We both agree that eventually we want to buy land and build a house, but we also agreed that there should be a step in between that and where we are now. So we began discussing options. Eric’s ability to build anything and my desire to see everything turned into “let’s live in a van”. We can save up money to buy the kind of land we want to live on and while saving, we can travel all over the United States and live wherever we want.
After more than a year spent talking about “our van”, we finally found the one we couldn’t pass up. Eric and I were sitting on the couch one Sunday morning doing the usual ebay search for Sprinter vans. Something we had done many, many times before. Every van we looked at was always “not perfect” in some way or another. Wrong year, too many miles, wrong price, rust. But not today.
Eric- Look at this van.
Jsca- What’s wrong with it?
Eric- Nothing.
Jsca- Nothing? Should we buy it?
Eric- I don’t know.
Jsca- Is it the year you want?
Eric- Yes.
Jsca- Is it a fair price?
Eric- Yes.
Jsca- Is the mileage good?
Eric- Yes.
Jsca- So you’re telling me you can’t find anything to complain about with this van?
Eric- Yes.
Jsca- We should buy it.
Eric- Okay. Want to push the “buy” button with me?
That Friday we met up in Chicago to pick up our van and drive it home. Martin, the
effervescent Polish salesman, picked us up at the airport. Seeing our van was like opening the biggest, most exciting present we’ve ever received.
Eric- Look, that’s our van.
Jsca- That’s our van!
All shiny and clean on the outside, an empty shell on the inside. Never has an empty space felt so full of potential. Peering inside, Eric and I could instantly envision the placement of the kitchen, the bathroom, the bed; the place we will be calling ‘home’ in less than a year.
Martin drove us to the dealership, weaving in and out of traffic, taking calls and sending emails the whole time. He talked to us about the van, his home building business, the inevitable fall of the government and childhood vaccinations. At a red light he put the van in park, jumped up out of the seat and told Eric to take over. Our ride ended with him telling Eric to take a wrong turn on a one way street, promising it would be fine because no one was coming our way and if we got a ticket he would pay it.
In a matter of two hours after landing in Chicago we had purchased our van, signed the paperwork and were headed home. It was nearing midnight when we realized we would have to stop for a nap before finishing the last three and a half hours of the drive. We ran in to a store thirty minutes before it closed, bought a blow up mattress, fuzzy socks, a sheet, a pillow and a blanket and headed back out for an impromptu first sleep in the van.
Two hours later I woke up stiff and freezing cold (but with warm toes). Unable to sleep, we got up and headed home. We got home in the predawn hours just in time to see the beginning of a complete lunar eclipse.
We bought this van to bring more adventure into our lives. The first twenty four hours was a great start.
