Road Trips, Parks and Places to See, Making a Living Remotely, Van/RV Life, and How Wealth is Built – and Lost
By Rachel Puryear Tucked into the East Bay hills near Oakland and Orinda, in Alameda County in California, Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve is a fascinating place to spend a few hours hiking, enjoying the views, and exploring an ancient volcanic landscape. Although there is no active volcano here today, Round Top is the remnant of…
By Rachel Puryear Life on the road offers freedom, flexibility, and beautiful changes of scenery – but it also requires a little extra planning when medications are part of everyday life. Many people take regular medications, and for van lifers who do, it’s important to think carefully about timing, storage, refills, temperature, and what to…
By Rachel Puryear Bryce Canyon National Park is one of those places that seems to belong to another world. Along the eastern edge of Utah’s Paunsaugunt Plateau, thousands of delicate rock spires rise from a series of immense amphitheaters. These formations – called hoodoos – glow in shades of orange, cream, red, pink, and white,…
By Rachel Puryear There are places where the landscape feels almost too improbable to be real. Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, near Kanab in southern Utah, is one of them: a vast field of rose, apricot, and salmon-colored sand framed by red-rock cliffs, juniper woodland, and wide-open sky. The park encompasses nearly 4,000 acres…
By Rachel Puryear The Toadstool Hoodoos Trail at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument feels like more than just a hike – it feels more like a portal walking into an otherworldly desert. One minute, you’re in familiar desert terrain – sagebrush, wide skies, the soft crunch of dust under your feet – and the next you’re…
Read more Toadstool Hoodoos Trail in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, in Southern Utah
By Rachel Puryear Zion National Park doesn’t just look incredible – it feels magnificent. Towering sandstone walls, deep red and rust tones, and that constant sense of scale (even when you’re standing on a short trail) make it one of those places where you keep stopping to look back, just to make sure it’s real. I loved…
By Rachel Puryear From the moment you start driving into this park, the landscape looks carved – bright, layered rock glowing in the sun, rock formations that seem to shift as the light changes, and wide-open desert quiet that makes your brain slow down. Our visit here immediately reminded us why people fall in love…
By Rachel Puryear Summer on the road can be gloriously freeing – long days, warm campsites, and crisp sunsets – but extreme heat inside a van or camper can make travel uncomfortable, unsafe, and hard on both your body and your gear. These strategies prioritize comfort, safety, energy efficiency, and low environmental impact so you…
By Rachel Puryear We hopped aboard The Kitty with San Francisco Whale Tours for an afternoon outing and came away with one of those rare, small-moment adventures that make exploring the outdoors feel so full of wonder. The crew – warm, informative, and clearly experienced – put everyone at ease; the boat is a comfortable…
By Rachel Puryear Van life offers one a tremendous amount of freedom, and it’s known for being popular with digital nomads everywhere. But not everyone wants to work at a computer, and besides, spotty internet access is a reality in many of the remote, unspoiled places that many van lifers enjoy spending time in. However,…
Read more Income Ideas for Van Lifers With Limited Internet Access
