Greetings from the Great Midwest!

We’re officially van dwellers. After arriving in Hannibal, Missouri Monday afternoon we’ve already visited the home of Sam Clemens (aka Mark Twain), played a round of 18-hole disc golf, survived a pretty intense thunderstorm, and set-up our office in the campground shelter. So you could say we’re making ourselves right at home.

We’ll be sharing a separate post about Hannibal and our wanderings thus far, but we want to take a moment to talk about what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, and what this blog is all about.

First the What

For the next 7 months we’ll be road tripping around the United States and Canada in Stan the Tan Van. Stan is a 1995 Ford E150 conversion van. He likes long leisurely drives, wine tasting trips, and soaking up the rays on a hot day. Next year we’ll be traveling internationally (sadly without Stan, but with just our backpacks instead) for 3 months. After that? We’ll see where the road takes us.

Now the Why

To many people, long-term travel may seem like something better suited to 20-somethings or retirees. For us, now is the perfect time to travel. We’ve transitioned to a simpler, more minimalist lifestyle in the last few years that is (we hope) well suited to travel. Additionally, we’re at a good physical place in our lives for the type of outdoor adventures we enjoy. Don’t get us wrong, there’s surely a lot of room for improvement, but we’re hoping to get fitter and healthier on the road.

Finally, we’re at a point in our careers where we feel that we can pause and try out something new. We were both incredibly fortunate to actually enjoy our jobs. But then yes, we crazily quit them. Along with travel, working for ourselves has always been something we’ve talked and dreamed about. While it’s definitely scary not having a paycheck coming in, we’re excited to see what the future has in store. This blog is our place to play creatively, expand our capabilities, and continue to grow our skills.

All About the Blog

We’ll be sharing not only our travel adventures but also talking about the journey we’ve already taken to get to this point. We’ve made a lot of life changes over the last few years that have enabled travel and shifted our focus to what’s important to us in life. It didn’t happen overnight, but it was well worth the wait.

This blog will contain our experiences, thoughts, and tips on budget travel, cooking, outdoor activities, converting a 1990’s van into a house, and many other random ramblings. We hope that our insights can inspire, spark ideas, and help others that are interested in traveling more. We also hope to meet fellow wanderers and adventurers along the way.

We’re very excited to find out what happens When You Wander and we hope you’ll enjoy the ride with us!

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