One Month in a Van
This was originally published on Twitter about two weeks ago, so it’s been about 1.5 months now.
So far I haven’t posted a lot of personal blog-type content here. However, given that I recently made a significant change to my living situation, I figured I’d give my readers an update. One month ago, I started living in a converted camper can full time. The van’s name is Colonel Mustard and he looks like this:
The previous owner, who did the conversion from a former Penske van, gave him the name and I like it so I’m keeping it. Colonel Mustard and I traveled across the country from New Jersey to Los Angeles over the course of December. I’ll be based primarily in the LA area until April or so.
Why did I move into a van?
It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while. I haven’t really traveled the US much outside the coasts and wanted to see the country. I also have felt that the nomadic life might be good for me, as I feel that I tend to fall into complacent routines easily. When I heard about RewriteLA, a project to amend the LA city charter by civic assembly, I knew I wanted to be involved. The project is spearheaded by some organizations I’ve been involved with for a while, and I have some friends who are working on it. I’ve previously attended a civic assembly as an organizer, the Deschutes County assembly on youth homelessness, but this will be the first time I’m actively involved in organizing and running one. This Sunday, January 11th, I’ll be a “small group facilitator”, basically in charge of keeping discussion running smoothly and making sure everyone gets to speak in one of the breakout groups that are part of the deliberative process in modern assemblies.
I also got to do some sight-seeing along the way. I took my time getting to the LA metro area, meeting up with friends along the way and visiting places I’ve wanted to go for a while. I went to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, climbed Cathedral Rock in Sedona, saw the Grand Canyon, went to some shows in Las Vegas, and got up to some other shenanigans along the way.
How long am I planning to be doing this?
A couple years. I’m certainly not planning to van life long term. Though who knows, maybe I’ll get attached. Tentative plan is to not do it longer than two years. I still want to settle down somewhere and be part of a local community. Part of why I wanted to set out on the road is to network and meet people as part of a plan to career pivot. I haven’t really enjoyed the jobs I’ve had much and want to try new things. I figure traveling around is a good opportunity to do so.
I also wanted to spend some time hanging out with internet friends, many of whom live along the west coast.
Where else am I going?
I’m planning to spend some time in SF as well while I’m in California. My tentative plan is to then head up to Portland and Seattle after the main Rewrite LA assembly concludes, then head back east, passing through Chicagoland and Michigan on the way. Probably hang around the Northeast for much of late spring/early summer, then maybe go back to Michigan towards late summer and spend early fall in the PNW. After that, who knows?
If I’m passing through your neck of the woods and you want to say hi, send me a DM!
Anyway, here are a few pics of my travels thus far:
