3 years ago, just a few months after moving to Canada from Australia, we flew from Vancouver, BC to Whitehorse, YT to purchase our new love; A Dodge Ram PleasureWay (that we have named Rammie). We then spent 3 weeks driving it down the Alaska Highway, through The Rockies and back to Vancouver where we lived. Since then we have spent almost every weekend travelling in it. Sometimes we would make an 8hr drive on a Thursday afternoon from Vancouver to The Rockies, spend 3 days hiking and camping, only to return to Vancouver for work on Monday. Other times we would drive a short distance and spend the weekend relaxing by a lake.
From the moment we decided to move to Canada we knew we would need a van so that we could travel and explore our new home more extensively. We originally planned to spend a year working and travelling on weekends before turning to full-time travel. One year of planning and saving turned into two, then three... and then the pandemic hit. Circumstances for us changed in Vancouver and we thought, what better time to jump in the van.
The COVID-19 pandemic changed our plans considerably. We originally planned to leave Canada and head south into the USA for winter before returning to Canada for summer but, for obvious reasons, that couldn't happen now. Instead we have been exploring BC and a little of south western Alberta.
While winter in a van definitely has its challenges, such as no running water, less services and keeping everything dry, we are actually enjoying it. Most campsites that are still open for the winter don't charge, the bathroom in the van has been converted to winter storage, and we have a campfire most nights. Not to mention we get to see Canada in the shoulder season and experience it the way not many other tourist get to see it. (eg. we were one of two campers in the whole of Waterton Lakes National Park, or one of only five in Dinosaur Provincial Park.
It has now been 2 months since we packed up our city life and moved permanently into our van, and it has been a huge adjustment, but its been fun and we have learnt so much! Christmas Day will mark three months for us and we will be celebrating on Hornby Island, BC. So far it's the only solid plan we have, everything else is just happening on a whim.
intrepidphotos cross-posted this post in Photography Lovers 3 years ago