I often oversimplify my journey to van life and entrepreneurship with a sentence that goes something like this: I quit my NYC non-profit job after becoming disheartened with international development work, backpacked around Asia to do some soul searching, then bought a van, hit the road and started building an online business. The truth is, …
I now call myself a nomadic digital storyteller, but it took me over a year to figure out how to earn a remote income. Since I finally cracked the code on how to make enough money to sustain my dream life and become location independent, I figured I’d share how I do it for anyone …
In May of 2017, I bought a used Ford Transit Cargo Van and began converting it into an off-grid mobile home named Casper. The process took about 2 months while working on it part-time and cost about $3,480.
As I pulled up the driveway of Gardenripe Farm, I saw a middle-aged man with a blue cap appear on the porch of a modest white house. He walked up to my driver side window to greet me, “you must be lost,” he said smiling.
Sometimes, the grass is greener on the other side, the mountains are taller, the sky bluer, and the wind more musical. At least, that’s been my experience living in a van for the past five weeks.
I lay in the warmth of the thick wool blankets I’m cocooned between, hoping to prolong the moment. If I stay put, I can maintain the shield of body heat I’ve created during the night. I decide to take a peak outside, and let whatever is waiting for me determine my next move.
Imagine a 5’2” twenty something peeking over the steering wheel of a white cargo van, winding through Navajo Nation with distinct red hues gleaming off pillar shaped rock formations in the distance, 80’s pop blaring through the speakers, and a miniature sheep peeking out the passenger window.
