the family journal

We’ve been on the road for a while now, and we’ve seen quite a bit. We haven’t yet scratched the surface of what is out there though, so we keep exploring. Sometimes we can’t sit still, sometimes we don’t want to move. Sometimes we cover 1000 miles in a month, sometimes barely 50. But we are moving and we are exploring, one mile at a time.

#66

Our Family Van Layout / Home

I feel like after 6+ years of living tiny and nomadically as a family, plus 6 months of living in a speed-built van, we went into the build with a pretty good idea of what we want and need with the layout, and what doesn’t work for us. And especially where we didn’t want to compromise (hello there, poop room).  We had hig...

#65

Northern central Colorado to Alma, CO

After saying goodbye to our friends we ended up pushing our scouting and off-roading hopping capabilities of our new home. From Steamboat Springs we explored about 60 miles of Colorado dirt roads (most of them immaculate, some of them ending in private properties) until we came upon this spot on a pass.  Workable internet, cloud and...

#64

Rocky Mountain NP

The Rocky Mountain NP currently has a limited entry system. That means you have to buy an entrance permission in addition to regular park fees. Those permissions sell out super quickly, since they only allow 4500 cars in the park at any time. However, when you have a campground reservation, you don’t need an additional entrance per...

#63

Southern Wyoming

After the fiasco of trying to find a spot with workable internet in and around the Tetons (joke's on us), we moved about two hours south to Soda Lake. The area is pretty enough for deserty Wyoming. Rolling hills sprinkled with sage bushes, a view of the Windy River range (which one day we’ll hike into), beautiful sunsets an...

#62

Grand Teton NP

After Yellowstone we explored the Gand Teton NP, twice. Look, we really tried liking it. Everybody likes the Tetons, right? They're majestic and pretty and nature! But they’re also crowded as hell, internet is nonexistent and thanks to a million people not giving a crap about boondocking etiquette the spots are limited b...

#61

Van Bathroom/Poop Room

Yes, we do have a bathroom/poop room in our van. It was one of the nonnegotiable items when we decided on building a van for a future home. So many reasons, the main ones: everywhere we go we find poop and toilet paper remains and there’s no reason to add to it. And two, we have kids. I have no need whatsoever to go outside at th...

#60

Beartooth Pass

Beartooth Pass, so far, is our favorite area in the US. No, we haven’t seen it all, and yes, we like lot of different areas we’ve been in (Glacier NP is still defending its spot as my happy place and ask Willi about key west or Utah or Joshua Trees). But the subalpine and alpine tundra is that one area we both agree on. The place we ...

#59

Yellowstone NP

Yellowstone NP has always been our happy place, and even though I’m ready to see something new by now I’m already planning a winter adventure. Yellowstone was our goal for finishing up the van. We wanted to head out to Yellowstone before Labor Day, and we did it. Though, Labor Day probably wasn't the best idea to be in one of...

#58

Staying-at-home and other things that don’t come naturally to full-time nomads during a pandemic

Social distancing does come easy in places like this In case somebody hasn't notice: There's a global pandemic going on and in order to flatten the curve everybody is supposed to stay at home. You know, the home with a foundation and a mailbox and preferably HOA regulations, not the one with wheels and a grey water tank and definitel...

#57

Highway 395, Mono Lake and Mammoth Lakes Area

Starting from Reno just after Halloween we traveled down Highway 395 all the way south to Ridgecrest (only to travel up north in a loop to be back in Reno for Christmas and then back south in another loop once the new year started, but that’s a different story). View of Mono Lake from the 395 S I still think the 395 is one of the...