Archive for November 2011

While staying with The Spiels in Ohio, we all decided to have a camping adventure together.  With that, we loaded up their little Nissan Versa with our gear and hit the road.  A combination of Google searching and local inquiries somehow lead us in search of Wildcat Hollow in the Wayne National Forest.  The drive up to our campsite was both entertaining and beautiful.  We passed through the dilapidated old town of Chauncey (Pronounced "CHAN-see" by the locals for some weird reason).  Run-down houses and barns floated by on either side as we made our way through town.  The brick buildings of Chauncey's downtown were mere empty shells of what it must have been in years past.  An old farmer sat on cracked steps next to his John Deere push mower, his cigarette hanging from his lip as if permanently affixed.  He watched as we passed by which made me contemplate... "I wonder what he thinks of us?"   Read more

Coming into Columbus started out on a positive note as we had just skydived that day, but quickly turned into shambles. Everything was STUPID!! The only things people could suggest for us to do were parks, walking, museums, and biking. Which just couldn’t live up to the thrill of jumping from 13,000 ft out of a plane. We spent a few days bickering with a final blow up that drove us to leave and never had an intent to return!

After spending time in The Plains and winging our way to Cleveland, we found ourselves giving Columbus a second chance. This time around we weren’t hyped up on adrenaline and seeking our next fix. And this time we had a challenge: no van and no plans past somewhere to sleep that for the first night. At first glance Columbus appears to be a small town with small neighborhoods surrounding it, but we came to find out it has the 15th largest population of any city in the U.S. with diverse people and LOTS and LOTS of food.

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So how does one eat when living in a van with no refrigerator or cooler?  Surprisingly... quite well!  Being van dwellers and backpackers, space, weight and budget are always limited, making dehydrated foods a typical theme for our meals.  Wait, isn't "dehydrated meal" synonymous with "tastes like crap"?  With a little experimentation and the proper dehydrated veggies and meat-ish bits, the answer is a resounding NO!  We thought we'd put together a little video showing you one of our typical meals and just what goes into it.  How's it taste?  We think it's delicious, but don't take our work for it.  Try it yourself!   Read more

Before we leave our van behind and head to Costa Rica, we wanted to answer some of the most common questions we get while living and traveling in our van.  How do we do it?  What does our van look like inside? Where do we keep all our stuff?  It only looks like you have enough for a long vacation... don't you have anything else?  We've mentioned in previous posts that we are minimalists.  Hopefully this video will give you a better idea of what we mean.  We'll show you just how little you really need to survive a life of van dwelling adventures.  So come along with us for the tour...   Read more