This YouTube video, created and uploaded by Nate Buchanan (May 2, 2021), follows Nate and Kara Buchanan as they return to Tennessee during their van-life travels. The couple describe long drives (mentions of a 19-hour drive, 1,255 miles remaining, and 33 hours after leaving X Point), plan to visit all 50 states with a "Best for Last" approach, get COVID-tested and receive their first Pfizer vaccine doses before attending a family birthday, perform van maintenance with family help, and promote their Atlas Co product (custom travel maps and a limited-time free mug offer for purchases over $60). The tone is conversational and upbeat with practical van-life details and family moments.
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Oh, 18 hours and 54 minutes quicker than I thought. 1,255 miles to go by X point.
We are 20 minutes into our 19 hour drive and the radio just broke.
Oh, man, what a bummer.
I jiggled it. Jiggling worked.
We're getting so good at van life.
Let's go to Nashville.
Real quick. We want to say a big thank you to ourselves for sponsoring today's video. Just kidding.
Kind of.
If you want to know how to get this Atlas company mug with our logo on the front, stick around till the end of this video and we'll give you all the details. We're Karen, Maine. We used to travel on airplanes. Now we live in a van. And at the beginning of this year, we announced our mission to visit all 50 states with our ears entertained. We ended up squeezing in about nine hours of driving yesterday.
Before pulling into our favorite roadside hotel. We only have about six hours of driving left. Nate is doing all of the hard work over there.
While I'm finishing up next week's video.
We are 12 hours into an unexpected 19 hour drive back to Tennessee.
Let me quickly catch you up on how we got here. If you follow us on Instagram or you're subscribed to our weekly email, you may remember a few weeks ago when we needed some help figuring out what to do in North Dakota. Although some people who live there would claim that there's nothing to do in their state, we actually ended up with a lot of good suggestions and we were excited to explore the state the following day. That was until we received a message that saved us from making a huge mistake. We were about to ruin our chances of joining the exclusive Best for Last club. More people have stood on the summit of Mount Everest than have earned the honor of being in this club. As a member of this club, you get a T shirt, a certificate, and a round of applause from the staff. What is this round of applause for? You might ask. Visiting all 50 states and saving North Dakota for very last. Thankfully, we recognized our mistake before it was too late. And now our new mission with this 50 state goal is to join the Best for Last club and get that T shirt seriousness. That same day, we got another big update that drastically altered the course of our travels. We became eligible to get our first dose of the vaccine back in our home state of Tennessee. And we were able to book an appointment that coincided with my niece's first birthday party, which is tomorrow. And we still have a lot of driving ahead of us.
33 hours after leaving X Point we have finally pulled in to my parents driveway. We're sleeping in the van tonight. Getting a COVID test first thing in the morning. As long as we test negative, we're gonna get to celebrate my niece's first birthday. If I sound a little hoarse, it's because we didn't singing for the last two hours.
Screaming.
Coffee's ready.
So most people in my family have been vaccinated. But just to be extra safe, I'm hoping this is my last one of these. I think I touched my brain with that one. Thanks. We just got the notification that our test results are in. I can't help but always get a little nervous.
Negative.
All right, that's what I thought. Just making sure. Let's party.
But first we have to get changed.
Cute, this?
I love this one too.
I like the black one. I'll take that one.
Here, check out how cute their little sticker is with their faces on it.
Okay. It's pretty cute on you.
I think this is probably for you.
Of getting home is that we always have some mail waiting on us. And this is from our friends Eamon and Beck.
Our first hug in a year. I know.
I'm so excited for home. I tell you, I'm glad that we don't see these YouTubes until we know that you all are back somewhere safe.
Or I couldn't watch it. Which one did you want?
Almost any of them.
All right, we're gonna practice blowing. You gotta be able to blow your kid.
You both. I need some help with the can.
Oh, man.
How is it, Galley?
Hey, you got something on your nose. Oh, you got it?
Oh, yeah. Dump it in there, sister.
All right, today is the big day. We are going to get our first dose of the vaccine. There's a vaccination site that is about five minutes away from my parents house and we're both getting the Pfizer vaccine because that's what they have there.
How's it going? First shot or second shot?
First shot.
How many people? Two. Hello. Hello.
This is information about the Pfizer vaccine.
Great, thank you so much. Thank you. All right, so first step was getting our windows marked by the National Guard. Second step, information about the vaccine. And that's what we know so far.
Oh, I don't know if you've done it at tent.
I'll go find out. Thank you very much.
We didn't really think about that when we chose this vehicle to drive here today.
Always a little drama with the van.
We are definitely not fitting under that tent. What do we do?
I Contacted him up there at the. At the tent. He said he saw you down here, and I think he's gonna maybe try to get you pulled off to the side.
But he's watching for you, so thank you very much. Appreciate it. So far, everything has been super efficient. They have the National Guard out here directing traffic. If I'm being completely honest with you, I'm a huge weenie when it comes to shots and blood, but this is the first time that I've ever been excited to get a shot.
We get special treatment. I cannot believe this moment is finally here. It's like one giant step and the long journey to normalcy.
Hi.
Hey.
How's it going? Good. How you doing? Which arm are we doing? We're gonna do my left. All right.
How you feel, Nate?
Not thinking about it.
Ready?
Relax your arm. Smile for the camera. Are you taking it?
Yes, ma'. Am. All right.
I'm gonna bleed.
I'm so proud of you. You didn't even cry. Oh, here we go.
Ready?
Yes. Okay, I'm relaxed. There it is. We did it.
Thank you so much.
Have a good one.
Wow, that was so fast. I can't even see where she did it. Now we just have to do one more time.
It's official. We got our first dose. Now we are that much closer to getting on an airplane and flying to a foreign country soon. Although I will say I am loving the van these days. It's gotten so much better now that we've worked out all the kinks. I'm enjoying van life, but at the same time, I cannot tell you how excited I am to get back on an airplane and cross an international border.
Yes, I have a lot of feelings going on right now.
I'm definitely more, like, emotional than I thought I would be about all of this. It just feels like we're finally starting to close a chapter. You're never emotional, so when you are.
It makes me happy.
We're one step closer.
All right, before we head to our 28th state, there is quite a bit of work that needs to be done on the van. Kara put together this giant to do list for me, and I'm gonna try to get it all knocked out today. Normally, it's my dad that helps me with work on the van while we're home. But now that my grandfather is fully vaccinated, I'm heading over to his house to spend the day with him. This is how we spend quality time together in my family, working. So while I am putting my 87 year old grandfather to work today, it's out of love.
Let you do a little math first of all.
All right.
The vehicle holds 12 quarts and 1500s. Quartz. What part of a. Nah, you're getting your.
I'm gonna use my phone.
How many ounces in a quart?
16.
That's a pint. 132.
All this information is available on the Internet, so you don't have to have it.
I know, but you need to know how to do this.
I am gonna be honest. I'm not sure I remember how to multiply anymore. All right, well, let me try. Oh, my goodness.
Five times two.
Oh, good. So you go to the zero here, carry the one. So I do the one and the two.
Yeah.
So then I'm going over here.
It's going on the six, right? On the six.
Come on. This is eighth grade stuff.
This is what paper multiplication looks like, if you forgot. Like me. My grandfather was an educator his whole life.
Here's where the oil goes in. We're gonna loosen the cap to let air get. Get in. Help the oil drain out better.
Hey, it's not gonna, like, really shoot out, is it?
Well, we'll hold the bucket at an angle.
Okay.
Not a drop spill. Nate, you did well.
Thank you. All right, I think that's about it.
Come on. The oil filter stuck.
I'd like to have a hold of the man that put that on.
This is the difference between generations. Pop grew up with a family that remembered the Great Depression. And you had to do everything yourself. I just pay somebody to do this. It's about quality time with my grandfather, though.
I'm gonna get it off while he's gone, and I'm gonna make up for not being able to do multiplication.
Gas.
Hey, Nate.
Yeah?
Who got that off, you or your mama?
Sweet.
That is beautiful.
All right, so we just pour the fresh stuff in. Yeah, like we're filming an oil commercial.
Good work.
Good job.
All right, that's. That's one done.
That's Kara's to do list.
Okay. I guess it would be good to go back to number one new sink.
We've been making do with the duct tape sink. I give this about a 2% chance of actually working. In addition to the 2% chance of working, I give it a 5% chance of poisoning our water.
Oh, gosh.
I'm upping my chances to 5%.
All right, it's been 12 hours. This is a fuse that's going to turn the water pump back on.
Oh, the shower's on.
Everything's wet in the shower now. The Shower that we use as a closet.
Okay, so the shower still works, which is a good thing. Are you ready?
What?
Is it leaking?
It's not leaking.
I still haven't learned my lesson, so I'm installing the exact same sink. Again, the plan is to. To just avoid negative 4 degrees moving forward at all costs. Now, you've already done this once for me. How long did it take you?
I don't recall.
Is that built tight?
I think that'll do it. Okay, friend, take that in there.
Thank you. So this is the water purifier that sits under our sink. Back in February, this froze and cracked. This piece is not supposed to do that. We've been drinking out of water jugs ever since. Be really nice to have a new one of these.
Do you have a new one to put in?
I thought that one was broken. I'm just kidding. Yeah, I have a new one, and this is the new one. As you can see, no wiggle. It's what feeds this little tap right here. So we're not drinking the water that comes directly out of the hose. It's filtered.
All right.
Thank you.
All right, so I'll plug the fuse back in, and then we'll. We'll check it for leaks.
All right.
Looks dry to me. Now for the final test, we do the honors.
Works.
Two for two with no leaks. All right.
Done and done.
So right now, anytime we take a shark corner in the van, this drawer goes, and that's because this little latch came off.
This is one of those things that takes about five minutes that I should have done two months ago.
Yeah, there is a thing there that ought to release that.
It's easy enough. I. That wasn't on there good to begin with. Now, if I can get that little top piece right there.
Oh, yeah.
This is the first time since owning the van that our windshield wiper fluid has worked.
We've only got one left. Amma, do you have any words of wisdom for the Internet? Oh, no.
Don't turn that camera.
Sorry.
Hooray.
Good work today.
Yeah, we accomplished a lot.
Okay, about these mugs. Late last year, we launched Atlas Co, which allows you to create custom travel maps that we bring to life as beautiful wall art. The way it works is you go to Atlas Co and enter your route. Then you choose your style, size, and frame. We'll print your map and ship it to your door so you can decorate your space with your favorite travel memories. Oh, dear.
If you checked out the website back in December, admittedly, it was a little rough, but we'd love for you to check it out again because we spent the last few months working out all the kinks and improving the user experience. After launching the website, we had a ton of requests for new features and we're working our way through those. But without a doubt, the most requested feature was to be able to put flights and road trips on the same map. And we've just added that functionality with a new feature called hybrid maps. And I made three hybrid maps that combine flights and road trips just to show you some of the possibilities. This is a flight from New York and then a road trip around the ring road in Iceland. And we've printed it on our smallest size and we're using a poster hanger as the frame. Just. Just for scale.
On this one, we've mapped out a flight from Nashville, then road tripping down the Pacific coast highway and flying back to Nashville. We've printed this on our medium sized poster and we framed it in white wood, also for scale.
And last but not least, this is probably my favorite map. Our largest poster that we offer on the website, framed in black metal. And we mapped out our first few months of travel around Southeast Asia. This is all of our flights and bus trips. The straight lines are the flights which were the more enjoyable travel days. This squiggly lines of the bus trail, not so enjoyable. Okay, for scale.
That's what we've been working on behind the scenes for the last few months. And to celebrate the launch of this new feature, if you spend $60 or more at Atlas Company anytime in the next seven days, we're going to send you a Karen Nate coffee mug for free. Just go to Atlas Co or click the link in the description below. Also, I'd highly recommend checking out on a big screen, at least something bigger than your phone, because it's. Because it's so hard to try to design a map that's gonna be blown up the size of your wall on a tiny screen. The desktop experience is so much better.
It's extra squeaky back there right now.
Quiet trash can. Is that what it was? Yeah. Whoa. Almost lost the door.
Wow.
It's.
It feels like the first big step on our journey back to normal. Did you saw my line? Thanks for the help memo. Pop and I were talking about you all day.
I'd like to heard that conversation.
Thank you, Karen Nate, for sponsoring this video. You're the best link in the description.
Hey, company.
Love you.
Stick around till the end of this video and we'll give you all the deets. I don't know. Why the teeth. I'm sorry?
Why did I say teeth? I think he's going to set it so many times.
