FLORIDA-VAN's LAST ADVENTURE

This will be the last blog post with the 1990 Ford Falcon camper van. 

I sold it to my little cousin yesterday and watched him try to suppress the same exploding excitement I felt when I bought the van three years ago. I didn’t even choke up watching him drive away. I’m sure if I would have sold the van to a stranger it would have been more emotional, but I am truly just so happy to hear about his travel plans and to know that the van is still going to be roaming the country in all of it’s glory. 

It feels like there is so much that should be said in this post, but truly, the words are written in all of these blog posts. Every adventure and every challenge. Proof of how much I have grown in confidence, in independence, and in love. I am not the same woman that I was before this journey and so much of that has to do with these four wheels.

I wrote this when I woke up in the van for the last time:

It’s my last morning in the van. The last time I will wake up in this van in a parking lot somewhere on the side of the expressway. I can’t help but lay here and remember my first morning waking up in here alone. The night before I was filled with anxiety. With a very long road trip ahead of me, having no idea what was in store. 

I was a young woman by myself sleeping at a truck stop in Kentucky. I woke up to the morning sunshine pouring in the windows. Opening my eyes feeling all of the anxiety from the night prior be overcome by triumph. I could do this. Nearly three years later waking up to that same sunshine bursting through I reflect on all of the mornings I’ve woken to peer out the windows and look at the fresh horizon that the prior day’s miles would reward me with. 

40,000 total miles to be exact across 45 states. This van was my sanctuary. More than just a vessel it has been safe and familiar and comfortable and allowed me to overcome fear and follow my dreams. So much love and gratitude for this space.

And the adventure continues. 

My cousin, Austin, with his new van. I wish you all of the experiences and more. Chase your stars!