Day 1. I bought a Sprinter Van!?

I had a dream.... no no no... I had a vision.... no not that either. I want to be free and live life on the road with the wind in my hair??? Sounds nice. In reality I lost my job or I quit not really sure what happened there - but here I am in the middle of a pandemic, out of work, financially secure (thankfully!) and looking out at the abyss that defines what comes next. So what do I do? I buy a used 2014 Sprinter Cargo Van with the dream of traveling the country, living care free, enjoying the world, being one with my soul and nature - you know #vanlife. Ahead of me lies a blank slate of reality... What happens next? Will reality meet the dream? Will I crash and burn? Whatever happens I plan on chronicling it all here - the good and the bad - to share with you, my friends and family.

A grinning Brian (me) having just purchased a 2014 Sprinter with 45k miles

A Sprinter Van!?

Having lost my job during the covid pandemic back at the end of July I was found looking for purpose and direction. I could search for another job but after 12 years working for a larger corporation I need a change. Thankfully my previous job as a geophysicist in the oil and gas industry has left me financially secure for the future - so what next? Being in a long distance relationship now seemed like the perfect time to close that gap and move in together, but with Covid pandemic had other plans for us. I live in Houston and my girlfriend lives in Calgary but with pandemic raging like a fire in the US, the Canadian's in all their wisdom closed the border. So with the plan of moving up there put on hold for the time being I figured now was good opportunity to get out and hit up all the climbing and biking spots I've dreamed of visiting. The plan was long term travel out of a vehicle. I wanted something I could make feel like home - an RV was exciting but too big. A truck with a camper came to mind... why not something simple like an old wagon with a mattress? Somehow I romanticized about a van... why a van? I probably was just sucked in by the romanticism of living in a van down by the river.

The search

I spent a good month looking at the options Ford Transit, RAM ProMaster or MB Sprinter. At first I leaned toward the transit, looked like it covered the bases of what I was looking for - high enough to stand up in, large enough for my stuff, simple enough on my budget and not as pretentious or as cliche as a Sprinter... Then I flipped to wanting the Promaster - looked like a could get more bang for the buck. Original plan was to buy new but in the end it was more of a financial commitment then I was willing to make. The problem was the used market had little in the way of low milage vehicles. I searched and searched with little luck. Then one day came along a low milage Sprinter. A Sprinter, the van at the bottom of my list. It was low milage 45K and relatively cheap 24K and it was available. Boom! Brian now owns a Sprinter - not just any Sprinter but a 170wb extended Sprinter... OMG what did I just buy? where am I going to put it? where am I going to convert it into a camper? do I have the skills to convert it into a camper? can I even drive such a big vehicle around my neighborhood? where do I go next? am I doomed for failure? so many questions rattle around in my brain. Today I go pick up my Sprinter, what will happen over the next days, weeks, months and perhaps years? I don't know - that said I am excited and scared all that same time and plan on sharing as much of it with you here as possible.