How I Got Here

I figured there is no better way to start sharing my journey than explaining how I got on the road in the first place, so here goes nothing.

I grew up in northern Wisconsin in a small town called Eagle River. After graduating high school, I went to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) to pursue a degree in Art Education. I loved my classes, professors, peers, and organizations at UWM, but I didn’t like how I was living my life. All I was doing was going to class and working as many hours as I could at my campus job. I wasn’t intentional about my relationships with others, my time, or my money. I was doing very well in my classes, but overall, I didn’t enjoy where I was at that point in my life. I was also beginning to realize that although I enjoyed creating art, I didn’t love teaching it especially in a classroom setting where students would only come for a few hours a week.

Then COVID hit. We were sent home to continue our semester online. I moved back to Eagle River with my parents because staying in Milwaukee alone didn’t seem appealing. My summer job was cancelled and a new full time position dropped into my life. I was able to get a job that was completely remote, paid well, had potential, and I loved my online coworkers. I decided that returning to UWM in the fall to continue working towards a degree that I didn’t even enjoy wasn’t the best option for me. I decided to drop out before the semester started and continued working full time.

I was also looking at different places to live at this time. I thought that it would be nice to move to a totally new city for a few months just to have a new experience. However, I could not for the life of me decide on where that place would be- you know how many awesome places there are?!

That’s when the idea of “Vanlife” aka living on the road came up. This was something that high school me thought would be cool, but never thought it was feasible. As I started researching more (by researching, I mean watching YouTube videos nonstop). In October 2020, I bought an empty and very small Ford Transit Connect. I very slowly started converting it to a somewhat livable space. Fast forward to June 2021, I had half-done faux hardwood floors, a few wall panels, a vent fan, and a wobbly bedframe. Not much, but it worked for weekend camping trips.

I decided that it would be better for me to leave with what I had instead of waiting until I was confident with the build because God knows when that would happen. I moved to Colorado Springs, CO with my brother because he had an extra room to rent and I wanted to get out of Wisconsin. I took trips to and from there through Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. I spent about a month in Arizona before returning back to my homebase in Colorado, then back to Wisconsin and Michigan for the holidays.

After the holidays, my boyfriend and I hit the road again heading down to Atlanta, Georgia stopping at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. He flew back home to start school again but I stayed down south and am still traveling at this time.