Summer has arrived, and with it a very sudden onset of “travel revenge!” In case you’re not on the up and up with the new ~lingo~, “travel revenge” refers to the new hoards of people rushing to the nation’s airports and tourist hotspots with a VENGEANCE thanks to the success of our vaccine rollout and easing of travel restrictions. We knew we weren’t the only ones going a little stir-crazy! After over a year of not really being able to exercise our travel muscles, we knew that the Golden State was the perfect destination for our post-rona maiden voyage. And what better way to experience that Cali magic than by…

Before #vanlife started trending on Instagram, most people’s concept of nomadic life was far from glamorous (think: van down by the river), but now there are van conversions that cost more than some family homes. With the current state of the world, van travel may be the only way to safely satisfy that inner wanderlust. You may be asking, how can I do the vanlife thing without selling a kidney? Well, it involves getting cozy with power tools and acquiring a nail gun obsession. Up next: How to face your fear of power tools. STEP 1: FIND A SENSIBLE VAN If the road were a runway, Sprinter vans would be…

Oh the weather outside is frightful, but my van is so delightful… OK so let’s just say that we’re not cut out for writing Christmas jingles, but there is something we’ve become experts on. Hint: it’s got 4 wheels, a 32 gallon gas tank, and low clearance. As the weather gets colder and the days grow shorter (we see you, seasonal depression), it’s clear that the holidays are upon us. Racking your brain to come up with the perfect gift for the vanlifer in your life? Worried that your package won’t arrive by Christmas? Fear not! Your trusty #VanMamas (that’s us!) have always got your back, and today is the…

So it’s been nine (NINE?!?!) months since the pandemic read the rights to our social lives and travel plans, and as the weather starts to get colder, it’s becoming glaringly obvious that our inner wanderlust did not get the corona-memo. We can’t recommend international travel now or for the foreseeable future for our fellow Americans (just because you can go doesn’t mean you should go?), but we may have a COVID-19-safe loophole to satisfy that nagging travel junkie: buckle up baby, let’s road trip!!! Ok, so we’re not pretending that the road trip idea is revolutionary; some of our national parks have been seeing record numbers of visitors this year,…

  Ever since we decided to join the #vanlife world, it’s been full steam ahead (choo-choo! Or should we say vroom-vroom?). Without a lot of time to plan and save money, we were on a pretty modest budget for our van and conversion. We knew that out budget wasn’t padded enough to purchase one of the glamorous Sprinter vans of your Instagram feed (never thought we’d be referring to vans in terms of ~glamour~) and we’d have more luck with the Conversion Vans of our childhood (cue the long road trips and fossilized McDonald’s french fries hidden between the seats). OK, so not so glamorous, but they have a sort…

Although the coronavirus has definitely put a ~damper~ on our travel plans, when we reflect back on our preparation days it was clear that the stresses of everyday life made it incredibly difficult to plan. With many daily stresses on an inevitable hold (i.e. going into the office, taking your cat to the dentist, the busy humdrums of normal life), we think it’s actually the perfect time to start planning your future around full time travel.  Before we get into some planning tips, let us ~spill some tea~ on full time travel: a big part of living the lifestyle is learning to roll with the punches and you really can…

So many of us spend our lunch breaks scrolling through our Instagram feeds sighing over how we want to incorporate travel into our lives more, and rack our brains on how these travel influencers can afford their lifestyles. Once upon a time, we were just like you! Living a life where we watched other people chase their dreams while we could only imagine chasing ours. Let’s face it, one of the biggest barriers to traveling full-time or long periods of time is the financial obstacle. But like with most things in life, with a little creative thinking and a lot of ambition, there’s nothing holding you back, except your own…

Everyone has that earworm that they can’t shake, the song they curse when it plays on the radio, but the more it plays on repeat in your head, the more you start to reconsider… “hey, this actually isn’t so bad.” Hate turns into tolerance, and tolerance turns into love. Our brains crave repetition, and the more we listen to a song, the more we can’t live without it. We experienced this phenomenon a lot while abroad. Our heads said no, but our hearts said yes to so many formulaic pop songs. We joked about how we “loved to hate” these songs, so we started to compile these songs into a…

WHY BALI? Laying sunkissed on white sand beaches scrunching sand between your toes, trekking through lush jungles ready for adventure, ancient temples floating in the sea, spiritual discovery… these are the reasons people are called to Bali. All these things and “Eat Pray Love” (as much as we hate to say it). The image of Bali seems to conjure up the same enchanting dream for all of us travel junkies. Admittedly, we were not reluctant converts from the very beginning; we were already under Bali’s spell well before we arrived, which is why we planned to spend more time in Bali than anywhere else during our travels (a whole two…

You’ve tried all the diets, you’ve done all the Richard Simmons workout videos, and still you can’t seem to tighten your backpack’s waistband (err straps?) … well fret no longer! We know how easy it is to lose control of your backpack’s appetite when you lead such a hectic life of travel, and we’re here to help. No gimmicks, no tricks, just the facts! First, before you can move forward with your weight loss goals, you have to face some hard truths; your backpack is verging on an unhealthy weight. Your sore back and shoulders are begging you to make some lifestyle changes, and frankly, if you have to endure…