0:01

You see all the van life photos, you watch all the van tours, but do you wonder what this nomadic lifestyle is all about?

0:07

Are you curious about life on the road?

0:10

Social media calls it hashtag van life.

0:13

We call it home. I'll ask 10 questions to get you the stories that you want to hear from the people who live, work and travel and adventure in this nomadic lifestyle.

0:24

Welcome to life on the road. Welcome to another episode of life on the road, where I ask 10 questions to get you the stories that you want to hear about her experience on the road.

1:07

Welcome, brittany.

1:09

Hi thanks, Chad.

1:10

Thank you for doing this. As we always start, please tell us your name, tell us a little bit about your job and shamelessly promote yourself.

1:23

Cool. Yeah, my name is Brittany, but, most importantly, my dog's name is Polly.

1:30

It's a little bit cold out here today, it is freezing.

1:34

once again, we are filming in ridiculously cold environments.

1:38

I can't believe we haven't headed south yet. What are we doing?

1:42

Well, you're gonna head south, I'm gonna stay north and ski, but I get it Soon enough, soon enough.

1:47

But yeah, my name is Brittany and I work in the psychedelic space full-time.

1:54

So I do microdosing, education and research, which always tends to be a fun topic amongst the van community, for sure and I also teach the Wim Hof Method.

2:06

So breath work and cold exposure Nice.

2:09

So despite that, we are in cold exposure right now Not a part of the Wim.

2:15

Hof Method no, I shouldn't hate this as much as I am right now.

2:18

Admittedly, I do.

2:21

I don't disagree with you and completely thank you for doing this in this crazy cold day that we're in Santa Fe.

2:29

Where can everybody find you?

2:32

Yeah, so the easiest place is on Instagram.

2:34

My Instagram handle is breathworkcaravan.

2:38

Technically, I have a website in the works, but it's been in the works for about six months, so Instagram.

2:46

Fair enough, I'm building one right now as well, so yes.

2:48

I understand that process.

2:50

Okay, it's time to learn about your life on the road.

2:53

Awesome Question one what was the beginning moment, cause or inspiration for living your life on the road?

3:03

Yeah, so the short, long story.

3:07

We're good with long stories.

3:08

Long stories are okay, Three to four hours yeah we'll see To be determined.

3:14

Yeah, so my journey as a nomad actually started about 10 years ago.

3:19

Okay, I was burnt out, overworked, depressed, living an overly urban lifestyle in Chicago, okay, and I'll spare some of the details.

3:30

But I had a very clear moment that if I wanted to feel better, I needed to change my environments, and at the time I was actually hosting couch surfers.

3:41

I've been hosting couch surfers for like a year, okay.

3:44

In Chicago.

3:45

In Chicago, okay, so that was a really cool experience, and there was one person in particular, this Italian man who was on a one-year sabbatical traveling around the world, and we were out for drinks.

3:59

It was actually the night that the Blackhawks won the World Series, so you know, Stanley Cup World.

4:05

Series Sports.

4:07

This is why I live in a van. I love it so perfect.

4:11

But yeah, that one was a little embarrassed, but you know they won the Cup this.

4:19

Yes.

4:20

Yes, and I remember saying to him I wish I could do what you do and his response was why can't you?

4:27

So that, alongside just knowing that I really needed to change something if I wanted to feel better, it spawns a backpacking trick around the world.

4:37

So I sold everything I owned, rented out my condo, backpacked for quite a long time, and then just kind of took every opportunity that came my way.

4:47

So lived in New Zealand for a year, lived in India for a while, moved to the Netherlands, lived in Portugal and yeah, so that was really eight years of my life.

5:00

And then the pandemic hit and unfortunately I had to leave Europe.

5:05

Where you going?

5:07

I'm sorry, that's alright, but yeah, I had to leave Europe and had to come back to the US.

5:18

Had a lot of anxiety figuring out where in the US I wanted to come back to.

5:23

Right, most of my roots are in Indiana and Chicago.

5:28

Did not want to go back to those places, so decided to live everywhere, and that was a little over a year ago, okay, so when you came back, though, was it something that you purposefully thought, okay, I want to live in a van and I want to travel.

5:44

Or it was like I still want to travel, I just don't know what the means are just yet.

5:49

Or did you have van life as a direct like that's what I want to do?

5:55

Yeah, it was more. This is what I want to do. It provided a solution to my problem, which was I didn't know where in the US I wanted to live and, admittedly, I've done a significant amount of travel around the world, so little travel in my own home country.

6:12

So, you know, at one point I definitely, you know, struggled with the thought of feeling forced to come back, and instead I eventually flipped it to I get to explore all of the wonderful things in the US that I've not yet had the opportunity to explore.

6:30

Sure, van life's really given that opportunity to me as well as, yeah, solving the problem of not knowing where I want to live.

6:40

Makes perfect sense. So when did you start?

6:42

Like what was the year you started?

6:44

I started. It's 2022.

6:47

So I started 2021. Okay, Literally just about a year ago.

6:51

Okay, so been on the road for about a year full time.

6:53

So in your van.

6:55

My van is Donna Louise. Donna Louise, she's a 1994 Ford Econoline Love it, we fight a lot.

7:03

We'll get into that, so okay.

7:07

Question number two what has been your experience with other nomadic travelers while living your life on the road?

7:16

Yeah, I mean, the nomadic community is a wonderful one and I brought in this to you know backpacking as well, not just my time on the road in the van, yeah, you've obviously spent a lot of time maybe more so traveling by backpack versus yeah, yeah, the nomadic community is so great because there's there's a lot of quick, deep connections that oftentimes happen.

7:49

It is not uncommon to meet people that it's very likely that you'll meet them then and maybe probably never, ever again.

7:57

Yeah, I oftentimes think with the nomadic community as well.

8:02

A lot of us are for lack of better term misfits that haven't really fit in with the normal lifestyle, and so almost always there tends to be an immediate connection with other nomads and conversations tend to be far less surface level.

8:22

Right out of the gate I can have a conversation with a fellow nomad and really get to know who they are and by the end of the conversation, not know where they're from, what they do for a living, all of these things that we tend to associate someone's identity with and with the nomad community.

8:38

Those things just matter so much.

8:41

More or less it's more just like you know you're this cool human in front of me and like let's, let's dig a little right out of the gate.

8:51

Like you know no time to waste or may not see you again, or, you know, if I do it, maybe months again from now.

8:56

Yeah, so definitely one of my favorite things about the community.

9:02

Well, and it seems like you know we share so many experiences of just our daily life, like you're referring to the things that, like people always want it, like the surface level stuff, like that we know we share, and so you always just skip right past that and get into, kind of, some of the more, kind of deeper things, trying to get to know people quicker and faster, which, yeah, do you feel that this is a community?

9:28

Oh, 100%.

9:32

Yeah, um, it's, it's a, it's a community where, at one point or another, um, many of us have had our frustrations, our struggles, our hiccups, our fuckups, our, I can say, fuck on.

9:49

Yes, 100% we're.

9:51

We're swearing friendly on the show.

9:54

All right, cool, um, but um, and through that, at one point or another, members of the community have always and will always step up to jump in support, yeah, um, and for me that's really what defines a community.

10:13

Yeah, and I think in a lot of our culture, um, those elements of if you have more than something, um, share it.

10:25

Um, if someone needs you, um, you support them.

10:30

Yeah, um, those things tend to be lost in this sort of individualized, um, privatized.

10:35

I don't want to share my struggles with anyone, um, I don't want to seem like I've had any failures, so I hide them from people, um, and in this community, oftentimes you can't, you can't hide Um, I mean, as much as some of us try to, you know, two weeks at a time, in the middle of nowhere, but um, yeah, uh, and I think that's really um, that's really it.

11:01

Everyone is just willing to look out for each other, support each other, to um, share what you have more of and also be willing to receive when you need to receive, which I think is the the flip, yeah.

11:12

As well. Yeah, no, I I think that you hit it.

11:15

You said it perfectly in a sense that you know it's been.

11:20

Maybe the biggest surprise for myself has been the willingness to help others.

11:25

You know, no matter what, like you know if you and everybody in the van community is going to find themselves at some point in need of help.

11:33

I mean, it's just kind of it's.

11:36

It's what happens when you live a life on the road, like you're going to need help and you know to be able to reach out to friends or even strangers.

11:44

Um, and find help is really, um, yeah, I think you hit it perfectly.

11:49

Um, okay, question three what is your biggest failure and what has been your biggest triumph while living your life on the road?

12:02

Um, I'll start with the triumph. Actually, um, and I wouldn't say, I wouldn't say there's a singular one per se, um, but my van is a self conversion and prior to doing my self conversion, um, you know, I'd used a hammer and a drill.

12:19

I've changed out a few light fixtures, but I'd never done any massive um, building or big projects of that sort.

12:26

So I would say the build itself is a huge triumph.

12:30

Yeah.

12:30

First of all Um, but also just the amount of problem solving Um stuff breaks.

12:37

Yeah.

12:38

All of the time, without fail. Whether you have a self build or a professional build, stuff will break.

12:44

It's just part of the part of the gig, yeah, Um, and I can confidently say that everything that's broken I've been able to somehow figure it out myself, which is um, you know, in in any other scenario, like if I was living in an apartment.

13:00

Yeah.

13:01

I've been called a handyman for half the stuff that's been broken in my van.

13:04

But when you're in the middle of the nowhere and you know on the road, on the road you don't have an address.

13:09

Yeah, it's not like you can just ping a handyman to like you know, come to the.

13:14

I am 15 miles out in BLM land.

13:16

Yeah, yeah, you can find me.

13:18

Yeah, I'm next to uh this one pile of Aspins.

13:23

Exactly.

13:23

Yeah, so, um, you know, just actually being able to figure out everything myself and not resorting to convenience when stuff happens.

13:34

Not that that's a bad thing, but, um, oftentimes you can't resort to convenience on the road.

13:40

Super satisfying, I imagine.

13:41

Yeah, I would say that's the biggest um triumph.

13:45

Okay.

13:46

Um the biggest.

13:48

Failure.

13:48

Failure. Um yeah, that's a really tough one.

13:59

I mean I've had some like tough moments on the road.

14:03

I've had things go wrong, but I'm not sure, specifically to the vehicle or?

14:08

It mostly the vehicle.

14:10

Like.

14:11

I said we fight a lot.

14:12

Yeah.

14:13

Um, but in terms of something being a failure, I don't know, I think that's just part of it and there's nothing that comes to mind that I'm like whoa, I'm so embarrassed or shamed.

14:29

That was shitty. Um, yeah, I think that's my answer.

14:35

I mean I love that in a sense, that I think we do this because we obviously love it, we obviously want to travel, we obviously want to experience things on the road, and so you know, I always say I don't have bad days, like it's one of those things where I'm doing something that I truly love to do and so even my worst days are truly not bad days.

14:58

So like to say that I love the fact that you're like I don't really have any failures, yeah.

15:04

And I mean that's not to say I don't like, like, I mean. I've.

15:07

So my van is old, the lights are not automatic Like they are in most people's cars.

15:12

Like I have this little old school pool switch, and if I don't turn it off, um and because when you live in the van as well, it's not uncommon to park and then go straight to the back of the van, so like I don't open my door right away, so then my van doesn't alert me that I've left my lights on.

15:31

So if you did dead batteries in your I've had a few dead batteries and before you make fun of me, like it was never in the dark, it was always like driving through fog.

15:38

And then I like park up for a work meeting and forgot to turn my lights off, so it was just not super obvious, although the two times I've done that right across from a mechanic, so like, if you're going to kill your battery, do it right across from a mechanic.

15:54

You could walk across the street and jump and you're good.

15:57

Yeah, exactly. So in that sense, my failures are smart failures.

16:02

They're good failures or proper place at the proper time, failures, okay, question four Did you start your life on the road as a single person and what is it like living as a single person on the road?

16:19

Yes and yes. Okay, yes, I did start out single.

16:24

I'm still single, love it, you know.

16:31

For me, I think, not that big of a challenge.

16:35

I've backpacked around the world by myself.

16:37

So, to be honest, living in a van actually has way more conveniences and living in a van in my own country, where I speak the same language as everyone and I know how things work, falling into it was pretty easy for me.

16:52

You know there are times, especially on long driving days.

16:56

I'm still working on teaching Polly how to drive.

16:59

We're not there yet.

17:01

She cannot wait for that day.

17:04

I think she's not thrilled. She's like two more years to get by licensed mom.

17:09

But you know, there are days where it would be nice to have someone to help do some of the driving, or it would be nice to have someone do some of the planning and help figure out where I'm camping for the night.

17:26

Those kind of things can get really exhausting and, I'm not going to lie, sometimes there is tiny envy when, you know, I know, van life couples are able to support each other in those ways.

17:40

Yeah, it's one of the things that I love about caravanning with others.

17:44

You know, I've caravanned quite a bit with a lot of my single lady friends and it is always so nice to be able to share the load a little bit, yeah, and support each other in that way.

17:55

Yeah, hi, yeah, polly's getting over a little bit of a cold, so she's okay.

18:04

Yeah, but yeah and other than that, I mean I get to make all of the decisions and I get to do what I want.

18:14

So there are upsides to being by myself as well, and of course I'm not fully by myself.

18:19

Yeah, polly makes a great companion.

18:21

Yeah amazing.

18:23

Dating on the road is interesting.

18:27

I mean, you led me right into my next question.

18:29

Yeah, traveling solo, and not only traveling solo dating-wise, but just even speak to traveling as a solo female traveler in your van, like whether you want to discuss dating or not, but just even traveling as a solo female traveler.

18:46

Yeah, so for the most part I felt safe the entire time I've been in my van.

18:54

Okay, I think I do exercise a little bit more caution than some of my male van lifers.

19:01

Yes.

19:02

There have been many spots where, for whatever reason, I just had this feeling that it just didn't feel quite safe and left.

19:09

And had I been caravanning with others or had I had, you know, a second person in my vehicle, maybe I would have camped out in those places, yeah, yeah.

19:19

I hear that more often than not is that my intuition said this doesn't feel good.

19:24

And the beauty of living in a van is you change your environment instantly Go on to the next place.

19:29

Exactly.

19:29

Yeah, and you know what's funny? Most of the time those places are public places.

19:34

I think most people who don't have this lifestyle assume that the most uncomfortable situations I would find myself in are in the middle of nowhere and it's actually like I'll get to Walmart and be like, oh, it just feels so sketchy in this parking lot, even though there's lights and like lots of people and cameras.

19:57

So most of the situations in which I've opted to leave have actually been more public places.

20:03

I have had one instance at a rust area where my van was blocked out so I couldn't see out.

20:11

I was settled in for the night.

20:13

Polly was growling for like an hour.

20:16

I had no clue why. It was super windy, so I just assumed like it was so windy.

20:20

It felt like there were two men, okay, pushing the van back and forth, so I assumed she was just upset because of the wind.

20:26

And after about an hour of her growling I got a knock on my van door.

20:32

So I like peeked out like super tiny.

20:35

Yeah, yeah.

20:36

And it was a female police officer, and so I opened the door and she's like ma'am, are you aware that there's a man who's been circling your van for an hour?

20:44

Wow, she's like several people have actually come into security on your behalf.

20:49

Oh, wow.

20:51

And asked if I felt unsafe and I was like well, now I do.

20:54

Yeah, exactly Now that I'm aware of this.

20:56

Yeah, and it was really strange because it was in a well lit rest area, a lot of people pulling over to sleep because the wind was so bad.

21:05

So I'm still uncertain as to what this gentleman thought he was going to get away with.

21:10

Yeah, but yeah, the police officer confronted him and he like spit on her feet and got really aggressive immediately.

21:17

So you know he was thinking something.

21:19

Yeah, yeah, you know. So, yeah, they had to escort him off property and park a police officer next to me so that I could comfortably sleep all night.

21:27

Wow, so it's the only situation I found myself in.

21:32

Yeah, and again, it was in a very public place, well lit, like super bizarre.

21:37

Yep, I often like we. I've talked about this with a lot of friends, and even friends that aren't van lifers, because it's a question that comes up all the time, and I always tell people I feel safest when I'm out in the middle of nowhere, when I'm out in the woods, when I'm out in the mountains, when.

21:52

But when I parked in a city even like I last night, like parking where I parked last night, yeah, it was nerve wracking to hear cars driving by and like to hear or see lights going by and those types of things.

22:04

So, yeah, I completely can relate to that for sure.

22:07

So you can talk about dating on the road if you want.

22:12

Yeah, you know it's.

22:14

I think my non nomad friends think that it's got to be harder and it in some ways it can be, but for the most part it's not like dating.

22:25

Dating in the world that we live in is just dating.

22:29

Dating where you know apps is how most people meet each other and you know everyone has this sense of FOMO and something else coming along.

22:40

That's better. You know, having to judge primarily based off of looks, it's challenging.

22:47

I do find. I try to be upfront about living in a van because I know it's a weird lifestyle.

22:53

Yeah, but it's who you are.

22:55

It's what you want. It's what you do.

22:56

Yeah Well, and of course I don't want anyone who's not going to be open minded to that, and I also don't want to give anyone any surprises For sure.

23:03

But what I struggle with about being upfront about that on my dating profiles is like the number of men that will message me simply because they're like oh, I've been thinking about doing that.

23:15

Can you give me some advice? What kind of van should I get?

23:17

And I'm like dude, like did all this research myself.

23:20

Exactly, you can as well.

23:22

Yeah, exactly A little thing called Google. You too Go watch a show, go watch a van tour.

23:27

Otherwise here's my booking link. You can pay me a hundred bucks for a consultation fee Amazing.

23:31

So that's frustrating.

23:34

And then also there is another segment of men who I think are also like oh cool, she lives in a van, like she's an easy one night hookup, so that's.

23:48

You know, it's annoying, but it is, yeah.

23:51

On the other hand, there are sometimes people that I meet who find me interesting because of the lifestyle that I've chosen, and they tend to be people that are just more open-minded and adventurous.

24:06

Yeah.

24:06

And which is obviously the type of person that's probably more aligned for me anyway.

24:12

Yeah, exactly, in general that makes sense.

24:15

I get it Well. Leads is a perfect lead into question number five.

24:19

What is the best place or craziest place you've had sex during your life on the road?

24:27

Funnily enough.

24:29

I love that.

24:30

It is in my van, and I say this because I barely fit in my van.

24:38

I have one of the smaller rigs on the road.

24:41

Yes, Hype-wise specifically yeah.

24:45

And, granted, there are people who live in low tops that are the same size, and God bless them, because I could never.

24:49

I can just stand up in my van.

24:53

I'm five, two. Yeah, polly and I barely fit in there together, and in fact one of the commands that she knows is beep, beep, and it means she has to back up because there's no room for her to like, turn around, and that was born out of living in the van.

25:11

So if I say beep, beep, she just starts walking backwards.

25:13

So there's not a whole lot of space for movement around here.

25:17

Yes, I have managed to fit one six foot man in my van.

25:21

God bless him. He's such a good sport, that's impressive.

25:27

I'm not sure if I should tell the rest of the story, but I'm going to.

25:30

So you know it is.

25:32

I know that it's possible. Yes, you have to get creative.

25:37

Yes, but creative can sometimes mean fun, but also it's so small.

25:44

Again, polly and I barely fit, and Polly's used to sleeping in bed with me.

25:48

Also, her nickname, despite how she looks right now, is party Polly.

25:53

Yes.

25:53

Because she likes to be part of the action. So, I'm pretty sure not pretty sure she did.

25:59

She managed to get to his balls before I could, so again he was a super good sport about it.

26:07

It made for lots of giggles and so that's amazing.

26:14

Yeah, my van your van it's the perfect, craziest place.

26:20

I absolutely love it. And yeah, your van is let's call it height challenged for sure.

26:26

Yeah, I mean, I've sat in your van and it's been like I'm super afraid of potentially hitting my head, but yeah, I mean, I can stand up in my van and I still hit my head like twice a day.

26:39

It's amazing. Okay, question six how do you make money while living on the road?

26:46

Oh, it's just a friend.

26:49

So guard dog don't fuck with me in the van, she'll get you.

26:54

Exactly. It's okay, babe. Yeah, so I'm really fortunate the job I had before Avan started living in the van.

27:03

It's a really small team, just me and the two co-founders, and because of that I've really had the opportunity to fully craft my role and how I wanna work in my work environment.

27:18

So I was remote before I even moved into the van.

27:23

Okay.

27:24

So that was really fortunate.

27:26

It can sometimes be a challenge.

27:29

I work for a Dutch company, so it's not in common for me to take work calls, sometimes at five or six AM.

27:34

Of course, living on the road also comes with just some tech frustration sometimes.

27:41

Sometimes, no matter how much you plan, no matter how much you test the service an hour before your Zoom call, it'll change and then can't get through.

27:53

Can't get through. But again, because we're such a small team and I've really had the ability to craft my role, my team is very flexible and willing to work with me, so that's really nice.

28:07

And then one of the other things that I'd like to do more of I have done a little bit of is just planning Wim Hof workshops along the way, and that's been really exciting, nice.

28:21

I like to do the occasional Wim Hof workshop in just really beautiful, random, crazy places, and it's not uncommon for me to run into people at campsites who are like Wim Hof.

28:33

I've always wanted to do that and for me to literally just lead like a free breath work session for the campsite it happens all the time Awesome.

28:39

So I don't necessarily do that for money, although I do make some income from it, but it's more of a little Passion projects.

28:47

Yeah, passion, and you know it's a fun gift to give others as well.

28:53

Yeah, for sure. Well, and I, before we like drift onto the next question I wanted to talk a little bit about what you do, cause what your your real job or how you make money is very interesting and is comes up a lot in van travel and nomadic travel, and I think it's genuinely very interesting.

29:13

So please talk about it a little bit.

29:16

Yeah, so I basically am COO Jill of all trades for an organization called Microdocene Institute.

29:24

We specialize in Microdocene education and community and research.

29:32

So for those who aren't aware of what Microdocene is, I think this is where we want to talk.

29:38

Yeah, this is what we want to get across, and how much longer do you have.

29:41

Yeah, exactly.

29:43

Maybe in the show notes I can draft some links for those who want to learn more.

29:48

100%. Yeah, microdocene is the practice of taking tiny, sub-pollucinogenic amounts of psychedelic substances on a semi-regular basis with the intention of improved quality of life, and that means many different things to many different people.

30:06

Sure, and yeah, I think one of the other big questions I get is like oh, microdocene shrooms, yes, but also Microdocene, lsd and Copyvine and Wachuma lots of different beautiful substances and plant medicines that we educate on and work with.

30:26

So, yeah, I basically I'm in the thick of a very interesting, beautiful, growing space and my organization has a lot of influence on where the space is going, and that's been really cool to see and be a part of it in that way as well.

30:53

For sure and again, genuinely, your work is just helping people improve their lives, which is obviously, I think, maybe the point, obviously, yeah, absolutely yeah.

31:05

Well, and it's not even on the individual level, but also on the collective level.

31:08

We and I really believe that when people are healthier, communities are healthier, and also plant medicines have a really beautiful way of connecting people back to the environment and the earth and, as a result, it's not uncommon for people who have experienced plant medicines to want to be more conscious humans in this world.

31:36

So, also in the big picture, it also supports heavily supporting our earth.

31:46

We're just a better community in general.

31:47

Yeah, so yeah, it's a fun thing to do and I'm super grateful for.

31:53

And you get to do it from the road, from the road.

31:56

yeah, which is great, yeah, exactly.

31:58

Okay, so let's get to the road.

32:01

What is your vehicle, who built it and why did you choose it?

32:06

To experience your life on the road.

32:10

So Donna Donna is a 1994 Fordaconoline.

32:15

Okay, when I decided to get into van life I had looked at many, many different kinds of rigs and when I was choosing to get into it and again a lot of it was the timing was because I sort of forced to come back to the US, but this was also a year after the pandemic Van life had to come more popular.

32:43

Yeah, 2020, yeah, early 2021.

32:48

Okay, and then also with supply chain issues, getting your hands on a van when I was looking was damn near impossible.

32:58

I trust me, I know.

33:02

And so, yeah, I had like six or seven vans lined up that all fell through.

33:06

I had originally been looking at a cargo van, but cargo vans were also.

33:11

The price was just like every month like increasing by 10% it felt like, yeah, especially that time 2019, 2020.

33:20

Like vans and any rig were just kind of pricing was going through the roof.

33:25

Yeah, it was insane. And then I'd see a van that felt like a great option or a great price and would call and it would be sold within two hours of being listed.

33:35

But it was just impossible. So I came across this van on Facebook and initially was just like what an ugly color Like that is so ugly.

33:45

I love it, I absolutely love it.

33:48

The ugliness is what makes it beautiful, yeah exactly, and I don't think it's ugly, I think it's truly vintage, which is amazing.

33:55

Yeah. So I went to go look at it and it had been sitting for a while because it had an engine misfire that no one could figure out.

34:07

So eventually, a year later, I finally found a mechanic who could figure it out and it was a misplaced spark plug.

34:18

So like this simple thing. Yeah, exactly.

34:24

But yeah, and I took a look on the inside and the inside when I got it, she was pimped out.

34:30

She had a TV, a VCR, super Nintendo.

34:34

Every seat had its own, like headphone jacks and controller jacks for Super Nintendo controllers, kasset player, satellite TV, 20 disc CD changer Amazing.

34:52

I felt pretty bad gutting her. Yeah, you know.

34:56

I mean the Super Nintendo. Come on, you got the Super Nintendo.

35:00

I know so, but got her I did.

35:04

And I did do a self conversion with the help of a friend who, admittedly, knew a little bit more about building than I did, but not a ton more.

35:14

So it was a learning process for both of us.

35:16

There was a lot of frustration, a lot of tears, a lot of really high highs, like, oh my God, did I just figure that out?

35:28

I remember when all of the electricity was like finally hooked up and like all of the solar and I turned the light on the first time, it worked.

35:36

It worked Like yeah. And same thing like when I figure out the plumbing and had like running water, I was like, did I just like, like I can do plumbing?

35:46

It's awesome. I built cabin tree. Yeah, it's self built, it's built with love.

35:50

Yeah, but like I built cabin tree, yeah.

35:52

So yeah, it was a cool process.

35:55

I'm really proud of it.

35:56

How long did the process take?

35:58

Five months. And admittedly, the build process was more like six weeks.

36:02

Gutting the van and then preparing it was the hardest part.

36:07

A lot of the seats, a lot of the bolts were rusted and even with like an angle grinder because of the angles, like you couldn't even use an angle grinder half the time.

36:20

So, like gutting the van took way more time than I realized.

36:26

And then of course, there were some, you know, rust holes on the floor that needed to be prepared and covered and things like that Right.

36:38

I mean these are things that I feel like people should know about.

36:42

When you get an old vehicle, you know this part of the process is probably going to be the hardest.

36:48

Part is like getting it prepared.

36:50

Yeah.

36:51

Things that you don't know, you can't see, you can't prepare for.

36:54

Like that makes perfect sense.

36:56

Yeah, gutting, it was honestly the worst part of the entire process, like the thought of having a blank, empty cargo van without having to got anything.

37:07

I'm like, oh, people who went that route are so lucky.

37:11

I get it, I get it.

37:13

But yeah, and also gutting it, there's so much stuff that you're just like is this important?

37:18

Does this do anything Do?

37:19

I need this, like if I rip this out, is the van still going to run.

37:22

Yeah, yeah.

37:24

So I mean, it's still pretty amazing that this was done in five months.

37:28

Like you know, it's one of those things where I think you know it's different for every person.

37:34

You know the length of time and the amount of effort and the amount of care and whatever, however you want to call it or describe it, you know I've seen or heard people say, oh, I did my build in two weeks, oh, I did my build in two years.

37:46

Like I think it's all a personal, it's very personal.

37:49

It's, you know, about your timeline, it's about your effort, it's about how much you want to put into it.

37:54

You know, kind of all of the above.

37:55

Yeah, how much support you have, how much prior experience you have.

37:58

Exactly, exactly Makes perfect sense.

38:00

Okay, so now that we know a little bit about Donna, what is your best bathroom?

38:07

Number one or number two?

38:09

Story from life on the road.

38:12

I thought really hard about this one, really hard, and I have like I've had no issues and I don't have a bathroom in my van.

38:24

It's just, you know, I'm in the middle of nowhere a lot.

38:28

So like the only answer that I feel like I can give is that half the time my bathroom views are amazing.

38:37

They're truly, truly, truly epic, and there are many a times where I'm doing my business and I'm just like holy cow, am I not the luckiest human in the world right now?

38:48

The best bathroom view ever, truly, yeah, yeah, well.

38:53

So I mean again and I think this is just good information for anybody who's interested in van life is not all rigs come with toilets or bathrooms?

39:03

So not everyone needs or wants one either, like I could have prioritized space for one Right, but it wasn't the best priority for me.

39:14

And, in full disclosure, I am getting a new rig.

39:17

Yes, I was going to upgrading, I was going to talk about that.

39:20

Yeah, this is amazing.

39:22

Yes, as much as I have loved Donna, I am upgrading to a professional builds yes, a pro master on a 159 wheelbase, so we'll have about twice the interior space and just a lot more convenience.

39:35

And my new rig will have a toilet.

39:39

I probably will be doing a composting toilet.

39:43

Okay.

39:44

But to be honest, I haven't really needed it too much or missed it too much.

39:48

When I'm in cities, it's very easy.

39:51

Like every time I fill up my tank, I know I go to the bathroom in the gas station.

39:55

If I go to the grocery store, I go to the bathroom before I pick up my groceries.

40:01

You just get used to that.

40:03

And then again when you're in the middle of nowhere, like it's mother nature.

40:07

It's mother nature, yeah.

40:10

So well, and again, I think it's a misconception or a perception that people just don't understand or realize.

40:18

You get asked that all the time how do you go to the bathroom?

40:22

Well, you go to the bathroom, you find places to go to the bathroom, it's not anything that's out of the ordinary.

40:29

No, and I do have an emergency pee jug.

40:32

I don't use it crazy often, but I have used it.

40:36

And yeah, for showers, plant fitness all the way.

40:40

I mean they're not always the best showers, but most of the time it's pretty all right.

40:47

Like a rite of passage. I feel like Plant fitness shower.

40:49

A little bit yeah.

40:50

Exactly Welcome to van life.

40:52

Yeah, but also you know, every now and then, if I'm in the middle of nowhere and there's no plant fitness, a lot of campsites will let you just use the shower, like aquatic centers all have showers, and usually a day pass is like five to seven bucks.

41:10

Yeah, like rec centers or things like that.

41:12

Even finding showers like super spoiled as well.

41:14

I have friends in most cities and when I come through, usually the first question is do you want to shower?

41:20

I'm like I do. Yeah, exactly, even better if you have a bathtub.

41:23

Yes.

41:23

Like the one thing I do actually miss.

41:25

Having a bathtub. It's amazing. Okay, question number nine what are the happiest and the hardest moments you've had living your life on the road?

41:39

Yeah, I think so one of my happiest moments.

41:45

Actually, I had met a couple of really amazing women at open roads, also traveling solo, also in self converted rig.

41:57

Also where we met.

41:59

Yes, that is true, I took a photo with awesome dogs yes, and I see photo placed right here.

42:07

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I took the awesome dogs, yeah that's actually.

42:10

You have that photo.

42:10

I don't even need to share it with you. I have that photo.

42:12

No, I have that photo I took that photo, yeah.

42:15

So afterwards we decided to go caravan together I do not have a starlink yet, but one of those women does and so we were able to go camp in the middle of nowhere where there was no cell service, literally right at the entrance to some hot springs, and we camped there for two nights together.

42:34

We had our rigs and just like a little circle, we put up a sheet and watched movies at night.

42:39

Literally would wake up, roll out of bed, go to the hot spring and then hop on, zoom, take my work calls, do lunch together or watch a movie at night.

42:50

And it was just especially one of those moments where so many people don't have that opportunity to have that as their backyard and to have such wonderful people in community with them in that sort of way.

43:10

Yeah, well, I think it's amazing when you find those moments where you're with the community that you love in that environment.

43:18

That is incredible, yeah, and, to your point, not many people get to do that, and so when you find those moments, they're really special.

43:26

Yeah, and just, I mean, you know, I sometimes have like negative $10 views, ie Walmart's but then there are days where I legit have million dollar views.

43:38

I mean I've woken up with the ocean, I've woken up on mountain tops, I've woken up, you know, on the tops of canyons, and those moments are never lost on me.

43:50

It is really, really special.

43:52

Yeah, and I honestly think, you know it's why we do what we do, it's why we travel and we go to the places that we wanna see and to these beautiful environments, and we're very fortunate to be able to do so.

44:03

So I think when those things happen, you feel that sense of gratitude, you feel that sense of like this is why I do what I do.

44:09

Okay, now the hardest.

44:11

Oh, she's so sweet, I know she's literally the sweetest thing on the planet and loves chairs, which I absolutely adore.

44:20

Yeah, maybe we can put a quick montage of Polly and chairs 100%.

44:23

My dog. I think she stole your heart when she sat in your chair for the first time.

44:27

She did like the swivel chair. She was in the swivel chair at Open Roads and it was amazing.

44:30

Yeah, we have a photo of that. We'll pop that in.

44:32

There's like six photos.

44:34

I literally have like a montage of her in chairs on my Instagram, but we'll do a slideshow for y'all here too.

44:40

Yes, 100%. Her love affair with chairs is one of the best things.

44:44

It's actually why I bought the double chair, because I kept losing my chair, because she would like sit in it and not give it to me.

44:50

So this is our solution.

44:53

I love it.

44:54

But the hardest breakdowns.

44:56

Yeah.

44:57

I mean, I mean.

45:00

I okay, let's be super happy that Donna has a new buyer and you're getting into a new rig, but talk about the last year of maintenance and breakdowns and issues, because I know that's been a challenge.

45:16

Yeah, we fought a lot, donna and I.

45:20

As much as I love her, I think sometimes she doesn't love me back.

45:28

She may hate you on occasion.

45:32

You know she's an old van, Not I've put 30,000 miles on her this year.

45:38

I take her on roads that she was never meant to be taken on.

45:41

Yeah, Polysomic.

45:47

She's okay, love it.

45:50

So, admittedly, I don't treat her in the way that she should be treated.

45:55

That's fair.

45:56

I would say that's a pretty common thing with van life travel.

46:00

Yeah, but also she's just a really, really, really old rig and stuff happens, stuff breaks.

46:09

Every month we're at a different mechanics.

46:12

You know another thing about Donna that has been a challenge is she's a 94 and a lot of places will not work on cars older than 96.

46:26

Cause 96 they put in newer computers so they can just plug in and diagnose.

46:32

While she does have a computer, it's like first generation.

46:35

You can't plug in and diagnose and a lot of mechanics just don't wanna spend the time Interesting.

46:40

So for those of you looking for an older van I'd say three 96 most mechanics will just laugh in your face and tell you to go home.

46:49

And I've had to learn a lot about mechanics myself as well, which again is not a bad thing, but it takes time, it takes effort.

47:02

I imagine a lot of stress and anxiety.

47:04

Yeah Well, and if it were just me, I think, sometimes a little less stress.

47:08

But there have been moments where last minute had to go to the mechanics.

47:13

They've had it for a couple of days. I've had to figure out a dog-friendly hotel.

47:19

I have no transportation back and forth necessarily, so things can get tricky pretty quickly.

47:27

Yeah, and it's a reality. One, it's a reality of van life.

47:30

Two, it's a reality of owning a vintage vehicle, and I think it's one of the things that doesn't get really talked about or even shown.

47:40

We talk about Instagram we'll lead into that.

47:43

We talk about the I don't know the maybe misconception of what van life is all about, and this is more the reality.

47:54

You have an old vehicle, you have an old rig and it's going to break down.

47:59

And you're going to have challenges. I mean, even the newer rigs aren't.

48:02

I've had people buy a brand new rig and have the engine go out in six months and granted, it's under warranty, but then you're without your rig for a month.

48:11

The first month I owned Althea, I broke down in the National Forest and had to have a really crazy tow truck come get me.

48:18

Yeah, yeah, it happens to anybody.

48:20

Pro masters are notorious for the transmissions going out and, granted, as long as it happens, well, it's still under warranty, but still you're without your rig for a couple of weeks.

48:31

You've got to figure out. I mean, there's a lot of struggles that can come with it, and it's not just with older rigs.

48:40

Yeah.

48:41

You're not.

48:43

Just by getting a new rig doesn't mean that you're not without the struggle Exactly Well, and that's the other thing is too Like people don't talk about.

48:52

When you break down, it's not just your car that's breaking down, this is your home, and so you have to figure so many other kind of little things out in order for you to kind of keep going with your daily life, whether it's work, whether it's your dog, whether it's a boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, whatever, like those are things you have to deal with when those things happen.

49:19

Yeah Well, and another thing people don't realize a lot as well is, even with the taller rigs Like you've probably experienced this with Altia, but even the pro masters and for transits, it's also not uncommon for mechanics to not be able to fit you.

49:35

Yeah.

49:37

In their shop.

49:37

In their shop. So, like one of my friends with a pro master was getting so frustrated because she needed to get her tires rotated and even at the dealership they couldn't rotate her tires because their lift and their garage wasn't tall enough to put her vehicle in.

49:55

And so it's fun, it's a lot of problem solving.

50:01

Yeah, and again, we talk about these things as our hardest moments and obviously the issues you've had with Don over the years can be super hard, but like these types of funny stories that we're talking about, this is just a part of van life in general.

50:14

Like this is the stuff that you deal with and is fun and you figure it out, you laugh about it later, like maybe in the moment, Well, and it feels great when you finally figure it out Exactly right, Like finding a car wash for Altia is so hard, so when I find one it's a great, great day.

50:31

No, completely can relate. So OK, last question, number 10, in your own words, how would you define hashtag van life?

50:40

And then please give a piece of advice.

50:43

That's one piece of advice for someone that is wanting to live a life on the road.

50:52

Yeah, hashtag van life is not Instagram.

50:57

Ha ha ha.

50:59

Yes, no, I would say it's simplicity, it's creativity, it's community, it's space.

51:13

Yeah.

51:16

There are a lot of things and it's so hard to define beyond that because it's different for everyone.

51:25

And everyone gets a different experience out of it, but I think those things are things that everyone gets out of their experience.

51:33

Yes, I would agree with that.

51:36

And if I had a piece of advice keep things simple.

51:43

I think a lot of people, especially with all of the YouTube and some of the crazy builds and I mean there are some really beautiful builds and some crazy things that people do, but in reality, most people don't need absolutely everything that they see in every single tutorial yes, and it's actually easier, I think, to keep your rigs simple, to start and add as you realize that you miss, rather than get rid of or stress trying to make your rig perfect right out of the gate.

52:20

Yeah, no, I think it's really good advice. As you meet people or you get questions, I always told people you're going to build a list of must-haves that you want, keep that list relatively small and then slowly add into the things that you want.

52:38

But I think also you're going to learn.

52:43

I want this maybe in the future, or I want this down the road, and having that experience of learning that is a really good thing, rather than, to your point, trying to rip it out or change it.

52:54

Oh, I don't need this, yeah.

52:55

or feeling like you need to spend twice the amount on your rig right out of the gate because some tutorial has said here are my 10 van life must-haves you don't need.

53:08

Yeah, that's the beauty of van life you hardly need anything actually, it's very true.

53:14

Yeah, well, and I think, going back to the first part of the question, is defining hashtag van life.

53:19

I think it's so personal, but I think the things that you touched on everybody gets the idea of space, the idea of freedom, the idea of community.

53:30

Which was maybe my biggest surprise with van life and this is honestly genuinely why I've created this show is because I had no concept of what the community was all about, like what it actually was like to live on the road, and so, yeah, I think that idea of community has been truly, truly a blessing and really amazing.

53:51

Yeah, no, it is lovely. It's funny because a fairly common question is like do you get lonely?

53:56

Yeah, yeah.

53:57

And I'm like dude, I have to make effort to spend time on my own, like I don't get enough space actually enough.

54:03

Yeah, you're with so many friends and people just in general all the time that, yeah, finding like four days of just time to work or time to be by yourself is a challenge sometimes, for sure, and again it's a blessing oh absolutely.

54:22

That we get to be a part of a community like this and spend time with friends so much and so often or sometimes you don't see friends for months on end, but then when you get to reconnect with them, it's pretty an amazing thing.

54:35

Yeah, no, I think van life gatherings have become just like family reunions at this point, which is so nice yeah it is really fun.

54:45

I will say that it's kind of.

54:48

Maybe one of my favorite parts of traveling on the road has been these meetups and these community events where, yeah, you get to see, or you don't see somebody for months on end, but then you meet up at event and you get to hang out for three or four days and it's really a fun thing.

55:05

So, yeah, yeah. Well, thank you so much for doing this.

55:10

I really, really appreciate it.

55:12

I know we're freezing, god. I know We've been drinking coffee all morning.

55:16

It is really cold out, so we are going to go warm up in Althea and, yeah, thank you for watching and we'll see you on the next episode.

55:27

So, thank you.

55:31

My phone was on the wrong side.

55:34

It's totally okay.

55:39

Come here, sweet girl, get in your chair. Good girl, good girl, good girl.

55:45

Can you sit?

55:50

Oh, you can sit in that chair. You'll have to come over here sit in your chair.

55:53

I don't have some college with Bruce girl All three days.

55:57

There you go. I love that.

56:02

She loves to sit in chairs. Okay, oh, my goodness, are you okay?

56:12

We'll have some college in person for sure, are you?