Life
Who: Alex & Mike Kinney
What: Living in our vehicle (first a Sprinter van, then a Ford F-150 truck), traveling the US to visit all the National Parks and earn my junior ranger badges!
When: Started in March 2018, after leaving my job of 10 years, Mike selling his business, selling our house and most possessions…
Where: All of the United States – there are currently 61 National Parks throughout
Why: The real question is…. why not go live your dreams?
- We Still Don’t Know What We’re Doing - It seems like it was a month ago that I wrote a post about relationships and van life… but it was one year ago, on our one year wedding anniversary. Today marks our second wedding anniversary, so I re-read what I wrote a year ago to see if it hold true: communicate, take alone time, don’t be a jerk. And yes, it does. In fact, I’d say this past year we’ve done all those things a million times better than we...
- How to Actually Afford Van Life - “How can you afford this?” is one of the questions we’ve gotten most, after “ew, how do you take showers?” and “how do you not kill each other?” (see this blog for answers on that one!). When we started thinking about this adventure, I turned to the never ending wisdom of the internet and social media van life accounts. I quickly became frustrated (and quite frankly, continue to be) on how many people, van lifers and others, claim to fund...
- Eco Friendly Christmas - It’s hard not to feel completely overwhelmed by the current environmental reports. It seems like there is no way that we can make a difference, especially with our dumpster fire extremely divided government that seems hell bent on doing nothing but fighting with each other. via GIPHY However, I am trying my darnedest to remain optimistic and believe that we, the people, can save our mother earth. The holiday season is one of our worst times though and our waste increases...
- Day in the Life of a Lobsterman - As Mike and I are stuck in Maine, waiting (and waiting and waiting…) for our van to be repaired, I decided to cross something off my bucket list; work on a lobster boat! Spending my childhood summers in Maine, I always felt that this was something I needed to do – a rite of passage will you – to feel like I really could call myself a Mainer. And lucky me, I got the opportunity from a family friend a...
- True Life: Van Relationships Are Hard - Meet Mike. He’s my husband of one year, but we’ve been together for about six years. We’ve obviously had our ups and downs, like everyone does, but for the most part… it’s been pretty easy for us as a couple. There has only been one huge screaming fight, about six months in of us dating. But overall, when we disagree or frustrate each other, we tend to make up pretty quickly and easily. Now, when we decided to do this...
- Friend-venture Week - I have quite a few friends in metropolitan cities that I wanted to visit while we are traveling through the East. However, Mike is not quite a fan of big crowds so as you can imagine he was not in love with the idea of going to some of the largest cities the East Coast has to offer. Soooo…. This week was a solo adventure for me! The original plan was to have Mike hike some of the Appalachian Trail...
- Waffles & Harry Potter - We’re finally in Florida! We’ve been putzing around a little the past week and a half. We had to get another part in for our van (I have no idea what it was) and so we waited at Uncle Russ’ house again in Charlotte. And surprise! It rained the whole time… so my week was spent at the Y, watching Grey’s Anatomy, and drinking wine. I’m learning that if I don’t have a task list or a full schedule, I...
- White People, Here’s Your Next Vacation - After Congaree National Park, Mike and I visited Charleston, South Carolina. The vibe I get from this town is a less drunk family friendly New Orleans; beautiful architecture, water fronts, quaint shops and restaurants, and an incredible, but typically white-washed, history. We chose to visit sites that would teach us about the deep history of slavery in Charleston, and our country. First stop was the Old Slave Mart Museum. This moving and sad museum is so informative and so important. We easily...
- Week 1: We Have No Idea What We’re Doing - We’ve been on the road, living in our van for one week now. It’s definitely not been what I expected yet. But we’ve learned a lot already! The biggest lesson being that we know nothing. We already knew that partly – we purposely left without the van being completely pimped out. You know what I’m talking about – google van life, and it’s all these instagram perfect vans. Mike and I have followed a lot of various van life accounts...
- Anxiety & Excitement - We have our van. It’s built out (mostly). We’re packed (a little). We’ve said goodbye to our friends (as many as we could). We have our route (kind of). We have our budget (but need more money). Luca is pumped (he has no idea what’s going on). I’m freaking out a little. Luckily, I have Mike. While I’m panicking a bit, I still know everything will be great because I have him. Sorry not sorry for the sappiness – but he’s...