Writing
Essays, reflections, and longer-form writing from our journey.
The Consequences of a Flash Flood, Part 4: Rest
After getting caught in a flash flood, we decided to put our Panamerican adventures on hold. Shipping Big Emma back to the US forced us not only to deal with...
The Consequences of a Flash Flood, Part 3: Here I Am
We had rescued Big Emma from her watery grave in the Sibun River, but now the real work began. Could we save our possessions and our beloved Bus, or had...
The Consequences of a Flash Flood Part 2: Recovery
We had deserted Big Emma in the Sibun River in the middle of the night. Come daylight, it was time to face our situation and do everything we could to...
The Consequences of a Flash Flood, Part 1: Blindsided
We were completely unsuspecting when we woke up in the middle of the night in rural Belize, surrounded by water. We spend the next half hour stranded between intense chaos...
Snapshots: Lessons on Minimalism
Traveling like we do teaches you to change your perspective. Things that were once important don’t always stay that way; other things take their place. Changing your perspective, however, is...
Uno, Two, Dree, Gadu...Welcome to Belize
If I asked you, could you tell me the official language of Belize? Did you know over half the population of Belize is bilingual? How many languages are spoken there?...
Safety in Mexico: You Have to See it for Yourself
Listen to all the tales others will tell you, but you will never know what a place is like until you experience it for yourself. We spent six months traversing...
Hidden in the Jungle: Real Life on the Riviera Maya
Cancún and the Riviera Maya are known around the world as tourist hotspots and resort paradises. But under even the thickest layer of tourism, there is a real, local life...
Why We Havent' Been Blogging Lately
Sometimes things happen more quickly than you can write about them. And sometimes rivers swallow your Bus and you need to take care of shit.
Snapshots: It Sounds Like an Adventure
Traveling like we do, there is always a soundtrack playing in the background. Occasionally made of music, it is also the sounds of the streets, the people, the atmosphere that make...
Why Aren't We Making Videos Anymore?
You might have noticed that we don’t make videos anymore. Why is that? What was our motivation to make videos in the first place, and what has changed since we’ve...
Gender Roles in Vanlife
Vanlife is a popular form of alternative living. And yet, more often than not, vanlifers appear to take on rather classic gender roles. What is the typical gender-role division in vanlife,...
How to Not Kill Your Travel Buddy
Need a few strategies to get along with your travel partner? Traveling with a buddy can be fun, but there can be times when things may not go as smoothly as...
Alternative Alternator Solutions: Sourcing Parts in Mexico
We needed to replace an essential part of our car: the alternator. But where would we get the parts in southern Mexico? Would we ask the help of a mechanic,...
Food and Fashion: Perspectives on Simplicity
Vanlife does not collide well with dressing to the nines, and it doesn’t have to. There is simplicity in forgetting to brush your hair in the morning or cooking something...
"Living the Dream" is Doing the Impossible
Sitting in an office, we dream of adventures. But when we’re living an adventure, it’s suddenly a lot less dreamy. So how can we “live our dreams” in a sober...
They Call it "Roadtripping" for a Reason
Travel can be an addictive drug. Elation comes with new experiences and the rush of the unknown. But what happens when you come down from the high?
The Night Robin Hood Stole our Tools in Mexico
Robin Hood has returned to help the poor and steal from the rich. But what if you are the rich and he breaks into your overlanding vehicle? An essay about...
Popular Questions: Really, You Can Camp for Free?
How do we camp for free? What resources do we use, and how do we know that they are free? Here are some ideas based on the resources we’ve used...
In Sickness and in Health: Medical Issues and Vanlife
Being sick sucks. But it especially sucks if you’re living in a van. Or traveling in a foreign country. Or both. Sickness is not only a challenge for our bodies,...
Like a Timelapse Picture: The Twists and Turns of our First Year on the Road
A year on the road is a long time, as is a year in a Bus. While adventures and memories pile up, the relationships to those around you grow and...
The Purpose of Travel
Travel is a passion for many of us, a passion we often invest a great amount of time, energy, and resources into. But what, exactly, is its purpose? The answer...
In Order to Move Forward, We Sometimes Need to Stop
Traveling means constantly adapting to new environments. To always move forward and find something new. But sometimes, in order to move forward, we simply need to stop. After almost a...
Snapshots: Some Moments Don't Need Words
Traveling like we do, the rainbow of life’s emotions takes hold of you on a regular basis. One minute you find yourself frustrated and feeling alone, the next you are elated...
1000 Miles of Baja California
The Baja 1000 is a legendary race down the Baja California peninsula, from Ensenada in the north to La Paz in the south. We’re not good at racing, so we...
Should I go to Mexico? An Outsider's Perspective
I came to visit Emma, Sven, and Big Emma in Mexico. I went because I cared about them, missed them, knew them well. But did I really want to go...
Just Another Day in the Bus
Traveling on Baja, my favorite days are the ones where we get to stay put, where we simply have time to go through the routines of daily life, where I...
Ads versus Authenticity - Social Media Marketing in the Vanlife World
Social media marketing is big. So big, that some vanlifers can make a living posting paid content. Does this make their content less authentic? Despite recent criticism, it’s just another...
The Gringo Conundrum
Traveling in Baja California, we have encountered a problem we foresaw before we got here. Although we came to Mexico to get to know the locals, we find ourselves primarily...
Popular Questions: Hey, Are those Solar Panels?
Solar panels and set-ups are a hot topic in the vanlife community. When we did the research for our system, we relied heavily on information from other travelers. So here...
Overcoming Stereotypes
On our third night camping in Mexico, the words of the many people who had told us “Mexico is dangerous” rang in our heads. A story about camping, stereotypes, and...
Language Learning is Awesome or The Importance of a Good Spare Tire
As of three and a half weeks into Mexico, chances to practice Spanish are everywhere. Although my language skills are still in their infancy, this does not deter me from...
Through the Rabbit Hole - Our First Impressions of Mexico
We took the leap and left Anglo-America behind for Mexico. The stark contrast between the two worlds is most visible at the border that divides them, but it’s also undeniable...
Hola Mexico! - Turning on the Headlights
This week, we finally head to Mexico. What will it be like? Turn on the headlights with us and take a look at our expectations - from culture to language...
Goodbye USA - A Look in the Rear View Mirror
We are about to leave the United States and head into Mexico. About time to take a look into the rear view mirror. Where have we been? What has happened?...
We Don't Speed: Slow Travel is the Best Travel
A defining characteristic of our trip is the slow pace we have chosen to get from Alaska to Argentina. Although many overlanders finish the trip in much shorter amounts of...
I Can Live in A Van Because You Don't
Vanlife is a free and beautiful way of alternative living. It’s also rapidly gaining popularity, but our society is not made for it. We can only live in our van...
Popular Questions: Hablamos Español?
Do we speak Spanish? As we get closer and closer to Central America, this question becomes ever more important. How do we plan on learning, and why is it so...
Vanlife is not a Vacation
For the past two weeks, we’ve been on vacation with my parents in Florida. We’ve spent these weeks primarily relaxing, and it feels very different from our usual vanlife. Despite what...
Playing Tetris: How do we Organize our Bus?
When I was in my tweens, I used to spend hours playing Tetris. It was on one of those ancient Gameboys, the gray ones with the purple buttons and the...
Friends, Dumpsters, and Burritos in Oceanside
Connecting with other people is part of our DNA, but creating and maintaining friendships is tough while living on the move. All the more important are the genuine and heartfelt...
A Discussion Concerning Social Responsibility
Instead of becoming a teacher, I decided to move into my van and travel through various countries and cultures. Was this an irresponsible decision, was I failing to fulfill my...
Our More-Love-than-Hate Relationship to Nature
Nature is everywhere, surrounding us, affecting us, all the time. Living in our Bus, we can’t escape it’s incessant, magnificent pull. It is both a gift and a curse living...
The Wonderful Absence of Peripheral TV in Vanlife
In our modern world, television screens are everywhere. At home, the bar, the border crossing. It can sometimes feel all-consuming. Vanlife conveys freedom in many ways, but the absence of...
The Biggest Breakdown in History in the Redwoods of Northern California
I couldn’t believe it. It was the biggest breakdown we had ever had. How could we have let it come to this? How could we have been so careless? No...
Travel is not About the Miles: Taking Stock of Six Months on the Road
Travel is not about the miles. It is about growing as people, meeting people who are different from you, and experiencing things you couldn’t at home. This week is our...
Snapshots: Every Day is Different when you Travel
Traveling like we do, living on the road, every day is different. Individual and unique. You wake up in one mood and then your day changes and you’ve forgotten all...
Crossing the Line - The First of Many Not-so-Easy Border Crossings
We knew it from the beginning - this might be the toughest border crossing of our journey. Crossing back into mainland USA, they could just turn us away if they decided...
Do We Want a Donate Button? Money is a Delicate Thing
Money is a delicate thing. It’s delicate to talk about: some people get very uncomfortable being asked about money, others will talk for hours about their latest insanely successful venture,...
My New Course of Study
I spent my college years studying to become a teacher. Now, my studies are radically different, revolving around engines, mileage, and car parts.
Popular Questions: Why do we Blog?
What is this blogging thing all about? What motivates us to blog during our travels? How did we get into blogging in the first place? Simply put: we love writing....
A Story of Despair, Samba, and Compression
The VW community is more than we could ever wish for, providing not only mechanical help when we need it the most, but also a sense of home as we meet...
Pay it Forward - Giving and Sharing in the Vanlife Community
We were fortunate enough to attend a bus meetup in Bend, Oregon two weekends ago. Descend on Bend, as it is rightfully named, is a gathering of people living in...
Changing Landscapes: Vancouver
Big Emma’s wheels spray water around as she rolls into downtown. It is raining, it has been raining all afternoon, but we have finally made it. Over mountains and through...
Let Me Tell You About this Girl I Know...
When she walks by, heads turn after her. Women admire her style, while men secretly dream of running away with her.
Popular Questions: Why Drive the Panamerican Highway?
Why did we decide to drive the Panamerican Highway? What motivated us to take on the monumental roadtrip that would take us years to complete and push us to and...
Vanlifers: fellow travelers, friends, family
As you miss the fellowship of those back home, your fellow vanlifers become an important part of life on the road.
We Don't Walk Into the Wild
In 1996, the journalist Jon Krakauer published a book called Into the Wild. It follows the life of a young man, Chris McCandless, who came to considerable fame by dying...
Vanlife: a Mode of Travel, a Subculture, a Lifestyle
We travel the American continents in our VW Bus, and we also live in it. But what is it like to live in a car? What is the culture behind the hashtag...
Getting to the Top of North America: The Dalton Highway
What was the Dalton Highway for us? It was the epitome of Alaska, the Ultimate Road, the Middle of Nowhere, the True Start of the Panamericana. It was the most...
Popular Questions: Why so Many Emmas?
Emma, Big Emma….names are confusing around here. What’s up with that? Did we just name our Bus after me, its owner? This is often a question that needs some clarification....
Shots Fired: Gun Culture in Alaska
Guns are an important piece of American culture. Loved, loathed, controversial, dangerous. But nowhere is gun culture as visible as in Alaska. An outsider’s perspective on the issue.
Alaska, The Land of Dreams
Along the Alaska Highway, we made our way towards The Last Frontier. Just like the gold rush prospectors over 100 years ago, we yet had to find out if the...
Everybody Says, Go to Banff
Banff is beautiful. Like really beautiful. And practically everybody who we have met so far has told us to go to Banff. They have all been to Banff and it...
Welcome to our House
Welcome to our house. It’s pretty small, and it rolls around a lot. It has three floors: an upper level, a ground floor, and a basement. It also has many...
Missoula is for... everybody?
The city of Missoula is a melting pot of the hip outdoorsy and the classic Old West, and we couldn’t help but wonder about those subtle differences that make this place stand...
We Will Not be Defeated
“We expect there to be regular hiccups, periodic breakdowns, and the occasional emergency. But hopefully, they will be few and far between”.
The Bus God or On the Road to Becoming an Amateur VW-Mechanic
Learning how this one thing moves that other thing that is connected in a very complicated way to some round thingy…
