van life

Have Van Will Travel: What Living in a Van Taught Me

Posted April 8, 2018 by Barbara Techel

Have Van Will Travel: What Living in a Van Taught Me

Over two years ago we began converting one of John’s Chevy Cargo work vans into a camper. Though we still need to install the kitchen, it was good to go that we felt it would serve our needs. We lovingly refer to her as our “vamper” and also named her Second Chance.

After the 2008 recession we had to make some tough financial decisions, like I know many others did, too. We thought traveling wouldn’t be part of our future…until we discovered a whole world of others converting vans to campers, whether to live in full time, or like us, to travel and explore on a budget!

Recently, we took Second Chance out on her first big excursion! Our plan was to visit South Carolina for six days, then head home through Virginia with a day or two stop in Charlotte, North Carolina. But as our weather here with the unusual snowstorm and cold, in the Carolina’s we encountered everything from flurries, sleet, a severe thunderstorm (which made for one muddy campsite!), followed by the low 80’s for one day to plunging to 34 degrees and crazy wind the following day.

The one day in low 80’s in Columbia, SC

I share with you a few things I learned while living in 84 sqt. ft. with my hubby, John and our ten pound dachshund, Gidget.

Gidget hanging out inside the vamper watching as I get ready in the morning. Always the inspector!

I’m going to start with the most important lesson and not leave you in suspense…my most important takeaway was to be open to adapt. Adapting meaning that when circumstances are less than favorable I had a choice to be frustrated, or go with the flow. Hmmm, how interesting that coincides with understanding when one is going through a transitional period in ones life – something part of my mission is about – and one I swear I’m tested on more times than I wish, and especially on our last stop before we headed home. Our last night in Indianapolis, we came to find out they had a record of ten inches of snow the day before, with about four inches still on the ground when we arrived at the campsite.

Making the best of it. Wine helped!

Being in a “hotel” that is on wheels meant being able to adapt quite nicely and travel to a warmer climate, which we did when we had chilly weather in the Carolina’s, even though it meant we had to backtrack and to a different state to visit was not planned. But we had set the intention that this was going to be an adventure – and that it was!

In Madison, GA outside historic home, Rose Cottage. Hugging Crape Myrtle tree over 150 years old!

The blessing of not so favorable weather in the Carolina’s landed us in Georgia. Here we fell in love with the quaint historic towns of Greensboro and Madison. Not to mention the KOA campground we stayed in on Lake Oconee. It was gorgeous! While I’m not a big shopper, we discovered some eclectic, artsy and unique shops. I came home with some lovely treasures that make me smile when I look at them because of the memories I now have from our trip.

And this…made the backtracking so worth it. Sunset on Lake Oconee.

I realized even more what a wonderful man I’m married to. I swear John’s patience has gotten better over the years, while mine lacks more than I care to admit at times (I blame it on hormones!). But I soon came to realize how thoughtful John was about my morning routine. Without saying a word, he just adjusted to allow me space in our teeny tiny temporary home. I had more than one heart swoon for his tenderness of attention during our time away.

My Prince Charming having fun by a waterfall in Madison, GA (and he was okay with me snapping and sharing this shot!)

I overcame my fear of tinkling outside! Being in my mid-50s, my bladder not what it used to be, plus one campsite where the bathroom was far, far away, I learned quickly the value of having a porta-potty along. My once shy kidney was more than relieved (no pun intended!) to have this option even if it meant tinkling out behind the vamper. Well…as long as it was very, very dark. In other cases, John lovingly placed one said commode inside the vamper, closed the doors, and allowed me my privacy (worthy of another heart swoon!).

Lastly, but most special, we were able to pay tribute to our dear, sweet Kylie, who as you may remember, we laid to rest the day after Thanksgiving 2017. We planned to scatter part of her ashes in Tennessee as that is where we brought her home from over twelve years ago. Traveling by van meant we could follow our intuition and find just the right place that called to us to scatter her ashes. And that we did. The backdrop to where we released her? The Great Smoky Mountains.

Great Smoky Mountains

Looking forward more adventures ahead!

XO,

Barbara

Other Blog Posts About Our Van Conversion

The Adventure Has Begun. New Home on Wheels. Who’d of Thunk?

The Conversion Begins

Inspector Approves of Phase One Conversion

She Gets a Name

First a Name and Now Mascots

Cozy Comfort

Flooring is In (video)

Cutting it Close

Slow and Steady Wins the Race (video)

I Married a Creative Genius

Cicadas, Vango Airbeam Tent, and Excitement Building

My Favorite Treasures Found While Visiting Georgia

Posted March 29, 2018 by Barbara Techel

Hugging a Crape Myrtle tree (a favorite!) over 150 years old outside the historic home **Rose Cottage** in Madison, GA

It wasn’t part of our plans to visit Georgia while we were on vacation recently. We set out for Gaffney, South Carolina with plans to also visit Charlotte, North Carolina and drive through Virginia.

But the weather wasn’t on our side much of this trip. We ended up chasing after the sun and warmth. This brought us to Georgia after experiencing storms, winds and cold in both North and South Carolina. Though we did have one beautiful day in the low 80s while perusing Columbia, the capital of South Carolina.

The blessing of traveling by van converted to camper is we could roll with it and move on. And that’s exactly what we did! But isn’t this how it goes? You are busy making all these plans of how you think things will turn out and then life throws you a couple of curve balls. But as my blog and mission is about, it’s about learning to roll with those changes and letting go of expectations.

Learning to adapt brought us to the cities of Greensboro and Madison, GA. So quaint and so full of charm. From the historic homes, to the lovely southern architecture of homes, an abundant array of blooming shrubs and flowers, to the antique and unique shops, I was happy we were open to adventure, which brought us here.

While I’m not a big shopper anymore, I do love to support artists and look for artisan marketplaces or shops when visiting a city or state I’ve not been before. And so I share my favorite treasures with you.

Candle holder made out of beeswax with insert of dried, pressed flowers. It glows beautifully! From **Genuine Georgia – An Artisans Marketplace** in Greensboro, GA.

Leaf shaped night light made out of clay. So pretty in my bathroom! From **Genuine Georgia – An Artisans Marketplace** in Greensboro, GA.

Clay tea cup with top for steeping found in a shop in Madison, GA (the name of shop escapes me!)

Did I really need any of these treasures? No. But it does my heart good to know I’m supporting artists. I imagine them in their studios lost in their creative world, doing what they love best…just as I love to do with my writing and what makes my world go round, and why I see these items now as dear treasures.

And to think I almost left the tea cup behind as I was trying to talk myself out of it telling myself I have more than enough of them. But as I headed toward the door my hubby said, “Aren’t you going to get that mug?” Well that was all the enticing I needed! 🙂

Twist my arm and open my wallet. I’m glad I did.

XO,

Barbara

Have Van Will Travel: Cicadas, Vango Airbeam Tent & Excitement Building

Posted August 13, 2017 by Barbara Techel

Our Vango Airbeam Kela III tent arrived last week and today was the day for the practice run to set it up. The Airbeam technology is slick as you don’t have any poles involved.

It is also a driveaway awning which means when we want to take our van away from camp we just detach a portion of the tent and away we go – while the tent stands on its own. In the photo above this is actually the backside, which will attach to the side of our van.

Of course we thought we didn’t need to read the directions and just go ahead and put the tent up – no problem. Wrong. I can never understand reading directions anyways. But what we should have done FIRST was to watch a how-to video on pitching it.

But alas, this is why they call it a practice run, right? And we could have saved ourselves a lot of work had we watched the video first. But now we know that next time, when at camp, it will go much smoother.

And the good news is we made it through without any big argument…and a cicada that decided to crawl up my leg. eeeks! I guess it thought I was a tree and was hanging out on my “limb.” haha! 🙂 And a baby frog hopped into the tent also as we were setting up.

All this in our front lawn! Perhaps it is getting us ready for when we are out in the “big woods.”

The excitement is building and last night we decided we will venture out on a short jaunt the week following Labor Day. The Vamper won’t be done with a kitchen, but a stove/oven is on order which we will use in the tent. And by venturing out we can then get a feel as to how we will move about in our van and how to plan for the kitchen area inside.

Today, John is building his bed, which will run the length of the van, while my bed, which is already built, runs horizontally over the wheel base. He is amazingly creative with space too, which makes me a happy camper. John showed me a space where there will be two extra drawers that weren’t in the plan as of last week. Woo hoo!

So the tent is rolled back up and actually made it back into into the carry bag without too much trouble, sweat or tears…and I’m happy to say I did it all by myself.

Past posts for Have Van Will Travel Journal