There’s a LOT of adventuring from this weekend that I need to catch up on, but it’s worth noting yet another van life milestone for me. Today, April 24, marks exactly one year since I spent my first night in the van. It was in a Cracker Barrel parking lot in Erie, Pennsylvania, on our way back to New Hampshire from Indiana where we “finished” the build. (I use quotes because no build is ever really finished.) March 24 was the fire and the end of a lot of things, but April 24 was the beginning of my new life, actually living in the van.
If you’ve been reading this, you know a lot has changed since then. I have Florida license plates now. Trisha hasn’t traveled with me since June. The motorcycle no longer hangs onto the back of the van for dear life, but has a cushy home of its own that I tow behind me. And oh, the places we’ve been.
But it all began here, in this Cracker Barrel parking lot. The build phase ended, and the living phase began. It’s been a roller coaster ride. I don’t like roller coasters. But unlike a roller coaster, this van has a steering wheel, and over time I’ve started steering my own course through life, as well as down the road. It’s been both a difficult and amazing year of adventures, trials, and tribulations. Here’s hoping for more of the good stuff and less of the bad in my second year on the road. If the last several months are any indication, I seem to be going that way.
Smokey Da Van 