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MY FORD TRANSIT CAMPER VAN IS FOR SALE! Let me see!

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Spin the Globe Project

Inspiring adventurous souls and socially conscious hearts

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About Me

Welcome! I’m Anna, a nomadic storyteller with an appetite for adventure and a passion for social justice and sustainability. Hence why I backpacked around the globe solo, traveled in a tiny home on wheels for 3 years, and now I’m based out of a small off-grid house building a farmstead.

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This week I checked off Arkansas, Missouri, and Ke

This week I checked off Arkansas, Missouri, and Kentucky—which means I have officially been to all 50 U.S. states!

I visited most while in my van over the last few years, but some of them (like Hawaii and Alaska) I visited with my mom earlier in life, and 8 of them, I’ve lived in at some point.

Travel bucket lists are a strange thing, and while I seem to have a habit of making them, I’ve also learned a lot about the negative aspects of pursuing them.

When I first set out in my van, I had a goal of visiting every national park in the U.S., but quickly realized they aren’t dog friendly, so I shifted gears (I have still managed to visit 34 of them though).

And now out of pure chance that I semi-spontaneously bought a shuttle bus conversion in Kentucky, I’ve now crossed off my last 3 states.

For me, a lot of my travel checklists were rooted in quickly “checking things off” rather than really taking the time to get to know a place and the people there.

To be honest, having just now completed my first travel checklist, it feels a little hollow.

I couldn’t tell you a specific thing that happened in some of the states, and others, that I really invested time in, stand out so much more.

I suppose the moral of this story is that quality is better than quantity when it comes to travel. I now prioritize the quality of an experience in a place, rather than just trying to squeeze as much in as possible, and I highly recommend it.

MY VAN IS FOR SALE!! Casper the camper van and I

MY VAN IS FOR SALE!!

Casper the camper van and I have been through a lot together. It’s taken me all around the U.S. and Canada, and we’ve traversed over 53,000 miles through varying terrains!

I started my travels with my dog Cagney in it as a budget $3,500 low top conversion that I built out myself. Then I added a high top extension, gutted the interior, and had it completely remodeled by a professional team in order to turn it into the cozy luxury off-grid-ready camper it is today.

All in all, I’ve lived in Casper for a year full-time and 3 years part-time, and it was my first “house” and the home that helped me get through a lot, including building an online business.

Ryan and I just bought a pretty sweet mini shuttle bus conversion (already built out) though, so it’s time to move on.

I absolutely loved my van as a solo female traveler with a small dog, but it’s a bit tight with two people and two big dogs (and hopefully children in the near future).

It’s a bittersweet feeling to be parting ways with Casper, but we definitely are excited about having more space for our growing family.

I can’t wait to find Casper a new person or couple (it’s perfect for a solo traveler with a dog or a couple with maybe 1 small dog).

You can check out the listing on VanlifeTrader (the link is in my bio).

Please ONLY message me about it after you have gone through the whole listing and ONLY IF you are serious about purchasing the van.

These last few seasons have weighed on me. My emot

These last few seasons have weighed on me. My emotions have been through a whirlwind down caverns, up mountain peaks, through valleys, and stuck on plateaus.

I’ve felt so unmotivated to write freely and yet writing is my outlet. And when I sort through memories, the last time I felt truly inspired to write for me everyday, I was living in my van by myself, with no clue what the future had in store.

Now I sit at my laptop busting my fingers trying to crank out new guide oriented blog posts and update old ones, revamp my website, and edit new YouTube videos. But the truth is, my muscles are weak from inactivity, my hope feels burdened with despair, and my thoughts are clouded with a long list of goals and dreams that simultaneously seem closer and further than ever before.

This isn’t the first time that I’ve found myself morphing into a stagnant hermit. But it is the first time that travel and a radical life change wasn’t the easiest solution.

Living in a van, truly made me feel like my best self, yet here I am in our little off grid house cemented to the ground, staring longingly at the vessel that zigzagged me around the nation’s iconic landscapes. And wondering if the woman who directed that journey, climbing evolving terrains, narrating each experience as it arose, cataloging it joyfully in these little squares, still exists.

I’m trying to decipher if I can replicate that version of me in a less mobile lifestyle. Or does this new version just need to learn new skills to adapt? I suppose only time will tell.

Happy Mother’s Day to the most adventurous, dete

Happy Mother’s Day to the most adventurous, determined, and brave woman I know. I wouldn’t be me, without you showing me what the world has to offer and encouraging me to pursue my dreams. I love you to infinity and beyond.

And to all the mothers who are having to parent during this pandemic, you are heroes. To those who don’t have a relationship with their mother, lost a mother or a baby, to all those who want to be mothers but aren’t yet, and to those who don’t want to be mothers, and you feel constantly shamed by society for that choice, I see you and send you love and strength.

I wrote this after moving into my van in 2017, and

I wrote this after moving into my van in 2017, and having fallen in love with so many lifestyles that suited me over the years. Leave your favorite emoji in the comments if this resonates with you 💛

🏕After completing 15 “wilderness” backpacki

🏕After completing 15 “wilderness” backpacking trips in the last decade (a lot of those with subpar gear and clothing), I created a comprehensive backpacking gear guide and checklist on the blog! This post also includes all the lessons I’ve learned over the years. I hope you find it useful! You can find the link under “Blog Posts” in my bio. And for those seasoned backpackers, let me know if you think I should include anything else 😊

📍Pueblos and Núu-agha-tuvu-pu (Ute) lands

If you had told me 5 years ago that I’d be an en

If you had told me 5 years ago that I’d be an engaged homeowner, with two dogs, living off grid in the middle of nowhere, looking at this view everyday—I would have said you’re crazy. It’s always been difficult to picture myself “settling down,” because I felt defined by my nomadic tendencies, addiction to change and allergy to the conventional.

September 2017 (my words)~
“Sure, I’d love to “settle down” with a guy, but by settle down, I mean- live a nomadic lifestyle where we both pursue all of our wildest dreams.

One day, maybe I’ll meet a man who enjoys hiking to campsites near glacial lakes, summits mountains for fun, actively seeks out new adventures and self-improvement, and is passionate about his hobbies.

I don’t want a guy who will anchor me to one place. I want one who will help me conjure up our next great adventure.”
~
Well I certainly found myself a man who I can conjure up endless adventures with. And while covid has anchored us in so many ways, it’s also given us the time to establish some much needed roots, and plant seeds that will hopefully grow into some of my biggest adventures yet.

P.S. this picture is the first time I’ve put on anything other than jeans, sweats or leggings in a year.

For over 3 years, I have traveled and lived full-t

For over 3 years, I have traveled and lived full-time in my van without a shower or hot water. Pre-pandemic, I had a Planet Fitness membership just to be able to use their showers across the country. But now, finally, I can have hot showers on the road (and in the middle of nowhere)! Thanks to @joolcaco who gifted me their HOTTAP V2 Nomad kit to review, which is basically a portable all in one system for taking showers and doing dishes with hot water off-the-grid. You can check out their kits and get one for yourself via my link in my bio under “Partners & Discounts” or you can watch my video on YouTube to see this hot water setup in action (just click “Follow along on YouTube” in my bio link and then scroll down to my van life videos playlist).

📍Jicarilla Apache land

It is National Park Week. And while the National P

It is National Park Week. And while the National Park Service uses this time “to celebrate America’s treasures”, I think we should expand that to spread awareness on how our beloved national parks came to be.

Long story short, they were founded on land that was either stolen by forcibly removing or killing indigenous communities, and sometimes by treaties that were developed while the native communities living on the land were under duress, and many of the promises in those treaties (such as allowing native people to access the land in the same ways they had previously) were not upheld.

For reference on the toll of colonialism and the creation of parks on the people who inhabited this land: “Some estimates put the original Indigenous population of what would become the contiguous United States between 5 million and 15 million at the time of first contact. By 1890, around the time America began creating national parks in earnest, roughly 250,000 Native people were still alive” (David Treur).

But Native people do not just exist in the past, there are over 5 million Native Americans in the U.S. today. So it is only right that we learn about the past, so we can make better choices (that respect our nation’s living indigenous people) when it comes to conservation in our parks and in general.

That being said, I always advise visiting national parks for your vacations. I’ve been to 32/63 of them myself, and I’ve experienced firsthand the power and beauty of nature in these special places. I’ve visited the Grand Canyon in particular, 9 times, and I hope to visit it many more.

But when visiting, please take the time to learn about the indigenous tribes who were forced to move (and still don’t have the rights to their land) so that you can pay the government to visit the park in the first place.

I also highly recommend donating to indigenous causes and reading the Atlantic article “Return the National Parks to the Tribes” written by David Treuer a Leech Lake Ojibwe tribal member (you can find a link under “Recommended Reads” in my IG bio).

📍Hualapai, Havasupai, Navajo, Hopi, Paiute, Yavapai-Apache, and Zuni lands (now known as Grand Canyon National Park)

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