Milo’s age as of this post (His birthday is in November)

9 Self Serve dog washes

2 Full haircuts

1 Vaccination update

3 Times he slipped his leash and had his own crazy brave adventures. We are planning a post about these soon

1 Emergency vet visit

1 Moose met along the trail (Luckily, it didn’t really mind a hoarse old dog barking at it)

Countless New canine and human friends made along the way

A Speedy, Slow Year

Well, that’s the long and short of it! It’s hard to believe a whole year has passed!

Each day on the road is long– chock full of new challenges and sights. But, strangely, the time moves quickly, jumping ahead like like a stop motion film. We’re here and then there, doing this, doing that.

Often we wake up and have to remind ourselves exactly where we are. It is a strange way to live. But we love it!

See you on down the road!