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The decision to buy a van led me to Bob Seeger—my new home on wheels. I spent most of December in a rabbit hole of research: floor plans, size, chassis. Eventually I landed on a Winnebago Travato. The biggest selling feature was the floor plan. I’m tall and the beds are long enough and the twins convert to a queen when Baxter decides he needs 90% of the bed space.

Beyond the sleep set up there were other key features that were strong selling points: It has a microwave, which makes reheating food on the road easier. My plan is to travel every day and sometimes I won’t have time to whip something up from scratch. It has a large bathroom with an actual usable shower and wardrobe. While not AWD, I decided I could handle that (note to self: past me was overly optimistic).

I spent all of January organizing every square inch, Tetris style, so Baxter and I could live full-time on the road. I spent countless hours watching YouTube videos and stalking a Travato MODS Facebook group, trying to figure out the best way to fit our lives - all four seasons of it - into our limited space.

I spent consecutive nights in friend’s driveways and apartment building parking lots. I wanted to make sure I knew how to use everything before I hit the road. I wanted to know how warm it was able to stay inside even when it was single digits outside. Most importantly I wanted to make sure Baxter was comfortable with his new space.

My sites were set on New Mexico. I researched the National Parks and Monuments in the state. I watched every van life video on the state that the algorithm served up to me. By the end of the month, the van was packed and Baxter and I hit the road ready for anything.

Of course, "anything" arrived sooner than expected. In my next post, I’ll tell you how Baxter and I found ourselves truly stuck—van unmovable, sun setting, and a very expensive lesson in van life reality.