Not in the metaphorical sense, in the very literal sense of building a home. I think the prior comes with love, effort, and time in a space. That being said, this place does feel like a home and more so with each passing day. Way ahead of myself here. Yesterday I posted to Instagram that I was taking a break, maybe for a while, maybe forever. In doing so I realized that the entirety of my life, as seen by the outside world, was based in those little boxes. Not only do I not think that wholly represents all of me, but it also doesn’t capture the nuances. It is just the best photos I think repre ..read more

Palmer, the town in Alaska that my wife Paisley spent most of her childhood years. Palmer, the closest town with a grocery store while we lived in the cabin in Alaska. And now, Palmer, the name of our newly arrived baby boy! The last post, which was somehow 8 months ago, was written at a time when we had just found out that Paisley was pregnant. While we were not necessarily trying for a child, we had talked at length about the possibility of having one, so when we found out, it was not a total shock. The shock was more about how our lives were about to be forever changed. At a time when our l ..read more

I have never been one to maintain, much less write in the first place, a bucket list. Maybe the closest has been, instead, to do so in retrospect. Sort of what I am doing now, I guess. Sitting here, thinking back on recent experiences, and ticking them off a list that never existed until it was well past the time to mark them off. Fail safe way to not fail at achieving your bucket list! This past 12 months has been a whirlwind, the covid pandemic aside, and not all the changes have been the sort to  write home about; things like house projects and quitting our good paying jobs in the midd ..read more

I followed the two of them down a short gravel road in the dark. As we came to a stop, their headlights lit up a chain link gate ahead. He jumped out of his car and rolled the fence back. It was dark and I could not tell what I was driving into, but as the gate was drawn close behind me, I knew that I was here for the night. I was new to life on the road, just a couple of weeks in, and definitely new to the idea of sleeping in random places. This one was a new level for me, following two strangers up into the hills surrounding Santa Cruz to park on their land for the night. People I had only m ..read more

Third van, third time making cabinets. After pulling up the piece of linoleum laid down by the PO, my father, I found that there was a fair bit of mold and water damage to the original cabinets. The leak was coming in sliding middle window, above the kitchenette, and was running inside the wall and under the flooring. At that point I knew it was time for a full renovation. Gutted the interior, had the holes welded up, insulated the walls, and began cabinet build 3.0. My last van had a somewhat similar design, but different construction method, and was written about here: https://www.thesamba.c ..read more

The starter went out somewhere in New Mexico, or was it Arizona? Regardless, it wouldn’t get replaced till Oklahoma City. I would pass through a lot of country before finally being able to start the van with a key again. Every parking spot was first scouted for incline and clearance. Gas stations were timed to ensure easy exit pushes. Every stop was questioned. Did I really want to explain to one more person that I didn’t need their help and that everything was fine? Life wasn’t always like this, but in some ways it was always leading me here. There are lessons in everything we do, if you care ..read more

I think I should lead off with the fact that this is my third van. Three times now I have emptied the interior of a Vanagon and built something I thought to be more functional. This third van, however, came to me as an ASI Riviera that you may remember hearing about in this post. As such, it was already built out as a camper – complete with sink, stove, fridge, and even a thermostat-controlled propane heater. So why on earth would you gut it all and start over?!? Well… I think from the time I got this van I knew changes were coming. To begin with I have an Engel fridge from my last van and ..read more

Every time I hear this song I am instantly transported back to the days of wandering town to town. I was lucky enough to see Ira play at a small venue in Portland Oregon, in what would have appeared to have been a Vanagon gathering ..read more