Hey there!

My name’s Sara, and I’m a 30-somethingyearold with an awful New Jersey accent and an insatiable lust for new experiences.

I lived most of my childhood and young adult life “by the book,” and focused on making the best future for myself, ad nauseum. Fast forward to my mid-twenties, and I found myself unable to exist in the present moment, always planning a few steps ahead, with an overemphasis on performance optimization. This perfectionism sapped me of my creative energy, desires, and passions.

Quite fortunately, around the time I was making these revelations, I happened into my dream job, which allowed me increased abilities to try new things on and see how they fit. I had felt stuck, worrying about finances previously, and recognized that purchases on essentials were spaces where I could spend and reach into my “stretch” zone of discomfort without too much guilt. This landed me in a space where I recognized that travel was not only something I could literally do (I’m an adult now?!), but something I could try on for size without fretting needlessly and unfruitfully about my bottom line.

Thus, my inclinations for travel and exploration were born. For a time, I found myself flying places and meeting folks, and then visiting those folks at their home bases, slowly expanding my bubble. I became very interested in minimalist travelling focusing on experiences and social connections, and revived my millennial interest in “vanlife” or car camping, something that folks had discussed since my time in college but had always felt like a far-off dream, something that other people could do, myself longingly looking through the frosted pane whispering, “if only…“

2020 and the inception of the covid-19 pandemic changed things for me: during a time when many, myself included, faced months trapped at home, I found myself going stir-crazy, having had to cancel a recent flight and quarantine in my house alone for months. It was during this time that I faced my fears of change and pulled the trigger on pursuing a long-held interest in checking out the van life, in the most economical way I knew to be possible — travelling and living in a used Toyota Prius. After months and years of planning, self-denial, saving, and fear, I finally decided to pursue this life.

And it’s my intention here to share it with you.

To show that chasing a dream is tough but possible, terrifying but fruitful, insane but incredibly fulfilling.