Today marks Adam's 611th day on the road. He's traveled more than 75,000 miles, and so far, there's no end in sight.
Adam was born in the belly of the south, and after mastering the art of charm, he set his sights on the American West. He now travels full time, with the goal of capturing the things that capture him.
As long as Adam has gas for his truck and food in his belly, he won’t give up on this life, for this life has given him everything.
Lynelle & Matt spend a lot of time searching for gems on Craigslist. So when an ad for a 1978 retired mail van popped up, they saw it as an opportunity to turn it into a treasure. They drove down back alleys and visited the Goodwill Outlet to salvage materials for their build out. After a few months of planning and renovation, they are ready to hit the road.
They leave Sept. 1 to begin their journey of chasing 72 degrees, meeting new people and living on the road with their cat, Brain. They plan to keep living this way until the funds or the fun runs out.
Micah bought a van on Craigslist two years ago in an effort to live cheaply and travel more. He saw it as a way to pursue his creative talents: graphic design, music and photography. His Facebook page is filled with poetry and songs he's performed in his mobile home.
So far, he's spent more than a year living on the road, and he plans to continue until the van stops running or he finds a girlfriend with an apartment.
Atticus & Lina were almost halfway through their eight-month trip across America in their van when Atticus had a health crisis. They woke up in the middle of a national forest to Atticus having a seizure and rushed to the nearest hospital. They spent the next few days flying from Pensacola, FL, back to their family in California.
A week after Atticus was in the ER, he was in and out of brain surgery like a champ, having three small tumors completely removed. They have spent the past few months reminiscing on the last three months of their adventure. Atticus has had a few weeks of treatment, but the plan is to be back in the van soon to resume their journey.
Who wouldn't want to work remotely? That was Mo's thought behind finding a rig that would allow him the freedom to escape but also give him some of the luxuries of everyday life.
Mo & his girlfriend Gracie chose a Sprinter van with the intention of building it out on the weekends, but life got in the way. So they hired an architecture company to help them out. With Mo & Gracie's vision and the company's expertise, they created a tiny house that has already taken them to amazing places.
Gianna is using a van as a tiny home and an art installation. Last spring, Gianna and her friend Cheyenne transformed the van into a mobile photography gallery. They toured the west for seven weeks setting up pop-up shows in unexpected locations. The online world is saturated with photography, but they wanted to create a whole experience between the van, photos, artists and viewers.
Currently, Gianna and her partner, Andy, are splitting time between a van, school bus and house. This allows Gianna to explore her passions of photography yoga, art and hiking, either in one spot or on the road, while also having a home base to return to whenever they need to.
Last month, Savannah & Brett began a 4,000-mile cross-country trip in their van named Jolene. Their goal: to make this trip last three months so they can spend time in the areas that they find the most influential and opportunistic.
Savannah is using this trip as a way to practice being present, to create long-lasting memories and to help those in need, especially through massage therapy. In turn, Brett wants to take as many pictures as possible, learn more about himself and others and, most importantly, make a positive impact on those who cross his path.
With their combined passions and dreams, they plan to offer their services and create connections. Every photo tells a story, and after a month, these two have several to fill their collection.
I haven't spoken to Nikki, but I've heard her soulful voice in her songs. While Nikki sings and mixes tones from her guitar and clawhammer-style banjo, her husband and musical partner, Jason, adds harmony with his guitar to complete the duo. They book gigs in areas they want to explore more.
As long as their fingers work and the van is running, they will keep going. As Nikki sings, "Life is one big rodeo. So hold on tight. We'll be alright."
Emily & Corey are experimenting how they can blend their nomadic lifestyle with a traditional career. Together, they are sharing the ways they are redefining work while still following their passions.
They keep following what they feel, through the discomforts, risks, mysteries and the unknowns. Emily, Corey and their dog, Penny Rose, continue to live in a van because they love moving and feeling free.
Gonzalo & Jor are an Argentinian couple who decided to travel around the Americas with no precise route or even a destination. After more than one year on the road, they have already driven about 18,000 miles, which is almost double the distance from Alaska to Ushuaia (the beginning and end of the Panamerican Highway).
When they like a place they visit, they stay another day, week or even month or more. Being in one location helps them create a routine, meet locals and experience the way they live. To fund their trip, they try to get a job or sell scrapbooks, postcards and fridge magnets that they make. Staying in one place decreases their fuel expenses and increases their funds to travel further.
Alexis & Christian spent nine months building their tiny house, and now they're in a middle of a two-year project capturing the stories of the tiny house community across the nation. There's a power in storytelling, and their goal is to contribute to a ripple effect of positive change through tiny housing advocacy.
Through their videos and blog, they tackle topics such as tiny house communities, legalities, building costs and parking. These are issues that we might not think about when we consider the option of living small, but these are the issues this community faces daily.
Rachel is an artist traveling solo cross-country in her '87 Chevy RV. Well, she's not completely alone. Her cat, Chloe, keeps her company on long drives and throughout the night.
Her job centers around photography, writing and travel. And because of this, she keeps extensive dream journals of stories and ideas that she brings to life through her work as an artist.
Rachel is more than halfway done with her yearlong road trip, but she chooses not to think ahead too much. By focusing on the present, she lives in the moment and embraces camping full time outdoors.
Three years ago, Justin was dating a girl who talked him into doing a yearlong road trip. They started saving and a couple months later, she dumped him. That’s when he roped his brother Adam into the idea. One night over 2-for-1 beers at the local Applebee's, Justin asked Adam if he wanted to go on a road trip after he graduated college. Adam would take photos and video while Justin wrote about the experience.
What started out as a way to take a year off has now turned into a year of work. Justin & Adam are preparing for a career of full-time freelancing.
The one thing that hasn't changed is that they remain brothers who not only share the same blood, but the same tiny space.
You might remember my interview from December with Jay, a man who lives in a Matchbox Tiny House in Boneyard Studios. I asked him for recommendations of other tiny dwellers, and he, surprisingly, suggested his sister. Jay's sister Jude doesn't just live small like other people I feature here; she embraces it. She has lived in several tiny structures for the past seven years, including a yurt, cabin, dome and now, a school bus.
The community Jude lives in is fascinating. She and her partner Yadi are part of an income-sharing intentional community called East Wind. The community supports each other through two industries: East Wind Nut Butters and Utopian Rope Sandals. Their work is busy and everyone reaps the benefits.
This interview is unique, not only because of the structure this couple lives in, but also for the story about the people who live in it.
Tom and Sam met in Indonesia in November 2013. Sam was traveling solo and Tom had planned to travel Europe and Asia after his father passed away. It was love at first sight, and they spent the next three months traveling Southeast Asia together.
Tom, originally from South Wales, spent the next year with Sam in her home country of Canada. He received a visa for a year to live and work there. After a year, they drove around North America while they waited for another visa. They got back to Canada to continue the wait, and then finally received Tom's visa and went back to the border to activate it.
While Tom was in Canada decorating Sam's apartment, immigration officials found photos of Tom with Sam and argued he was there working illegally and taking a job away from a Canadian. They gave him 10 days to leave the country.
They spent almost five months apart before meeting up again in California. This is the story of their lives after Canada and the journey that brought them together on the road.
We spent a few days with car dwellers Megan + Michael back in November, and it feels good to be catching up with them again. We are inspired by their travels and hopeful that there are people out there making it work in something they might already own. Not only might a car get you places faster, but you also won't have to go out and buy a van and spend time converting it into an adventure mobile.
These friends of ours are not only living this lifestyle; they are sharing easy-to-prepare recipes and encouraging others to eat off-the-grid meals. Their blog is designed to minimize the amount of stress, time and ingredients you have to bring when you're camping in order to fully enjoy the experience outdoors. We love the message they are spreading and can't wait for them to show up at our home or meet up on the road.
Leave it to Jess + Jorge to make us laugh throughout this interview with them. After three years living in their VW Vanagon, these two have tried out an Airstream, renovated a van, experienced breakdowns and almost bumped into a bear.
This couple tells it how it is, through both the highs and the lows. And we still can't help but think their van is one of the coolest rigs we've ever seen.
Alyssa & Donnie's story is extra special to me because I have been following them and their adventures even before they began #vanlife. Alyssa reached out to me when they were converting their van. I have been able to watch their progress and planning come to fruition, and I have witnessed this newfound happiness with the freedom in living small.
I have been captivated by their creativity, which is both as beautiful individually as it is together. They have a vision to share how people connect with each other and with the natural world, and I can't wait to see their project unfold.
We all know the saying, "Life is too short," but what does it really mean? For Kara, that message couldn't be truer when she lost her parents three years ago. Since then, she's been determined to find healing through her travels. Living in a van allows her time for soul searching, self-love and self-discovery. Kara knows that not all parts of the journey are going to be happy but that there will be more than enough joy from the new adventures ahead.
