My Childhood Travels

For the first 25 years of my life, I have visited 15 states. Most of which I just drove through, going to Florida, Myrtle Beach, Chicago, Washington D.C. or Niagara Falls. I hope to double this in the next 12 months. 15 more states? I think that is more than possible.

visited 15 states (30%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

Here she is!

My dad brought her to his home today.  He took about 100 pictures, and this is the only one that gets the whole van.  I'm so excited to start driving her.  12 more days!

Proud New Owner!

Of a Van!!!!

This is really going to be happening. I have an apartment lease that ends in a little over a month, and today, the van was paid for.

It has been a long 5 months. I spent the first few really excited about vandwelling, researching for hours a day. My dad was even helping me look for a van (being clueless to the real reason I wanted it) I guess he thinks women are good with vans. My truck I got almost a year ago is not getting as much mpg as I expected, and I told him I missed being able to drive people. A van would allow me to carry my bicycle still, but would put a roof over it and other passengers.

Then a few months later, for some unknown reason, I told my mom the wonderful idea I had of living in a van. I should have known, from past experiences, not to share any plans with my parents. They are dream-crushers. They are the typical Americans. Live, work, go in debt. They don't do anything out of the ordinary, and don't think I should either. They want me to buy a house and settle down in Ohio. I need to get married, raise a family and die. That is all. Of course my mom told my dad my plan to live in the van I buy, claiming that she thought he already knew because he was helping me look for a van. He abruptly quit looking.

Lucky for me, I brought it back up this month. This time with my job in mind. I am currently slightly unhappy working at a local preschool. I told my parents that I have been looking for a nanny job, for the freedom it would bring me being able to travel around town doing different things with the children everyday. But in order to be a nanny, clients want me to be able to drive their children. So I can only apply to 1 in 100 that have a spare vehicle for me to drive. In order to actually land a job, I have to own something other than a truck. A van perhaps?

Within a few weeks my dad found a van. I don't know anything about vehicles, so I just left it up to him. I had to go with a mini van because that is the best choice, without sharing my plans. I'm surprised they have not mentioned them from before. I have not seen the van yet. My parents live 80 miles away from me. They picked up the title and paid for it today, tomorrow they will pick up the van. August 5th I will travel to their town and get the van :) It is all going in my name. It will be my first vehicle I actually have my name on the title. My dad has access to one of my bank accounts, so he was able to get the money and buy it for me. Unfortunately this also means I have to now pay car insurance. This would have happened eventually, but that is another $40 bill a month that I did not want to have.

My van? A 2002 Oldsmobile Silhouette. I do not know anything about it. But I hope it runs for a while.

I am now researching winter jobs at ski resorts and similar places for the winter. I am eager to get out of Ohio and travel. My job does not pay me enough to afford to travel, so I must work and travel at the same time. I think working seasonal jobs in different states is a great way to do this for a while. Some big ski resorts actually have day care centers! This is what I hope to be doing come November.