Our First Descend on Bend

Our First Descend on Bend

When we hit the road in Stan the Tan Van after our European travels, we realized something—this isn’t just a trip or a “gap year” for us anymore. This is how we live our life. I think that’s why we were so excited to attend Descend on Bend 2018. We were very interested in meeting more people in the vanlife community. Through social medial we know there’s a lot of folks out there, but since we’re all mobile we don’t necessarily cross paths very often. Descend on Bend would give us the opportunity to meet others who live similarly.

Pin this post for later >Descend on Bend is the largest van gathering in North America. Here’s the story about our first time attending and the ins and outs of vanlife.

We were fortunate not only to find other like-minded people, but individuals we now consider friends. We played cribbage with retired VW Bus owners, were guests on a podcast , and even joined a cult (well not exactly). The only conversation about the differences in people we had was whether someone was a folder or a scruncher. My TP gets folded, thank you very much.

Preparty

The Descend on Bend festivities began Wednesday afternoon with a preparty at Silver Moon Brewing in Bend, OR. Silver Moon was the official beer sponsor of the event and provided amazing deals on delicious beer throughout the weekend. When we arrived, Stan was packed into the parking lot with dozens of other vans to kick off the largest van gathering in North America. We spent our evening sharing travel stories with other vanlifers and playing cribbage with a fun retired couple (Hi, Pete and Eva) from California.

Descend on Bend

The next morning, we headed south to La Pine, Oregon to start the official event. On the drive we saw numerous vans gassing and supplying up on their way to the high desert basin of the Oregon Outback. As we joined a parade of vans entering the property we were greeted by smiles and laughter from the official welcoming committee—a group of guys in sunglasses and brightly colored onesies.

Descend on Bend is the largest van gathering in North America. Here’s the story about our first time attending and the ins and outs of vanlife.
We were very excited to attend Descend on Bend 2018. It was everything and more than expected.

Over a hundred vans had already arrived and set up camp. The owners of two other E-Series vans waved us in to an area jokingly saying it was the Ford Village. While Stan got acquainted with his long-lost cousins, we chatted with our new comrades for the weekend. Together we watched the seemingly endless arrival of adventure mobiles in all shapes and sizes. Some looking equipped to survive the zombie apocalypse, and some so stealthy you wouldn’t guess they were converted into tiny homes. There were vehicles that could maneuver anywhere along the sandy ground and some—like Stan—that got stuck. Making friends is easy when you help push out a stuck vehicle!

Descend on Bend is the largest van gathering in North America. Here’s the story about our first time attending and the ins and outs of vanlife.
Stan was able to spend time with long-lost cousins in the Ford Village.

By sunset the Descend camp was packed with hundreds of VW vans, sprinters, fords, school buses, military vehicles, and even a purple ex-bookmobile box van all converted for life on the road. Just as all rigs are different so are their occupants. Some folks were there for a long weekend away from work. Others were full time vanlifers. While the reasons to attend Descend on Bend varied, we were amazed how fun, open-minded, and thoughtful everyone we encountered was.

A look at Vanlife

Hikes, yoga, raffles, potlucks, barbecues, music, and bonfire conversations filled our days and evenings at Descend. Some of our vanlife neighbors were recording a podcast and asked us to be their guests. This was something new for us but we jumped at the opportunity. While these activities were fun for all, they’re not what we’ll remember most of the 5th Annual Descend on Bend. It is the acceptance, welcomeness, and energy of the event that was inspiring. So many people who have reevaluated what is important, redefined what a successful life looks like, and re-engineered traditional ideas of careers and homes.

Descend on Bend is the largest van gathering in North America. Here’s the story about our first time attending and the ins and outs of vanlife.
Descend was only a half mile from the Hole in the Ground, a large maar (volcanic explosion crater) about a mile in diameter. We attended yoga at its rim Friday and Saturday mornings.
Descend on Bend is the largest van gathering in North America. Here’s the story about our first time attending and the ins and outs of vanlife.
When the sun set the dancing began.

Life is what we make it. We’re all creators in one way or another. We choose what we create to put into this world, even if it’s just through our social interactions with others throughout the day. We’ve decided to live simpler and see the things we’ve always wanted to see. While this isn’t the life for everyone, Descend on Bend showed us the importance of surrounding yourself with people who define success by happiness, and not the other way around.

Thanks for a great weekend all you awesome Descenders! And of course, a special thanks to the Vanarchy cult! Hope all our paths cross again.

Have you ever thought about attending a van gathering?

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4 thoughts on “Our First Descend on Bend”

  1. I just read the whole article, nicely written by you. Thank you so much for sharing fantastic photos and wonderful experience with us keep posting.

    1. Thanks so much! We are still talking about the great time and great people we met at Descend. Such a great time!

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