Dia duit agus fáilte – that’s Irish for hello and welcome. We are currently living in our DIY Sprinter van conversion having a great adventure, visiting the kidlets and exploring the US. I wanted to share some of our best photos to inspire van life.
As I write this, we have been living full time in our van for almost a year and we have had such an adventure. We have visited 34 states, explored more than 20 National Parks & sites, bagged 14 state high points and driven more than 25,000 miles.
Here are some of our favorite photos to inspire van life.
Table of Contents
Beautiful sleeping spots
If you have seen any YouTube videos or Instagram van life accounts, you know that we are often lucky to sleep in some of the most gorgeous places. These are some of our faves
Our favorite state
Of all the places we have visited this past year, our favorite is definitely Maine. We fell in love with the ocean, the hiking, the people and the laid back feeling. We only saw the Down East Maine Atlantic coast and Mt Katahdin/Baxter State Park and are already looking forward to exploring the rest of the state.
Hobby photos to inspire van life
One of the primary reasons we chose to move into a van was to pursue our hobbies and we have hiked, skied, cycled and visited National Parks in more than 20 states.
Traveling with Maggie
Maggie, the messy OES, is my constant companion. She is an Old English Sheepdog trained to be my service animal. She works as a seizure alert/assist dog and also serves as a mobility dog on days when I have bad RA (rheumatoid arthritis) flares. We first met when Maggie was just five weeks old and it was love at first sight. She moved in with us on her 2-month birthday and has been an integral part of our lives and van-life adventure since then.
She enjoys exploring the country, loves hiking almost as much as she loves sleeping but her favorite thing in the whole wide world is when she gets to see her humans! Maggie has a profound love for all four kidlets that she expresses passionately with her waggling bum and bouncing feet.
Family time & van life
If we had to pick one reason why van life is perfect for us at this moment in our lives it would be that we now have the freedom to visit and spend loads of time with our four kidlets and their families. When we embarked on our journey in Feb 2021 we had four kids in four time zones and that made getting together very difficult. Add Covid into the equation and we felt disconnected from them and unable to be part of their lives.
They may all be grown and well into adulthood but we still think of them as our kids and this past year we have been able to see them more than we would have if we had remained in our house with Tom working.
Of course, wanting to spend time with our two grandchildren was another reason to move into the van – we were so fortunate to spend six months on the east coast, popping in and out of their lives. We watched first steps and celebrated the first day of school, we snuggled for movie night and went to the park often. What a joy.
And finally, we get to be together with no distractions. I think maybe we are lucky because we really do love to just hang out, read beside each other or share our morning coffee. It’s the small daily moments that feel abundant and sacred; those countless minutes and hours are what maintains and strengthens our relationship.
Final thoughts
Whether you are interested in living in a van or simply want to explore a little more of the world, there is a way you can make it happen. It might take creativity, planning, saving and determination and it will be worth all the effort.
What does your dream life feel like? How does it taste and smell? What noises do you hear and what things can you see? What clothes do you wear? What food do you eat? How do you spend your days? And with whom?
Every cliche about life being short is overused and also true. We all have a finite amount of time on this earth and while we are here, we should live as abundantly as possible. Perhaps we’ll meet somewhere on the road and share a cup of tea or glass of wine.
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