from the van

Billie and Kaleb are a couple from North Carolina that we met at a van life meetup in San Diego last year. When we came to meet up with them in Brooklyn, they were trying to take care of an drivetrain issue with their friend Alex's van. They took a break to all come over for a chat about living on the road in our van, parked a few blocks away.

Ellie & Sandon hit us up on instagram as we were passing through Michigan in response to our story requesting somebody introduce us to some van life folks in Detroit. They're finishing up their first van build in her father's barn in Michigan. Soon, they'll move full-time into their 170" Mercedes Sprinter. We talked about their van, their excitement, reservations, and media careers after a beer at Easter Market Brewing in Detroit. We're super excited to have them back on the podcast after they've been living in the van.

Sylvia Maguire is a sassy older British lady who's family friends with Colette's family. I met her a dinner over at Colette's mom's house and she immediately started busting my chops. She's enthralling and hilarious. Plus, you'll enjoy trying to decipher her accent.

We met Jenny & Alex hanging out in the van at the beach. These guys are as excited about #vanlife as any folks we've met. They used to run a large furniture business in Atlanta, GA. Last year, they decided they needed a change, so they sold all their shit, built out a van, and came to California. At their first real van meetup in San Diego, they decided they would rent a shop and start building out vans for other people.

Brooke is a Texan we met at a 4th of July BBQ. She's waiting tables around North County, San Diego after moving out from Texas and spending a year up in Venice Beach. She's got a great attitude about pretty much everything, and she was a delight to talk to.

Bre & Lacey are doing A LOT! These ladies started The Vanlife App, a mobile application that directs vanlifers to amenities, camp spots, and each other accompanied with a forward thinking, leave no trace ethic. They also run SD Campervans, a local company that builds vans out to homes inexpensively for their clients. AND they are instrumental in most of the vanlife meetups and gatherings in Southern California. I met them almost a year ago at one of the gatherings, and we became fast friends. They're delightful, clever, powerful women who consistently bless the community with fun and insight.

Mark Massara is a pivotal California environmental attorney who spent years doing grassroots outreach and attending Coastal Commission hearings all over California using Chevrolet vans as transportation and accommodation. This guy is an absolute hero and one of the best stewards of the California coast that the state has ever seen. It was is honor and a privilege to sit down with Mark and chat about coastal access, preservation, and of course, vans and surfing. I hope you enjoy this episode of the podcast which reads as much as a primer on the California Coastal Act as a story of epic adventure and #vanlife.