Van Life Breakdowns & Lessons
I sat at the Moab Brewery bar, feeling deflated, unsteady, and a bit scared. Deep down I knew it was all going to be okay, but in this moment the situation had me feeling deflated. It was the spring of 2017 and I had been living full-time van life for four weeks. I felt on top of the world, pretty badass to say the least! I was making my way towards Oregon for a ladies trip in the Alvord Desert after soaking in the magic of the Desert Southwest. While I was traveling West my 2000 Ford Econoline, Charlene, started to putter, no longer accelerating when I hit the gas. Finally she came to a full stop, there was no acceleration forward. I was officially experiencing my first breakdown of van life.
There is a lot of magic that we get to experience when we take the leap into an alternative lifestyle, but it also comes with some big challenges. Challenges that I wouldn’t be experiencing if I had stayed living my comfortable, yet unsatisfying, lifestyle back in Portland. After a brief panic and my dog licking the tears from my eyes I got on the phone with AAA. A few hours later my tow truck angel arrived and we headed back east towards Moab.
The news I received at the mechanic wasn’t great. While the fix was easy, the parts were not in stock and we were entering the weekend. It was looking like I would be trading my ladies weekend under the stars in the Alvord desert for a solo weekend sleeping in the back of a mechanic shop in Moab, Utah. Glamorous. But still, I could feel there was magic to this choice of living on the road and I had to find trust in that.
I was officially stranded in a mechanics parking lot with my home on wheels that no longer spun. So, I walked to the closest brewery and bellied up to the bar, dog in tow. I find a lot of joy sitting at a bar alone, I find I have the most heart opening conversations with strangers I would probably never cross paths with otherwise. And in this case, I had many.
My first new friend was a local named Duval. We started chatting and I shared my story of being stranded as the car part I needed wouldn’t make it to town until next week. I shared my disappointment of missing a weekend with friends. It had been a lovely few weeks on the road, but I was feeling lonely and ready for some quality time with girlfriends. It wasn’t hard to miss that I was feeling down on myself and challenged by this new lifestyle I had chosen. A few others joined in on the conversation, validating my feelings and inviting me to adventures with them through the weekend. As we all shared stories from past adventures, Duval stood up and said he had an idea. I was to not leave until he returned!
Fast forward 30 minutes, maybe an hour, Duval returns. He sits down, orders a drink and asks if I have heard from the mechanics. Right at that moment my phone rang. The voice came from my mechanic saying it was a great thing I met Duval. My van would be ready by the end of the next day. I turned to Duval, a stranger just a few hours earlier, with tears in my eyes wondering what strings he pulled just to make my situation better. Turns out he knew where to find the missing piece and had delivered it to the mechanics. Duval didn’t only gift me the mechanical piece that Charlene needed to accelerate again, he also gifted me a reminder to have trust in strangers.
Trust in the magic.
Things were looking up, I felt my energy uplifted. As I finished up my beer I made plans with another new friend, Jennifer. She was also a solo-female traveler. She would pick me up in the morning to go hike and explore while I waited on my van to be fixed. I wandered back to Charlene, tucked in the mechanics parking lot, gleefully laughing as I soaked in this ridiculously challenging yet beautiful moment.
Jennifer and I spent the next day driving dirt roads, hiking along the canyon walls, and sharing our stories from the road. Moab is magic, and that day I felt Mother Nature was sharing the magic with us. To spend a day with another solo female traveler gave me a sense of belonging, it reminded me I wasn’t alone. I believe in some sense that road travelers are searching for a sense of belonging, but understand that first comes through settling into the loneliness. That day, dancing down dirt roads with Jennifer, a complete stranger 24-hours earlier, it made me feel the magic of belonging.
We returned to Moab after a day of hiking and frolicking down dirt roads. She dropped me off at the mechanic and Charlene was waiting out front ready to go. I felt sad to drive away from a place where I had just felt so held. Tears rolled down my face as I drove up and out of Moab finding my way back to I-70 to continue West. But that’s the beauty of van life, you find many little corners of this world to call home, to feel safe, and then you are off again into the unknown.
I share this story because it truly highlights the magic of living a life on the road, of the exploration of taking a road less traveled. If you have ever spent more than an hour with me I have probably waxed poetically about van life to you. I started my journey in road travel and living on the road in 2015 with a 4-week road trip in my Subaru. I was hooked then and I am still hooked today. It’s the humdrum of the tires rolling on the pavement, the magnificent sunrise over a canyon, and the unexpected experiences that keep me coming back.
Along the way I have learned many lessons and today I want to share my five greatest lessons from living on the road. The ones that have truly changed how I live my life and have inspired the roots of Joule Adventures.
There Is Magic Everywhere.
As the story above spotlights, there is a sense of magic in this world. There is magic found on the dirt roads, the small town grocery stores, the tucked away country bars, and the movement in the rivers. Being on the road reminded me there is magic everywhere, we just need to remember to be present to embrace it.
Slow the F*ck Down!
Van life forces you to slow down. You are either physically forced to slow down because your vehicle no longer accelerates or you start to realize that every daily action that you took with ease in your past life becomes much more time consuming. We move so quickly through our lives, multitasking, running from one place to the next, all to fall into our bed at night and do it all again. Van life shows you that slowing down is where the magic happens. When I step outside and my feet ground down into the dirt, I feel the fresh air fill every atom of my body. There is nothing better than that for me. Mother Nature shows you the beauty that is right in front of us when we just take a moment to slow the f*ck down!
Release Expectations.
Van life is not what instagram makes it seem. When you are living on the road things often do not go as planned. Your vehicle might break down, the boondocking site you were hoping for might be taken, you feel lonely, your groceries go bad because your electrical system stops working, and the list goes on! I know for myself, I have had the habit of creating a plan with high expectations of how it will all play out. When I do this, I am often disappointed, frustrated, and grumpy. Van life has taught me to make a plan, highlight the direction I would like to go in, but release expectations of how it is all going to play out. When I release the expectations, magic happens. Turns out I still made it to the Alvord for a ladies weekend after all, and it was magical!
Talk To Strangers.
We are taught to not talk to strangers. I was reminded of this constantly by others when I started traveling alone. It turns out there is a beautiful community on the road, there are people out there who want to support you and celebrate your alternative lifestyle. Just as I mentioned in the story above, there are strangers looking for the same connection and sense of belonging that I am. Of course, trust your instincts, move along if things feel weird. Be aware. There is a way to be safe, while still being open to finding community. Don’t feel comfortable bellying up to a bar or talking to strangers at a coffee shop? You can also use apps like Sēkr to connect with other road travelers along the way!
Live Sustainably.
Living sustainably looks different for each and every one of us. Living full-time in a 65-square foot metal box on wheels made me think about what I really needed. Living off-grid also forces you to realize your energy consumption. At the beginning of my van life journey I constantly drained my batteries, I didn’t know the ins and outs of Watts Law or even what Watts Law was at that point. I was so used to just plugging my computer into the wall and not thinking much about it. Living on the road led me to a deeper understanding of my carbon footprint. Conducting me down the many different paths of sustainable living, including how to power our lives with the sun! It is a continuous process in behavior change to live more sustainably, and van life built my awareness to the choices I have to live sustainably.
Joule Adventures has been built off of these lessons. My hope is that by providing fellow adventurers with quality off-grid electrical systems they can also go out and find the lessons they are looking to learn.
I believe that the more we can all go outside and soak in the magic of Mother Nature the more beautiful our world will become. I believe that solar power is one incredibly powerful way to work with Mother Nature that can help save our planet.
May the humdrum of your wheels rolling on the pavement allow you to find your magic. I hope Joule Adventures can help you get there!
Cheers to your adventures ahead!
