Van life. Camper life. Nomad life. Whatever you call it, its all the same: a crazy idea to condense your belongings in order to spend less and explore more.

I got a taste of this life while living out of my backpack for six months when traveling through South America and Europe. Having only three pairs of shoes, the bare minimum of makeup and never having a private bathroom is no easy transition, especially having had an apartment to myself for an entire year. But even though all my worldly belongings were shoved into a hefty Osprey pack, I managed to visit more than ten counties, seeing half my bucket list and making countless memories. Hopping hostel to hostel, catching trains last second, having to unpack my entire life at TSA because I forgot the toothpaste at the bottom of my bag – it was all worth it. This nomad/backpacking/never stop traveling idea has been seared into my brain ever since.

Things slowed down once I got back to Ohio. But only for a second, because then John and I got engaged. Planning a wedding is the most delightfully chaotic experience. It’s all good fun and I would honestly do it all again, but it is stressful. During that time we rented a tiny duplex near the train tracks, spent lots of time with our friends, hand picked every last detail for our big day and continued to work on our careers. But during all that delightful chaos, the life of exploration kept coming back to me. Could I do that life again? Could we do that life together?

Our wedding day was perfect and went by all to quickly. We honeymooned in the Bahamas, giving me a chance to scratch that travel itch. By the sunny blue waters of Nassau, we decided: we were going for it. That nomad life. John could work as a travel nurse, I could work remotely and pick up odd jobs. The nursing agencies would pay for relocation, housing and even food for each thirteen week assignment. It was a grand plan. Together we could see the country and have the means to do it. But we would still be living out of a backpack. Why not something more permanent?

Enter hours, days, weeks and months of research. Should we do the backpack life and change apartments every three months? What about AirBnB? Or a good old fashioned hotel? And then there was the ever increasing popularity of Van Life. You know, Van Life. The photos of young attractive couples in beautifully designed sprinter vans that look like tiny model homes. I lost sleep searching for a cheaper way to achieve this lifestyle, convincing myself if I obsessed over it long enough we could magically get the money and skills to convert a van like that.

Fast forward a few more months and I’m on the way to New York to look at an Aliner Alite camper from 1999. After much deliberation, we decided to search for a camper trailer, and with a car that couldn’t tow more than 1,000 pounds, it had to be little. Like, TINY. Even with a higher upfront cost to purchase the trailer, we knew the savings would come. With a weekly stipend from the agency, we could easily afford campgrounds and live our nomad life while saving money for our future (or ideally, for more travel). I stepped into the camper and saw it needed some work. I also saw a photo frame with the lyrics of our song super glued to the wall, “Home is wherever I’m with you.” Good thing I believe in signs.

Sold.

For the rest of the summer and with the guidance of my Dad, we worked on the camper to make it fully functional and to our style. We had a close friend’s talented mother sew up some new cushions, I covered up the counter tops with some fancy contact paper and we made sure all the bells and whistles worked (air conditioning, refrigerator, heat, sink, lights, etc). We moved out of our beloved duplex, stored away our must keep’s and donated more than half our closets and then some. There wasn’t much space for my purse collection in our 12 foot camper.

Finally, it was done, we were ready and we left.

The decision was easy, the details were hard and the goodbyes were harder. At only two ish weeks in, we are still working on camper problems and we miss our families and friends something terrible. Those two things will probably never go away. But also in our two week, we swam in the Atlantic Ocean, learned how to rewire our electric on our own, drank margaritas on the beach, made a dozen new friends, relaxed in our hammock and managed not to kill each other in our tiny, tiny new home.







Choosing to live the simple camper life has allowed us a journey of endless adventures. May it be exploring a new city or fixing the camper door until 2 am, the opportunities for new lessons and experiences are infinite.

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