A Look Back: Celebrating Four Years of Van Life
Southeastern US: North Carolina to West Virgina, 2019
First in a series
On March 21, 2023 I’ll celebrate four years of van life. Four years. Unbelievable.
When I drove out of my Chapel Hill driveway for the last time, I didn’t blog about it or post on my socials for quite some time. As much as I wanted to publicly document everything, I was too busy navigating all the logistics of a new, unfamiliar lifestyle.
In celebration of this life-altering adventure, I’m going into the archives to share select photos and stories to retrace the miles. Many have never before been published.
In this series, I’ll share one anecdote from each state and province I’ve been, starting with my launch in 2019 and continue, in chronologic order, up to my anniversary this year. Each blog post will be quick reads. I’m not entirely self-absorbed.
North Carolina
27 March 2019, Sunset Beach
I didn’t get far, yet I felt a world away.
I treated moving into my vehicle like every other time I’d relocated. I took paid time off (PTO) from my part-time job to move out of the tiny cottage I’d been renting and into my minivan.
The PTO gave me time to get used to finding places to overnight safely, locating public restrooms, and preparing meals. I also reorganized the van’s interior for more efficient use of space.
While I’d spent three months planning the no-build layout, repurposing items I already owned and paring down my belongings to only what I thought I’d need, I hadn’t experienced a night in the van until I moved out of the cottage.
My first night was spent in a Walmart parking lot. No glam, no spectacular views. I’d already done enough traveling that I held no expectation that my van life would look like Instagram van life. I’d chosen Walmart because I knew I could park overnight, and it would be easy to buy anything I’d need as I reorganized my space.
I admit, it felt weird to put up the shades, change into pajamas, wash up as usual, then get under the covers in a vehicle in a parking lot. To sleep for the night. Like it was normal. I slept like a baby. In fact, I still find my minivan bed preferable to most other beds. I even sleep in the van when I visit family.
Stranger than how well I slept, was clocking how many other vehicle dwellers were in that parking lot. Some of them appeared to be living there. To my newbie eyes, they looked pretty rough.
I’d tucked away in a corner of the lot. In the morning, my belongings occupied the space next me. I’d hauled them out of the minivan to rearrange the interior. A few people approached, eyeing my things as if they were up for grabs. A direct look and definitive shake of the head sent them away. I felt feral. I’d protected my nest.
Once back to work and officially a digital nomad, it was thrilling to find a beach where I could set up my minivan “office” with my laptop. I enjoyed the fragrant sea breeze while I worked and listened to the gulls calling to each other.
When I finished, I simply hopped out of the car and walked to the shore. With that, I was overcome with elation. My dream had come to fruition. There I was, on a beach under a gorgeous glowing sunset, with the next day, and all the days to come, completely wide open to adventure.
All because I’d had the courage to leave a life with familiar comforts, to have a go at a lifestyle about which I knew nothing. I’d never before felt so completely the captain of my own destiny.
Virginia
Graybeard Mountain Overlook, Blue Ridge Parkway, Milepost 363.4
8 April 2019, Vesuvius
I wanted to see to Nova Scotia. The name conjured images of a remote and rugged land. Aside from my imaginings, I knew nothing about it except for its mention in an old Carly Simon song.
On the map, it appeared to be the farthest north I could drive on the east coast of the continent.
I wouldn’t dream of making a beeline for Canada. Interstates all the way? Pffft. Where’s the fun in that?
Researching scenic routes, I found Road Trip USA. The Appalachian Trail road trip would have me parallel the famously epic hike from North Carolina to New Hampshire. (The actual trail runs from Georgia to Maine). Once in New England, I’d figure out the rest. The route included the Blue Ridge Parkway with its hiking trails, vistas, and mountain towns. Four-hundred-sixty-nine miles (755 kilometers) of meandering scenic byway from western North Carolina to Virginia.
Before van life, I traveled the Blue Ridge region whenever I could. For years, it was a great escape from my home near North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park. As a nomad, I finally had the luxury of taking my time to explore the mountains I loved so much without having to rush back to an office job.
Except, I didn’t get to explore much at all. Only two weeks into van life and I was grounded! I’d developed a painful cellulitis of my eyelid and face that required a trip to the emergency room, a CT scan, and triple antibiotics. I laid low near Luray, Virginia where I’d gone to the hospital until my follow-up exam.
While Luray and the surrounding area is quite lovely, I didn’t get to do anything I’d hoped to do.
When the doctor cleared me, I was back on the road. I put away my disappointment. I knew I’d return. The Blue Ridge Mountains are always calling.
West Virginia
17 April 2019, Harpers Ferry
The Appalachian Trail crosses the Potomac River by a footbridge near Harpers Ferry.
I visited on a cold, blustery day. So windy, especially above the river on that bridge, that I grabbed every handhold available as I walked across.
Photos from the bridge were futile.
I couldn’t hold the camera still. I had no problem deciding to take in the fantastic views without a camera in front of my face. Although, I managed to get a shot of the entrance to the train tunnel for the Winchester and Potomac Railroad Bridge that also crosses the river.
Harpers Ferry National Historic Park is a beautifully preserved community, significant in Civil War history, located at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers. The entire park is nearly 4000 acres with incredible vistas, restored buildings, steep picturesque cobblestone streets, picnic areas, white water rafting, and hiking trails.
It absolutely merits more than one visit.
Next: The northeastern US!
Please feel free to leave questions in the comment section if there are aspects of my van life you’d like to know more about.
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