Also could be titled, this is what it’s like to drive 5,000 miles and live in a sprinter van for 11 weeks with two smelly boys and eight bicycles, but my web designer would object to both the length of that title and to being called smelly.

When you hear about people living out of a van, it’s usually a couple, or maybe a couple and their dog. In extreme circumstances, a toddler might be involved. You don’t often hear about TWO couples living in a van. That’s because, by all logical considerations, it’s a terrible idea. However, that’s what we did, and a few stressful moments aside, we had a pretty awesome summer.

Before anyone gets too concerned, Macky and I slept in a tent, because no Sprinter van, not even an extended one, sleeps four. Especially after you put eight bicycles and a full workshop and an air compressor in the back. One of these days (when this whole blogging thing starts to pay off big, amirite?!), I’m going to buy my own van and it will have wood panelling and homemade curtains and all sorts of other evidence of female nesting, but for the moment, the van belongs to Sean and is therefore basically a man cave on wheels.

So, here’s a brief summer overview, mainly photos, to give you some idea of what it’s like to live out of a van.

The Sprinter took us to some pretty awesome places.

We spent a lot of time staring at the open road…

Our campsite was usually a little chaotic. With two coleman stoves and a propane tank, we could whip up some pretty elaborate meals.

Sometimes it rained, and we cooked in the back of the van.

Sometimes there were mosquitoes. Note my outfit.

Sometimes we ate dinner in the middle of the road, because there were no other humans within a ten mile radius.

In case of naptime emergencies, the Sprinter can kinda sorta sleep three….

We took very few showers and the ones we did take tended to be cold. Sorry Macky, for posting a picture of your naked bum on this site not once, but twice.

When you drive a ~25 foot van, it can be hard to find a parking space so sometimes you have to improvise.

In addition to our two Coleman stoves, we had a Jetboil Sumo for super fast morning coffee creation. Nothing quite like drinking a cup of strong coffee and watching the first sun beams hit the Moab redrocks.

With very little internet access, we had nothing to distract ourselves from the beauty that surrounded us.

Do you live in a van or have dreams of doing so? Share your thoughts below!