A how to for switching an unbranded or Dodge grill for a Mercedes grill on your Sprinter van. Hint: all Sprinters have the cutout on the hood for the Mercedes symbol (hidden behind whatever non-Mercedes grill is on it) so it’s not as hard as it may seem.
Read moreA Guide to Liard River Hot Springs
On the way down on our Alaska motorbike trip, we stopped at Liard River Hot Springs, the second largest hot spring in Canada. About a year prior, I’d seen a photograph of Liard River Hot Springs and told Justin that someday I was going to go there. My wish came true much quicker than I expected! It’s every bit as wonderful as it looks in photos and we’d highly recommend a visit if you get the chance. That said, here’s a quick guide to Liard River Hot Springs.
Read moreAlaskan Motorbike Adventure: Part 1
This Monday Justin and his dad launched off on a 7,000+ motorbike trip from California/Washington up to the Arctic Circle in Alaska and back again. This trip has been a long time in the making. Justin and his dad love to ride and have been planning on doing an epic motorbike trip together for years. When they first started talking about it his parents were living in Africa and so they were going to ride Cape Town to Cairo. When they moved back to the US a few years ago, Justin and his dad decided to ride to Alaska instead due to logistics.
Read moreReview of Feels Like Home Rossio Prime Suites: Lisbon
The view from our bedroom window
This February Justin and I took a short trip to Spain and Portugal after scoring an absolute steal on tickets from a travel site we follow. I spent a lot of time researching where we should stay in Lisbon and finally booked at Rossio Prime Suites where we ended up having an exceptional stay. As such, I wanted to write a review for those of you who are like me and have a hard time picking lodging. Sometimes reading a review that's not from, say, TripAdvisor is what you need to make a final decision.
Read moreWhat Life in a Van is Really Like
Lately, it seems like the authenticity of #vanlife has been called into question and lambasted by many as a ploy to sell a falsely beautiful and carefree lifestyle in which people pull their vans onto beaches to enjoy campfires and lay in bed naked gazing out their back doors at magnificent mountain vistas. After living in our van for a year I'm going to give you the scoop on what (our) life in a van is really like.
Read moreHow to Travel Internationally With Just a Carry-On
The more Justin and I travel internationally the more we've realized how liberating it is to travel with just carry-on luggage. My parents have always been amazing packers and really know the art of traveling light. I've got all these memories of our family packing for stuff and my parents getting everything to fit just right in the smallest space possible. My dad would say things like, "Okay, I need something small and squishable for this spot. Maybe a pair of socks?" or "I need something thin to wedge in along the side of this suitcase. Grab me those books!" and in the end, everything would fit and you could hardly believe it.
Read moreShort Stories From Eight Months in Our Van
It's kind of hard to believe that we've been living in our van for eight months. In some ways, it seems like we just moved in and in other ways, it feels like we've been living in it forever. I'm not going to pretend that I have loads of exciting stories to tell you, but I thought I'd share a few anyway.
Read more5 Things to Do in the San Juan Islands
The San Juan Islands, an archipelago off the coast of Washington state, are the perfect place to get your Pacific Northwest fix. The lush forested islands and surrounding ocean are the perfect place to cycle, kayak, hike, nature watch, camp, or chill in a cabin. A few weeks ago Justin and I met some friends on Shaw Island and engaged in all of the above activities. If you end up taking a trip to the San Juan Islands, here are our top five picks of things to do.
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