Our Story
Life before Bryce
While I am not going to go all the way back I will hit the highlights and go into a little detail on some of them.
Had my daughter
Got married
Had my first son
Graduated with assoicates degree
Got a job
Had my second son
Got divoreced
Rasied my kids - as a single father with full custody
Multiple promotions
Had a brain tumor removed - this brings us to Jan 2013
Followed up by 5 weeks of radiation
Back to work 30 days after surgery while going thru radiation treatment
This was way too soon, but I did not know it until years later
Received another promotion
Took a two week vacation to Bryce Canyon in 2017
Woke up ran the canyon trails, headed back for lunch
Started to wonder how could I do this everyday
Ran my first Ultra
June 2018
Left the job and company I had worked for in one way or another for the past 19 years
Started a remote job that allowed me to work from anywhere
Travel a lot the first 6 months, was on the road atleast every other week
Started to look into ways to travel full-time while working
Meeting Bryce
I had wanted to get an Aussie for a few years but never thought the time was right. My traveling for work was slowing down so I was going to be home more when I came across a post of 6 week old Aussie puppies. The next day I met Bryce and knew he was the dog for me. Two weeks later I would be bringing him home!
Bryce Growing up
As Bryce got older I signed him up for a training course that split us up for two weeks. When I picked him up and walked thru all his new commands he was a great off leash dog. We spent many days at the park, on trails, and walking around Home Depot together. The more we were out together the more I was thinking of how we could travel together. He loved the car so I wasn't worried about that, just on how we could have space to live and travel.
Deciding on Vanlife
After watching hours of videos on YouTube, would a van work, maybe a bus or cargo van? I deceided a van is what we would get, I was glad the hard decision was over....wait, what van should I get? Sprinter, Promaster, Transit and what wheelbase? The choice was made fairly quickly to go with a Promaster and new I did not want the shorter wheelbase so the 159 it was.
Started looking for Promasters and found one in January of 2021 and once I found one I scheduled a test drive for the next day. When I got there the one I was going for was sold the night before, but they had another on the lot. Took it for a drive and loved it! Started the process to buy it that night while trading my car in, and was able to pick it up the next day.
Starting Vanlife
Started building during a cold Michigan winter while also making updates to our house. Ended up selling the house in April 2022 and hitting the road early May 2022. For all the details around the Build see the Van Build page.