You don't do that anyway - they said :-)
Preparations and thoughts for 1 year of full-time vanlife through North America
Why we chose North America
We love traveling, discovering and adventure, and we want to do it as flexibly as possible. We travel in a converted Mercedes Sprinter with our two boys Casper and Leo and our Labrador Lotta. Our destinations usually deviate from the classic vanlifer dream destinations. As people from Bavaria/Allgäu, we love the mountains and all facets of the year, from spring to winter and every transitional season, which is why we are drawn to the mountainous, rougher regions at any time of year, away from the classic vacation and towards adventure. So far mostly in Europe...
In 2016, Franzi and I went to the USA together. The reason was actually just an invitation to my great-cousin's wedding in Texas. We spontaneously added a few weeks to California and this trip was the best we'd ever experienced up to that point. I don't want to go into it in more detail here, but this road trip left a lasting impression on us, even today, almost 5 years later.
We want to continue where we left off in 2016
Now we want to continue more or less where we left off, from San Francisco, our northernmost point at the time, up to Canada and Alaska is the dream. A lot has changed between then and now, we are no longer 2+ dogs, but 4+ dogs and our van has also developed from a VW bus to a full-grown Sprinter, but the dream is still deep.
But our small family business Roadtyping has also grown and since everything has to be done on the road and without us on site here in Kaufbeuren in the Allgäu for a year, it also presents some challenges and requires extremely good preparation.
Planning for 1 year of vanlife with family begins
So now it's the beginning of 2021 and we're starting to plan our "big trip" because we still have a lot to do before the boys start school. The biggest adventure as a traveler family is now planned for spring 2022 with Canada and the USA and we're taking you along on the planning. Because one thing is clear: unlike our other trips, which we always started rather spontaneously, there's a lot to plan for this one.
We would be delighted if you would accompany us, from the initial considerations to practical modifications to the van and the hurdles of bureaucracy regarding shipping and entry.
Let's start the adventure.
