How To Begin The Van Life Journey: Featuring Less Travelled Roads

On episode 2 of the Ones Who Wander Podcast, we interview Chris and Tali of Less Travelled Roads, who began their amazing van life journey in 2020. It gives a great perspective from a couple in the early stages of their adventure as they continue to build  the van and plan for their future. 

For those who didn’t watch the entire 40 minute episode (although you definitely should!), this blog tells a little about their story and what prospective van lifers can learn from their experiences. To follow along with their journey, follow them on both YouTube and Instagram, they’ve got some pretty awesome content that’s worth viewing! 

The Story of Less Travelled Roads

For Chris and Tali, their love of travel and the outdoors begin during childhood. Chris’s father took him and his family camping almost every week of the summer in his home state of Oregon. 

Tali moved to Oregon from Chile at 8 years old and developed a love of exploring the outdoors. She spent a lot of her 20’s hiking around the state with her dogs, just never straying too far from home. 

After Chris and Tali met, they undertook many overlanding adventures to pursue their love of the outdoors. It was these trips that would prepare them for the next phase of their lives. 

During the global crisis of 2020, locked down in their small home in Oregon, Chris stumbled upon some of the many van life videos on YouTube. Guided by their previous overlanding experience, the couple decided that this would be their next journey as a way to explore the country and reconnect with the outdoors. 

After a long search, they purchased a van in Texas and drove it over 2,000 miles back to Oregon, detouring through Rocky Mountain National Park to see how well it would handle in the cold and snow. It was their first van life adventure and great practice for the future. 

Little by little, Chris and Tali have continued to build their van with plans to eventually live on the road full time. With the majority of their work being remote, the couple have the freedom to travel and explore while still meeting their jobs obligations. 

With the current housing market crisis, van life makes the most financial sense for them with interest rates skyrocketing and supply at an all time low. Rather than letting it get them discouraged, Chris and Tali, like many others, have chosen to make the best of the situation by embracing an alternative living style.  

Less Travelled Roads hopes to eventually do cross-country road trips through the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. The transition to van life will give them the freedom to explore and be immersed in adventure everyday–truly living live to the fullest! 

Challenges Faced During Construction

While we talked about many of the positive aspects of van life, we also delved into some of the challenges Less Travelled Roads face while building out their van. It’s important to understand that not every moment of van life is sunsets and rainbows.

That was actually one of the challenges mentioned by Chris and Tali. The romantic, Instagram worthy pictures are not always the reality faced by van lifers. 

In fact, it can many times be the opposite, with moments of frustration and disappointment. But by going through these difficult moments, you’ll have more appreciation for the good times where everything is going right and van life feels perfect. 

Another challenge we discussed was actually buying a van to convert. With the lifestyle becoming more popular and supplies still low, it took Less Travelled Roads several tries to finally lock in their van, having to fly from Oregon to Texas to pick it up. 

One major issue brought up by Tali was of prospective van lifers over-eagerness to start their journey without preparation or something to fall back on. They’re left with negative feelings about van life because they didn’t do the necessary steps ahead of time to give them the best chance at success. 

A common challenge faced by many first time van lifers including Less Travelled Roads is adapting to living in a small space. Not only do Chris and Tali both have to fit themselves in the van, but their two dogs as well. 

While challenges are inevitable, its how prospective van lifers overcome them that make for a truly great experience. It can lead to the best moments of the van life journey and create lasting memories that are forever cherished. 

Less Travelled Roads Past And Future Adventures 

Despite being relatively new to the van lifestyle, Less Travelled Roads have been on some great adventures with even bigger ones planned for the future. With so much flexibility to travel, there’s really no limit to where Chris and Tali can go!

Their first big adventure was actually the journey to purchase the van. Flying from their home state of Oregon all the way to Texas, the couple made an over 2,000 mile trip driving the van back home while also detouring through Rocky Mountain National Park.  

During the process of building their van, Less Travelled Roads have done short extended trips around their home state and to nearby places like Mount Rainier in Washington. It gives them the ability to test out new features during construction without straying too far from home incase a problem arises. 

Once their van is complete however, they dream of taking it on much longer trips across the United States, Canada, and Mexico visiting places like Baja and Vancouver. There was even talk of possibly shipping the van out to the Big Island for an extended adventure in Hawaii. 

While they do have plans like these for the future, what Chris and Tali both love about van life is the ability to be spontaneous when deciding where to go. They don’t always like to plan ahead–the joy of traveling on a whim is much more exciting. 

Advice For Future Van Lifers

Now well on their way to living out their van life dreams, Less Travelled Roads offers some advice for newbies looking to take the first steps on their own van life journey. Learning from other van lifers mistakes and successes is the best way to get started. 

The first piece of advice is to figure out if van life is even an endeavor you want to take on. It’s not all social media worthy pictures on sunset mountain tops and beautiful valley roads. 

You’ll need to learn to live with less–less stuff, less space, and less expectations. While for some this may seem like too big a tradeoff, the true van lifer knows that the sacrifice is worth it for those small moments of true freedom and exhilaration. 

Secondly, they stress the fact that you shouldn’t jump into van life without some kind of plan or fall back. This was also mentioned when talking about challenges but it’s a very important point for beginner van lifers to understand.

Chris and Tali will still be working remotely while living on the road full time and have a safety net of savings should the unexpected happen. While a novice van lifer may be caught up in the romance of quitting their job and living on the road without worrying about money, it’s not a realistic way of thinking. 

Prepare ahead of time and figure out how you’re going to still make an income to pay for the essentials like gas and food. Van life will be much more enjoyable for those who plan out their finances before starting.  

Another tip they give pertains to the van build which is measure more than once before cutting anything to fit your van. With the price of lumber, measuring twice may not even be enough–measure and measure until you’re sure it’s the exact size you need. 

Making sure the things you build inside the van are fastened down and secured is also very important. As Chris said, you don’t want to hit the brakes and have any objects come flying at you. 

Conclusion

For those looking to learn more about Less Travelled Roads and advice for beginner van lifers, please watch the full episode that covers much more than what’s in this article. Also be sure to follow Chris and Tali’s adventure on YouTube and Instagram. 

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