Happy Van Life Anniversary to Us!

Today marks one year since we hit the road in our van, having never done more than spend one night in a campground in a van before.

We have spent 222 nights traveling in that year, which is less than I expected. We wound up parked and living with family over the holidays, and also helping family members with post-surgery care, and waiting out doctor appointments (for ourselves and for family), and of course tending to Mr. K’s final days. At one point I said to Doug, “Van life seems to involve a lot of living with our parents.”

Now, however, we’re currently on our longest “haven’t stopped moving” leg yet, at 68 days. If all goes well, it will be another ten months until we return to the East Coast to visit family once again.

We have only had one major disappointment this year, and that of course is the loss of our beloved Mr. K last June 2023. My heart still breaks every time I think about him, and we miss him beyond words. The delight he took in adventuring is something we would never have discovered had we not decided to take the leap ourselves.

Here’s some of our thoughts one year in to our great adventure.

Things We’ve Been Surprised By

• It’s a lot of work to live in a life and always be on the move. Our sister-in-law Yvonne warned us it’s a full-time job planning and prepping, but I admit I thought “nah, I’m a good planner.” Well, turns out that planning where we’re heading next is a full-time job! Now only deciding where are we going, but what are we doing once we get there, when are museums and sites open, where will we stay, where will we shower, where will we shop/eat/work out/go birding. And then for every single thing looking at Google Map’s satellite view and street view to make sure our oversized vehicle will be able to park (and perhaps more importantly, be able to get out of a parking lot once we’ve pulled in!).
• After a year and 18 states, we have barely scratched the surface of the U.S., never mind Canada. We had thought it might be a five-year adventure, but it is clear we could go on traveling for years and years. Given Doug’s work commitments this year, it’s unlikely that we’ll even make it further west than Colorado at any point in the first two years of our trip!
• Scheduling routine doctor appointments is impossible. Twice a year dentist? How’s that gonna work? Annual physicals, dermatologist, etc. – it’s very difficult when they want to schedule months in advance and you don’t know where you’re going to be weeks (or days!) in advance. Part of our down-time was due to a medical issue where we had to wait weeks for an appointment, then wait for the insurance company to approve an MRI, then wait for the follow-up appointment.
• We’ve done waaaaay less hiking than I thought we’d do, due to being on the East Coast more than we thought, Doug’s torn meniscus, and the fact that longer hikes are hard to weave into the schedule. I’m definitely hoping to remedy this one.
• Universal Studios is unbelievably expensive.

Happy Surprises

• We went all-in designing the van without ever having stayed in one. We’d been saving van layouts we liked on Instagram for a year, and we went to one RV show where we saw a lot of junk (but found our builder!). It’s a big commitment, because there’s really no changing the layout if you’re not happy. Fortunately, I’m very pleased with what we did and would only make some minor changes.
• I thought I would hate driving the van, and was in fact afraid of it the first few months we had it. I’ve only ever driven small cars (Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, etc). However, it’s been much better than I thought and I really love the Mercedes Sprinter itself.
• Doug may disagree with this one, but accountant-me who plans everything has to go with the flow these days. It’s not uncommon that I don’t know where we will be spending the next night. Sometimes it gets a little stressful, but I’m overall very happy with how relaxed I feel about it all.
• The national museum memberships are so awesome! I can’t believe I didn’t know about these before. We’ve saved a full $2,000 on entrance fees!
• We started birding! We’ve always loved birds and have periodically thought about keeping a life list, but earlier this year we finally committed by downloading the apps, getting the books, and upgrading the camera. It’s been harder than I thought (so many birds look alike, and also so many birds look completely different male/female, young/old, winter/summer), but also more exciting than I thought when we find a new “lifer”.

Favorite Sites/Experiences

• Things that moved us: Civil Rights museums in Montgomery, Alabama; participating in the 59^th anniversary of the Selma bridge march; National D-Day Memorial.
• Learning about artists we’d never previously heard of, such as Walter Anderson, John Peto, Gari Melchers, George Morris, and Suzy Frelinghuysen.
• Architecture that surprised and amazed us: Met Cloisters, Château Dufresne, Larz Anderson House, Fonthill Castle, Drayton Hall, Maymont Mansion, Agecroft Hall, Johnston–Felton–Hay House.
• Amusements and oddities: Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park, The Kazoobie Kazoo Factory, The Tupperware Museum.
• Learning about the Freemasons and seeing some over-the-top temples (in Pennsylvania and Virginia).
• Getting lucky on our timing with exhibits such as S-town Clock, Japanese Embroidery,  Emmett Till & Mamie Till-Mobley: Let the World See, Walter Wick: Hidden Wonders!
• Experiences that delighted us: University of Florida Bat Houses, Kayak to Nickajack Bat Cave, Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory, Bead Making Class, Willowdale Steeplechase, dining in the dark at Onoir Restaurant.
• So many flowers!  Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Untermyer, Phipps Conservatory, Cherry Blossoms at Branch Brook Park.
• All the foods.

What’s Ahead?

Our schedule for the rest of 2024 is pretty busy due to Doug’s work obligations, so we might visit another ten to twelve states before the year ends, though none west of the Rockies! We are both optimistic that more great adventures still lie ahead.