12 Nov November Anniversary: One Year with Karma the Van

We can’t believe we’re already at a year with our beloved classic ride – Karma the Van. We spontaneously jumped into van life after a random (or fated) choice I made to search for a vehicle with a doubled budget cap, ‘just to see what was out there’. Some 55 hours later, we were traveling hours across the state of Colorado to pick up a 1975 Ford E-250 Chateau Clubwagon just over the Utah border.

Buying any car can be stressful, but attempting to buy a 46-year old car from a stranger in another state — was not something I thought I would EVER do. But sometimes, things just keep aligning, reassuring every uncertain step forward down a new road. Not only was the van an amazing find, but the seller, Amber has become a long-distance friend of ours! It turned out Amber was as picky about her buyers as we were about the type of van we wanted, and only someone as inspirational and creative as us could have a perfect vehicle like this to sell. Now a year later, we’re still in touch with photos of our travels and hopes to plan a real camping meet up in the future!

The purchase of the van coincided perfectly with moving out of our apartment, almost as if that had been the plan all along. It certainly wasn’t, but we couldn’t be happier with how things have turned out in the last year. As Aaron said to me on our November 8th Van-niversary, “I hoped the van would be low-stress to own, but I never imagined it would have been this easy.”

Things we gained from a year of classic Van Life – in a built out 1975 Ford E-250 Chateau Clubwagon:

• 15,000 miles without a single car emergency or critical issue.
• 4 cross-country road trips across 14 states.
• 11 National Parks & Monuments, countless national forests and scenic byways
• over 200 beautiful hours of watching America through our windows
• Epic sunrises at the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley
• Appreciation for non-interstate driving — try it, it’s better!
• Trips in the “time machine” as we worked our way through influential and top music albums of the late 70’s
• Ready-to-go weekend camping ability
• Ability to pull our 6’x10′ new trailer from WI to NM with our Denver storage unit belongings
• Opportunity to learn about a classic engine, and make minor repairs ourselves

To sum up, we love love LOVE our van. We feel as at home with Karma as we ever did in any apartment or house we had in WI, MN, or Colorado. Only now our house comes with us when go camping, travel to another state to see friends or family, or even when we’re out and about in town running errands. We’ve learned a new level of daily joy – where rocking out to some classic music, a nap, or a great view are never beyond our reach.