Lupi and I have been working hard on clearing out the apartment and getting rid of pretty much EVERYTHING we own in our move toward a minimized lifestyle. In some ways, it feels like the natural next step for us. We moved to San Luis Obispo about a year and half ago when Lupi was offered a job opportunity, and since then SLO has become the best city I’ve ever lived in. There are so many things about this town that will make leaving a bitter-sweet experience.

The ability to bike anywhere in town led to me ditching my car entirely, there’s fun events downtown pretty much every week, and the company I work for has been great enough to allow me to work fully remote during this time. I’m very grateful for everything that’s happened in the past 2 years or so, and I know that what we’re jumping into next is going to be something we’ll both remember for the rest of our lives.

That being said, there are some things I’m going to miss about traditional non-mobile living… not having to worry about weather as much, having essentially unlimited electricity/water, and the big one: storage space.

Testing the Waters

But it’s not like we’ve just jumped into this without preparation. Even before we bought our van, we took a handful of car camping trips that lasted anywhere between 5-10 days. I converted Lupi’s 2017 Honda HR-V into a mini-camper with a bed platform, window covers, a power station, and some storage bins and hit the road. What we found after a couple of trips was that the tiny living space in an SUV was not for us. It was not enough space for two people to live comfortably for more than a week or so at a time. We had the essentials, and we had the will to continue, but daily things like cooking breakfast, and brushing our teeth were a bit frustrating when we had to move our bed, covers, and some boxes just to get what we needed to start the day.

We had a great time road tripping in this way, but it made me feel that maybe this type of life was not for us. I was quite disappointed, since this 100% seems like something right up my alley, but I can’t argue for it if my partner and our dog are just not up for the challenge…

But then we toured some van conversions, and the fire in us lit up again. The limitations we ran into when SUV camping weren’t really an issue in a larger cargo van. We spent a few weeks testing out some vans (Ford Transit, Mercedes Sprinter, RAM Promaster) and realized that this could still be a possibility for us. We knew we could have the adventure we always talked about without having to sacrifice too much.

Saying Goodbye to the Apartment

And after 4 months of hard work converting the van, we’re now at our final month here in SLO. Lupi is excited to get to spend some time on herself, outside of the stress of her management job, and I’m just itching for our first taste of alternative living, where our footprint will be smaller and every part of life feels more connected to its source.

A lot of people end up asking where we plan on going first, and I always answer the same way: “Wherever we want”.

I don’t mean that in a sarcastic way. I think it comes more from a place of directionless freedom. I’ve always been one to travel with no itinerary, no plans, and no objective aside from exploring. I want to approach this chapter of my life in the same manner. We’ll drive when we want to, and stay at wherever has something that calls to us. I think this freedom is part of the appeal for this type of lifestyle, and it’s the principle I want to embrace during this journey.

We’ll spend time with friends and family (who I definitely don’t see enough of) for the holidays, and then… well, then we’ll go wherever we want.