Hello, my name’s Andrew, and this is my van Morpheus, a 2022 Ford Transit High Roof 250 with a full tank of gas for off grid van life adventures.

The only problem is…it’s completely empty!

Problem

Last summer I posted a video called “Van Plan” where I set the goal of buying a Ford Transit by July of 2024, and after a year of hard work I drove 328 miles to Connecticut and came back ready to start living my van life dream.

Parked

However, when I pulled into the driveway this crushing realization hit me that all I had really gained was a 5,000 pound, $700/mo hunk of metal, which was going to take an additional $5–10K just to make it livable.

So, instead of a beautiful, relaxing tiny home on wheels, I had to go straight back to the disappointment and distraction of living and working in my mom’s house, the same exact place I had left three days ago.

Basically, it was like I had staggered past the finish line of a grueling marathon, only to be told that I had to run another even harder marathon, which began “right now.”

Perfect

Depressed, I started spending a lot of time inside my van and up on the roof, brainstorming ideas, like Blackbeard scanning the horizon for treasure…

…and eventually it occurred to me that, if I was going to have to put my nose straight back to the grindstone, at least I should get to experience ONE DAY, one perfect day, of the van life I was working towards.

For the next hour I let my imagination run wild, pouring every frustrated desire that had built up over the past year out onto my notebook.

So that I could finally say…

Welcome to van life: day one.

1. Morning

Because I’d been living without a car for the past year, the first thing I wanted to do with my van was literally just go on an ADVENTURE somewhere, even if it was just a short trip to a local park.

Hiking

So I drove out to my favorite trailhead, praying that the van life gods would grant me adequate space to maneuver in the tiny gravel parking lot.

(TL;DR I’m glad I didn’t go with the extended length!)

With Morpheus docked I strapped on my freaky Vibram barefoot shoes and headed up the hill for an early morning hike through the pines.

Look! The horses are out today, let’s go say hi. They really like grass…I wonder if they’ve watched my Raw Vegan video?

Trail Running

Further on, the trail branched off into this gorgeous, winding path with little dips and mounds that were perfect for trail running.

Racing along the dirt and feeling the pine-infused air coursing through my lungs I experienced a sense of space that I hadn’t fully connected with for a long time.

Even though I can’t live in the van, at least I can go places now, and the sheer freedom of that is worth a lot, you know?

Breakfast

Back at the van I spun open a jar of veggie juice with celery, fennel, lime, and ginger, which packed a delicious kick of post-run electrolytes, and then munched on some sprouted granola with fermented chocolate and raw coconut yogurt.

But even better was just getting to sit there with the cargo door open, soaking up the sun rays and having a minimal breakfast somewhere entirely new.

When I was working a 9–5 job I remember the mornings being so stressful, because I had to rush out the door to this place I didn’t want to be, so it’s amazing to sit here…doing absolutely “nothing.”

2. Afternoon

Pulling back into my mom’s driveway I decided to add some furniture, decorations, and minimal utilities to make Morpheus feel a bit more van life-y, so I could at least spend the rest of the day working and hanging out.

Working

Moving my 66” black walnut desk inside was a pain but totally worth it, and although I hadn’t cut out any windows yet, it was incredibly refreshing working on a video script with the back and cargo doors open.

My e ink monitor also looked brilliant reflecting soft natural light and it was a total sea change from working in my gloomy bedroom.

Seriously, it’s like I’ve been living in a cave for the past seven years, and suddenly all the walls between me and the outside world just disappeared.

Writing

For fun I decided to try writing a vignette from the sci-fi series I want to start mapping out once I’ve got the van into a livable state, and I found it much easier to get into a flow state inside my own little 10’ x 5’ universe.

Here’s a little snippet from the beginning…

“The robot’s name was Tonk, and he had lost his head in a dumpster, a problem which was complicated by the fact that the dumpster did not want to give it back. Technically he hadn’t lost his head; a squad of sewer rats (the two-legged variety) had popped it off with a tech wrench looking for sellable parts, and, failing that, had settled for tossing it around until they lost interest and made a non-refundable deposit to the trash compactor at the end of the alley. Non-refundable, because the compactor was programmed only to accept trash, not to dole it back out, and was highly resistant to fielding such requests—particularly when they were coming from an object already inside the bin!”

Drawing

Another thing I’ve been putting off for years is working on my drawing skills, so I spent another half hour sketching out the scene with the headless robot and, similarly, found it much easier to get lost in the moment.

Even though I technically still had access to the internet, being “out” in nature seemed to create a sort of force field, repelling distracting thoughts.

It’s like, indoors I’d always get sidetracked by looking up “inspiration,” but in the van, all I wanted to do was keep drawing.

Drumming

Also, in the past couple years I’ve noticed myself playing my drum set less and less and worrying more and more about “making noise” that would “bother the neighbors,” so I hauled that into the van too.

Although the acoustics were predictably terrible with exposed metal walls, I felt the return of this primal urge to release some sonic mayhem and closed my eyes, happily stewing in the feedback of gnarly grooves.

I don’t know how I’ll manage it, maybe with a shorter 14” kick, but the idea of having a freakin’ drum set in the van to record beats just blows my mind!

Evening

Around 5 pm I hung out on the bumper drinking coconut water and, honestly, feeling kind of bummed that my first day of van life was already two-thirds over, but also excited for the final act.

Dinner

For dinner I pulled out a raw vegan pizza crust, covered it with alkaline no-mato sauce, then sprinkled on some cashew cheese, free-range elk meat, and olives, which I awkwardly heated up with my Instant Pot.

Honestly, it wasn’t the most elegant meal I’ve ever fixed, but the pizza was still delicious and it was super rewarding being able to work in my own makeshift “kitchen.”

Mmm!! So good! Probably I’d get shut down by the Department of Health if this was a real restaurant, although, hey, you can’t beat the view!

Music

Another thing I’d been dying to do in the van was listen to music through my Yamaha HS80 studio speakers, so put on some Deftones, JPEGMafia, Bjork, Tycho, King Krule, Chester Watson, and Incubus to see how it felt.

Again, the acoustics weren’t great without insulation, but being in my own space amplified the good vibes, as I danced around, in the dark an audience of one, with the doors closed and the lights down low.

There’s something about being in a tiny space that feels more intimate, like you can fully immerse yourself—let everything else go.

Gaming

Finally, because I sold my Playstation back in 2020 to focus on writing my 365 Comics book, I hadn’t played video games in over fourth years (!!!), so I picked up the old Xbox 360 from my dad’s house to play some Elder Scrolls.

Speaking of things I hadn’t done in a while, I also made some “special brownies” and spent the next couple hours completely zoned out to the point where I was fully convinced that the van was a tiny medieval castle from which I could sally forth into the world of Oblivion, slaying Daedric Princes, chasing down side quests, and pissing off the local guards.

God, I feel like van life gaming is the ultimate “fuck you” to society, you know? Not that I want to do it all the time, but just shutting out all the b.s. drama and responsibilities of adult life and existing in this world where I can do whatever I want is so gratifying.

Conclusion

By nighttime I was feeling sad again at the prospect of having to move everything back into my old bedroom, so I climbed up onto the roof of the van and watched the stars coming out.

Like an astronaut, soaking in the vastness of space…

…and all the possibilities that came with it.

Sleep

Later, stretched out reading the sci-fi novel Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer with a minimal Japanese futon on the van’s floor, I had this sense of being nestled inside a metallic cocoon, safe and calm in my own home for the first time since I left my apartment in 2016.

Morning

When I woke up in the morning, it was with my creative batteries fully charged, ready to take on the final leg of this exhilarating, bone-crushing, insane, beautiful journey toward van life….toward freedom.

Man…there’s still so much work to do, but I’m here for it, and I honestly wouldn’t trade this dream for anything.

Plans

Overall, I emerged from my perfect day feeling as though I had received a confirmation from the universe that van life is what I’m meant to do, where I’m meant to go, and who I’m meant to be.

Because, even in this early stage, there’s a hum of excitement inside me, as if everything is about to change, is already changing.

So, I greatly appreciate you all coming along with me thus far, and I can’t wait to see where Morpheus, god of dreams, will take us next.

Thanks for watching, catch ya next time. Peace!