Who are you and what is your backstory?

Hi! Sarah here, to tell you a little about Jess and I. We’ll uncover more as we go through this interview, so here’s the elevator synopsis: We met way back in 2010, freshman year at university. After two years of “Oh hey there” and “We should hang out sometime”, our mutual friend groups finally merged. 

Photo taken by Jessica Strom

Junior Year brought three months of “Homeless Jess” (aka not paying for student housing - always thrifty that one) sleeping on my couch. The following year we moved in together and the rest is history. 

We've been going strong for over seven years of dates, trips, fostering service pups, apartments & a house, relationship building with IKEA & West Elm furniture, hiking 900 of the Pacific Crest Trail together, and so much more. 

We’re now engaged, and living full time in our converted sprinter van, Lin Vanuel. We just adopted our first fur-ever puppy, a copper golden retriever named Oliver! He is an adorable handful.

 

Photo taken by Jessica Strom

 

Take us to the moment you decided to begin your Vanlife?

Jess and I were always interested in living minimally. Back when the tiny house boom hit the nation, we got sucked right in. We bought all the books, watched all the shows, and drew countless little blueprints of our dream tiny house. We even went and stayed in one to try it out for a weekend. Our tiny house dream was quickly placed on the backburner, when my desire to thru-hike the Pacific Crest Trail took hold. 

 

"Nearly every day we get people saying “I wish I could do what you’re doing!” And sometimes I laugh and say “You can!” But everyone’s situation is different..."

 

After two years of planning and preparing, in March 2019 we quit our jobs, sold 95% of our belongings, rented out our house, and left our little Philadelphia suburb, carrying only what we needed to survive on our backs. The plan was to hike the entirety of the PCT (a 2,652 mile trail spanning from Mexico to Canada through California, Oregon, and Washington) over six months, and travel the globe internationally for the following six months (or until our savings ran dry). We ended up hiking for three months, covering 900 miles of the PCT during one of the worst weather years on record. 

It was in Bend, Oregon during a week off from hiking that we saw our first “Vanlife Van” in real life. We had seen a few on YouTube, and we had thrown the idea around as something we may do after our international travels. Yet our time on the PCT kept pulling us back to Bend, and when we realized we were not going to finish the trail we decided to leave the PCT behind and go all in on Vanlife.

Photo taken by Jessica Strom

We called our good friends in New Jersey, who flip houses, and asked them if they wanted a new project. They graciously agreed, and two weeks later we had bought ourselves an empty cargo van back in Pennsylvania. We drove it to New Jersey, and set up shop there building it out with our friends for the next five months.

 

Tell us about the advantages to the Van lifestyle?

The most obvious advantage to Vanlife is the mobility. We can pick up and go anywhere, with our entire house as our backseat. We love this flexibility and freedom. It’s a game changer for road trips: being able to pull over when you’re tired and go take a nap in bed, or get a snack from your pantry when you’re hungry - it’s incredible.

While we boast of having ultimate mobility, we don’t actually enjoy traveling all the time. Our goal with the van is to spend long amounts of time (two to three months) in a few key places across the country, hoping to find one to settle down in. This past winter we spent two months in Austin, Texas, a city high on our list to visit with the potential of planting roots there.

Austin sucked us into her lively atmosphere, beautiful green spaces and rivers, friendly people, local shops and handmade goods, and so much more. We spent nights learning to two-step dance, afternoons bouldering at the local gym, days eating barbecue and fresh farmers market cheese, and mornings hiking through the Greenbelt. 

Coronavirus changed our Spring & Summer, but we still have a few other places we’d like to immerse ourselves in we’re able.

Photo taken by Jessica Strom 

 

Tell us about the biggest challenges and downsides to the Van lifestyle?

Our biggest challenges to Vanlife at this point has been the learning curve. We had no experience building or living in a van; yet back in July, there we were, building our van with our friends. We all learned so much, and are forever grateful to them for taking this crazy project on. But our lack of knowledge and experience definitely has come back to bite us in a few instances.

 

"This is hard. It may look glamorous on Instagram or YouTube, but VanLife is difficult. Being confined to less than 70sqft during three days of nonstop rain with nowhere to go is hard..."

 

For our first three months we dealt with plumbing leaks, our electric not working as it should, sensor problems with our new van, and more. As soon as we resolved one issue, another would pop up. Looking back, all of these were relatively minimal, and are all fixed now. But I’m sure more problems will come up in the future - it’s just like living in a house, it’s just on wheels! The renovations never end, there’s always more to do, and just when you think you’re finished something else pops up.

Photo taken by Jessica Strom

We’ve had to make a lot of changes to our van since getting Oliver, our golden retriever puppy; installing a domestic freezer to hold his raw food, adding storage for all of his things, and adjusting our lifestyle to meet the needs of a newborn. Adaptability is key with van life! 

 

How do you find a sense of community when you’re always moving? How do you maintain and build relationships on the road? 

We’re both introverted, so spending time just the two of us is nothing new. With that being said, when we’re in a city we might move to, we try to get into the community as much as possible. I joined the local rock gym in Austin and made a handful of friends there, even in such a short time. We’d go to farmers markets, libraries, local coffee shops, festivals or gatherings, and try to get a feel for the people in the area. 

Photo taken by Jessica Strom

When Covid hit, we came back to our roots in the Philadelphia region and have been able to see some of our friends and family from this area, following the social-distancing guidelines. It’s been an unexpected time back East, and while we’re starting to go a bit stir crazy, it has been nice to see our community here again.

In regard to our relationship, we get asked all the time how we can possibly both live in such a small space together. Jess and I lived together before we were dating, and have lived together ever since. We spent one year in a 300sqft bedroom and the next year in a 700sqft apartment, before moving into a house around 1200sqft. We both worked from home there for years. We then went and lived in a two person tent for three months, before moving into our van. I don’t even own enough clothes to fill my closet space!

While we haven’t had the ability yet to attend any Vanlife meetups or festivals, we have been able to connect with some fellow queer women through Vanlife Pride (@vanlifepride on Instagram). Nat & Abi are facilitating a beautiful community on this page, and we definitely recommend giving them a follow! We did a few collaboration projects with them for Pride Month, which you can check out on our Youtube.

 

How do you support yourself financially?

We saved for almost two years before quitting our jobs in March 2019. I worked as a travel agent for a wholesale company for almost five years, and was able to make and save a lot of money. Jess worked her butt off after school, nannying from 4:00am - 7:00am, 9:00am - 5:00pm, and doing date nights four or five nights a week - for three years. She paid off all of her student loans, and then was able to follow her passion of starting her own photography business. She’s taken her business on the road a bit, but mainly takes clients when we’re back in the Philadelphia area.

Our savings have lasted us this far, but we’re quickly approaching the end (having spent a massive amount of it on our van). We’ve been diving head first into social media, and are trying to sustain our travels through our brand, Uphill Adventure. 

Photo taken by Jessica Strom

I create and edit for YouTube, and Jess creates and edits for Instagram. We’re starting to see real results after grinding away for over a year. After providing free behind the scenes and bonus content on our website for six months, we’ve recently taken the leap into Patreon. We’re hoping to grow our community there to provide us with the ability to keep traveling full time. You can check us out through our links listed at the bottom of this interview!

 

What is your one piece of advice for people who want to do what you do?

This is hard. It may look glamorous on Instagram or YouTube, but VanLife is difficult. Being confined to less than 70sqft during three days of nonstop rain with nowhere to go is hard. Staring at the view from the Walmart parking lot day after day is hard. Worrying if you’ll get a knock on your window at 2:00am telling you to move is hard. Living without a reliable income is hard. When your water pump starts gushing water into the back of your van, it’s hard. 

Photo taken by Jessica Strom

There are so many reasons to give up, sell the van, rent an apartment somewhere, return to a nine to five career, and go back to “normal life”. Yet every day I try to remember to be grateful for this opportunity. 

Nearly every day we get people saying “I wish I could do what you’re doing!” And sometimes I laugh and say “You can!” But everyone’s situation is different. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that everyone can do this - that you just have to work hard and not give up. The crappy truth is, we don’t all start out even in life. I know I come from a place of privilege. Yet taking a leap and living this crazy life has not come without obstacles, difficulties, and moments of questioning everything. 

If you want to embark on Vanlife, and have the ability to work hard and save up for your vehicle, I say do it. Know that it will be extremely difficult at times, and it may not be for you long term (and that’s okay!). But there is no shame in trying, no shame in failing, and no shame in chasing your dreams.

 

What have been the most influential and helpful books, podcasts, blogs, websites or other resources?

• iOverlander - This app is the holy grail of parking. I cannot stress this enough.
• Women On The Road - Podcast. Highly recommended, run by She Explores. 
• YouTube - We watch other vanlifers vlogs for inspiration, and it’s fun to see what others are up to!

 

What does the future look like?

The future right now is uncertain, that’s for sure! We’ve been joking lately that we should just stop making plans, because they never seem to happen. Coronavirus has thrown us all for a loop, and we’ve been forced to adjust and adapt like everyone else. 

We were planning to do a big Northern US trip over the summer, but we didn’t feel comfortable given the state of things. We are planning to spend time in New England in August though, which will be wonderful. We were supposed to get married in October, but have pushed that to 2021 due to the Pandemic, so our fall is full of possibilities. We’ll see where we end up, but we’re hoping to get to Colorado in the not so distant future!

Photo taken by Jessica Strom

 

Is there anything that you need that you can’t find or anything you are seeking help with? 

I’m going to brag for a hot second - Jess is a fantastic photographer. She’s wildly talented, patient, kind, easy to talk to, and incredible with kids. What she loves to do is Day In The Life sessions. This is a full day of your life, documented. Waking up, morning snuggles, chaotic meal times, afternoon adventures, trips to Target, TV after dinner, baths, and finally, the long awaited quiet of sleeping kids. 

Her dream is to do a Day In The Life session in every place we visit, showing how families shaped by culture and region are more alike than they are different. If you’re interested, send her an email; she’d love to connect (https://www.jessicastromphoto.com/contact)

 

Rapid fire questions

 

What are the top 3 Van essentials that you couldn’t live without?

• Harry Potter audio books
• Our Maxxair Fan
• each other

 

Top 3 favorite places you’ve visited?

• Austin, Texas
• Sarasota, Florida
• Boston, Massachusetts

 

Where are you now?

Northeast, USA

 

How long do you usually stay in one place?

If it’s a place on our list to visit, we’ll stay for up to three months. If we’re just passing through, anywhere from a night to a week.

 

When did you first start Vanlifing?

January, 2020

 

Are you full-time or part-time Vanlifing?

Full-time

 

How many weeks have you spent in the Van in the last 12 months?

20

 

What kind of vehicle/rv/trailer/setup do you have? 

2019 Mercedes Sprinter Cargo Van, 2500, Gas Turbo engine

 

Where can we go to keep up with you and your adventures?

www.uphilladventure.com - Website

https://www.jessicastromphoto.com - Jess’s Photography Website

@uphilladventure on Instagram - posting daily

https://www.youtube.com/c/UphillAdventure - new vlog every Sunday

https://www.patreon.com/uphilladventure - behind the scenes & exclusive content weekly