HOW IT STARTED

In 2019, I was tired. The last two decades, which contained my entry into adulthood, seemed to fly by in a semi-conscious blur. I was apparently living a life, but it wasn’t mine. I was firmly indoctrinated into that sleep-walking death march that passes off as real life, mindlessly wandering down a path of someone else’s choosing.

I always figured that I was thinking for myself. What I was really doing was running the societal programming of my choosing, plucked and conglomerated from a vast array of mores and norms, political propaganda, and marketing campaigns. Yessir, I picked my teams, drank Coke (never Pepsi), and trusted in my masters. However, it never felt right.

Life slapped me across the face a few times until it dawned on me: I’m holding my creative self hostage because that self doesn’t seem to measure up in some way. Perhaps I thought that I would follow the creative muse right to some perceived hell or other such nonsense. It was time for a change in both attitude and behavior. Thus began my spiraling descent into a mid-life crisis. No divorces or corvettes for me- I made the radical decision to pursue a more satisfying career as a craftsman. Months of self-help books, podcasts, and soul searching mostly proved that I think way too much, but also that I needed to further simplify my life in order to quieten the noise that was distracting me from fully living life.

So, in the most responsible way possible, I renovated and sold our house, quit my job (after plenty of notice), and started planning what to do with this newfound freedom. At this point in the story, I should mention that Heather was just fine with all of this. We do not have children and I’m not exactly starting from scratch as a craftsman and designer. While these two factors certainly made my decision easier, I’ve learned that there are always excuses that one can make for not pursuing a goal- but I digress.

Around July 2021, we discovered van life. This was a minimalistic, nomadic lifestyle being embraced by mostly younger adults. We wondered if we could live in a van. Heather wanted to try it. I thought that it sounded like a fun project. We started planning right away. Neither one of us had a bit of experience in the automotive or van conversion realm. What we did have was each other as teammates, combining our skill sets and creative energy in order to achieve a common goal.

Turns out that was enough to get it done. This was proven on June 8, 2023, as we steered our new apartment on wheels out of Powers Park warehouses in Jax, en route to a 7-8 month sabbatical- a period of time dedicated to cross-country travel, rekindling relationships with scattered friends and family, bathing in new experiences, and planning our next steps.

Stay tuned for updates and musings on our journey.