My 3-Month Trip Across America That Started It All

In 2015 I was presented with an opportunity to take a few months off. I was running a cabinet installation business and after several years of hard work, we finally got to the point where I could take a vacation. I had a Suzuki Marauder motorcycle and I thought, what would be more freeing than riding a motorcycle across America?

I loaded up my backpack with my camping gear, stuffed my saddle bags with food and supplies, and took off down the west coast on highway 101, through the Mojave desert, and down to Texas. I spent 3 months traveling from Spokane Washington to Austin Texas, visiting national parks and major cities along the way. I lived off the motorcycle and what I could fit on it, restocking on food and supplies when I was in a city. During my trip I had some of the most delicious Peking duck in San Francisco Chinatown, walked among the giant redwoods, gazed across the Yosemite valley, and rode through the Mojave Desert. I stayed at campgrounds and sometimes just pulling of the highway on a dirt road and to find a quiet spot to set up my sleeping bag and rest for the night. Those memories will stay with me forever and are some the best I've had.

Since I was 7 years old, I have always spent my summer working, I worked in my dads shop building cabinets, and helped on other construction projects. The motorcycle trip was the first time I took that much time off and during that time off I discovered what it felt like to be free, not tied to a schedule, obligations or even tied to one place. With the open road in front of me, I could go anywhere I wanted. Heading in the general direction I wanted to get to that day, I took small roads and got lost several times, but in the process I discovered some of the most beautiful places I've seen. Having everything I needed for survival, I felt more comfortable to explore and go off the beaten path. When the trip was over and I had to get back to the grind, and I knew I had to hold on to that mindset. I focused on becoming more self-sufficient and started to formulate my plan to build a camper van conversion so I could have the opportunity to escape the grind with relative ease at a moments notice.

I started my build in late 2017 and spent about 4 months building my van conversion. I chose a long wheelbase 2008 Sprinter cargo van for my shell. As I have done various construction trades in the past from rough carpentry and finish carpentry to some electrical and plumbing. I came up with a rough design that my brother then turned into a CAD model which was then used to CNC cut all the panels that make up the cabinets and walls. For the next four months I worked on assembling the wall panels, cabinets, electrical and plumbing. I designed the van to have a 200W solar array, a 200Ah battery bank, 21 gallons of water storage, a walk-in shower, and full-size bed. I called the van The Pathfinder because after building it I already had some ideas of improving the design and knew this wouldn't be my first build but a starting point that had pointed me down this path.