In the beginning, there was rust. Everywhere. On my clothes, in my hair, under the carpet, in my eyes. I couldn't escape it. So I was forced to embrace it. After weeks of toiling over "the perfect van" I finally put my money where my mouth was and found myself tearing out the green shag carpet in a rust bucket with squeaky belts and a loose gas pedal. The van I've come to own is far from perfect, but it's way better than the empty driveway that it replaced. And at least I can now point four wheels in the direction of my destination. (The steering, for now, seems to be operational.)
Similarly, I've spent too long deciding how exactly I wanted to share this adventure with you all. I've decided to abandon all my grand designs and just start simple, with a blog. So here it is. Welcome to my adventure/travel blog/photo journal/general life experiment.
In early September I will embark on a cross-country road trip in search of idyllic #vanlife photos and world-class climbing destinations. The plan is to drive, climb, write, photograph, and vlog my way across the country. I am incredibly excited, and have so much to share with you all about this trip but for now I'm just going to dive right into the first phase of this great journey - the van build. We can talk more about the other stuff later... There's a ton of work to be done before Departure Day, including the aforementioned rusty frame and squeaky belts. I've already begun the demolition process by tearing out the carpet floor to discover seized bolts and some superhuman glue residue. (Seriously somebody from the DoD ought to get down here and check this stuff out.) In only about three days of work I've already made seven runs to three different hardware stores, learned how to use an angle grinder, sweated myself silly in 100 degree New York heat, and showered using my driveway hose. Glamorous, I know.
The van is currently in a complete state of disrepair with only the driver's seat remaining in place, all seatbelts currently unusable, and the floor scattered with screws, solo cups (don't ask), borrowed tools, and shredded insulation.
For every task I mark off the work list, three more are added to replace it. My current task is getting the van floor prepared for a subfloor which has meant finding creative ways to remove rusted bolts that haven't been turned since the beginning of time. The van is a 2003 Dodge Ram Van 1500 with an interesting history involving a Polish man and a paragliding school (the subject, no doubt, of a later post).
My current Departure Date is less than two months away, September 6. I am painfully aware of how quickly that is approaching...
Tons of people have already helped me get to this point in the journey, many of whom you'll likely meet along the way. I want to give a quick shout out to Hobie Ponting for lending me tools and labor, as well as my neighbor JC for introducing me to the full glory of an angle grinder.
Until next time, Scott