WE BOUGHT A VAN

We are Karen and Nate. For the last four years, we've spent most of our time outside of our home country of the United States, pursuing our goal of visiting 100 countries. We plan to spend the summer on airplanes, continuing to explore new countries as usual. But, you know, I'm so sad.

Run.

2020 threw us a curveball, and.

We are back in Nashville. So.

Today we are driving to Georgia to buy our van.

This is our biggest, most adult purchase we've ever made together. We've never owned a home together. We haven't bought cars since we've been married, and for the last four years, we've been homeless and carless. But today, we're buying our home and our car at the same time.

I feel like normally I would not be irresponsible enough to commit to buying a vehicle before seeing it in person, but we're pretty much committed. And the biggest check that I've ever written in my life, I've already bought insurance for it. And the only reason we got to this point is because I spent two weeks scouring the Internet for vans, and this is the most perfect one that we could find. Like, I think it's as close to being our perfect van as we could get without just building one completely from scratch, which I considered doing for about two days until I realized that we probably wouldn't hit the road until the end of the year. This whole pandemic thing would probably be completely over. Everybody would have forgotten about it, and I'd still be in the driveway building a van. After looking at vans for two weeks on the Internet, I recognize every single one that drives past me. Who knew there were so many cargo vans in the world?

So the whole purchasing process was a lot more competitive than we expected it to be. Renee found this van online. We fell in love with it immediately, and we were like, perfect. We're buying this van. So contacted them for a virtual facetime tour and literally put an offer on it as soon as we got off the phone with them. But apparently they had already agreed to show it to multiple other people that day, and so they just said that they would let us know. So the whole weekend, we didn't know if we were going to get the van or not.

There goes another one.

Look, that's it.

That's a Mercedes. I know so much about vans.

So at the end of the weekend, they finally called his best. We would really like it, if you guys are so interested, to give you Mute.

Yes.

Yes.

I got really nervous there for a second.

We had a van this Is crazy.

So I've been watching all these Instagram stories of the van build. The couple that we're buying it from bought it as an old cargo van and completely redid it from scratch and made it a home. And I'm sitting here watching how long they worked on this thing day and night, and I have such a better appreciation for the van. We're about to go pick up.

I have butterflies. Very nervous. Hey, you guys.

Hey, Adam. We'll head on out there right now. All right, we'll see you soon.

Awesome. Sounds good. We're ready.

Buying a van during a pandemic.

Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Hi, Ashley. I can't believe it. I'm scared to go in. Do it, do it. I love it. I can't believe we're actually standing in here.

I think my biggest fear is that when I got in here, it was gonna feel smaller than it looked in the pictures. And that's like kind of true, but not near as bad as I thought. Y' all done an awesome job.

Meet Ashley and Adam, the lovely couple who bought and built out this van to head off on an adventure. After learning they couldn't have kids, they were only on the road for a short time before a strange series of events led them to a random hospital for a non baby related issue. As Ashley was being wheeled back for a CAT scan, the doctor stopped her and delivered the surprising news that she was pregnant. Fast forward 9ish months since the van wasn't built for 3, they recently put it up for sale. And lucky for us, the timing couldn't have been more perfect. Thanks. Out the back.

Yeah. It is so big.

Have you ever driven anything this large?

I drove a Mini Cooper down here and now I'm getting in this. This is a little bit different than a Mini. This is the first time we've been in a sprinter van. We drove a Ford Transit around Canada for a week or two, then we rent it. But this is the. Yeah, parking brake is on. What is this thing? That's the backup camera.

Oh, nice.

All right, here we go.

It's also might be my first time ever driving a diesel engine. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Make sure you put diesel fuel in that. That's super. Be a quick way to end our trip.

After a quick test drive and a thorough inspection of the engine, this is the end. We sealed the deal. Goodbye.

Oh, it's ours, mate.

We own a house.

It's ours.

We own a house and a car.

I was like, I don't Know, I've just been kind of, like, nervous all morning, and I think it's because it just wasn't finalized. But now that it's ours, it really does kind of feel like a next chapter.

Mmm. Her face is so sweaty.

Spitting that mask.

This is crazy.

This is. It does not feel real.

It's ours.

And our bank account is a lot lighter.

We're gonna, like, go back to our roots. We're gonna be eating ramen.

Yeah. I think what has me most excited about this is that for the most part, we had international travel figured out. And this is like we're starting back at the beginning. We have to relearn everything.

We just asked them so many questions, like, we are such van life babies.

We have no clue what we're doing. He was like, talking about the electrical, speaking a different language. Talking about the engine sounding like a different language.

I don't even know how to put gas in it. I couldn't even figure out the radio. I mean, d.

We have a long way to go, but I am so excited. Yay.

So what are we to do now?

Lunchtime. Georgia is the birthplace of Chick Fil A. So it just felt right. But this is our first stop. Plus, we just want a Chick Fil a first meal.

Running close for in the morning.

We're gonna have to come up with some kind of system. Like in my suitcase. I know exactly where everything goes in here. There's just too much space.

No problem.

We're hosting a dinner party tonight. Well, it's full.

There's only one meal. She'll put the food and the dishes in here. Baby, the dishes go in the drawer. So after driving back from Atlanta, we moved out of our Airbnb and into Nate's parents house. And we're gonna be here for the next couple weeks doing some renovations on this van. We have so many fun ideas to make it more ours. But before we start doing anything, we felt like we needed to live in it for at least one night just to kind of get to know it a little, figure out exactly what we want. So tonight we're gonna cook in here. We're gonna kind of figure out where things go, make our bed, sleep in here. And to make it even more of.

A challenge, we have decided to have my parents over for dinner. By over, I mean they walk from that house into our house literally over the line. Kara's cooking for four tonight.

The goal is to be completely self sufficient, so no more going back in the house for the rest of the day.

What were we gonna do in the morning.

Coffee.

Could have been tragic. We could have had to walk inside.

Close one.

This mission would have been a fail.

Thank goodness. Okay, we're only moving, like, 10ft down the driveway, but Nate has tasked me with making sure nothing falls. We have a lot of stuff I get right now.

Don't fall.

So far, so good.

No, it's, like, in the cabinet. Gosh. Figuring out how to secure all this stuff while we go is going to be very important.

We did already buy one thing for the van.

Yay. Our first dish.

What do we do with trash?

I have no idea.

Can you take this to the trash for me? Does this break the rules? If we didn't go into the house, Stay away. We're doing this alone.

Oh, yeah, that's not going to work.

It could work.

So, I mean, like, it's not perfect.

It'll do.

But it fits.

Oh, but where are we going to sit? Stored that big old thing?

Yeah, you need a smaller one.

Where are the glasses? I brought those. Oh, there they are. Coffee?

Really?

That's all I got.

We never got one. Glasses.

No.

Darn it.

Perfect. Wine glasses. Since it's the first night in our van, we thought. Gosh.

I was like, literally what happens.

Anytime you open a bottle of bubbly that wasn't ready.

We remembered our coffee mugs, but we forgot wine glasses or any.

Any glasses to drink. Anything except for coffee.

We're new at this. Cheers.

This feels right.

Perfect.

I like it.

Maybe we can just have one mug for everything. Why do you need more than one cup in your life? We have to turn on the gas. Oh, gosh. Here you.

Go.

That's not good.

Should I open the door?

I'm gonna open the door. I'm scared.

I think it might just be out of propane.

Oh, no. Why don't you try the back one?

Oh, it's on. Oh, maybe the other one was on the whole time.

Thanks, Nate. This is our first night. We're gonna do this, so.

Oh.

Broke my tailbone.

The wind was blowing the flames towards me. This feels safer.

Well.

Lesson learned. Water takes a. A very long time to boil in this van. I think I need a lid. Hopefully this helps.

I think I found one of the biggest issues that we're going to need to fix. I assume this is where we're going to spend, like, the majority of the time while we're in the van. And this one, I feel like it's about to break off. And two, it's going to drive me crazy. Like, I think it's this thing, this piece is pushing it so it's slanting down, thinking everything want to fall off the table. So that's like the first thing they.

Have to work on.

Also, based on the power that we're generating from the sun, having my computer charging, the fan going, this fan going, the fridge going, we can survive for an infinite amount of time on our own solar.

That's just like the coolest thing ever to me.

The water is beginning to boil. It is a miracle fighting time.

This fan content is going to be so, so interesting.

I mean, that took. What time is it?

6:30. That took an hour.

This recipe is from some of our best friends who live in Italy. And it's my favorite because it's super yummy and it's so easy. Pretty much the only thing I can cook without looking at a recipe. It is chard, zucchini, and garlic pasta.

Are you hungry yet?

Not doing too bad.

All right, it'll be ready at five. See you at seven.

Okay.

Welcome to our home. Come on in. These are great guests. I really only made half of the dinner.

I don't know if all this is gonna fit.

Just put it here for now.

Figuring out this space thing.

Why is all this stuff so big? I think it might smell like garlic forever.

Thanks for having us excited. First meal.

This is fun.

We all fit. Nothing spilled.

Yay.

Oh, gosh.

All right, come over here. I'm going to teach care how to make the bed. So this, this isn't my job for the rest of the time. We live in the van. So this really. Because we're okay to loosen it like that, but then if you turn it back like this, what you have to do is pulling this out like you're pushing in the button, but you're not really spinning around. And then you can continue to whis out.

Whoops.

No, no, don't push it. Turn it without pushing. Yep. Hard. No, you got to. Now let it engage again. Yep. Now turn it up.

Perfect.

Now it's loose. Now just pull this up. Actually, you know what? Let's make a deal. I'll do the table every single time. Yeah, if he'll do the sheath every time.

No, sheets are a two person job.

Lift that one up. Let's see if this works. Oh, that worked really well. Out of the way. I think that's going to be my least favorite part about this van. And make these beds in all different types of configurations. And the u seating table is really nice.

But it was five minutes.

It means we have to make and unmaked bed every day. There are some people who are like disciplined in life and like that's their thing. They make their bed every morning and that's just never been me.

It's definitely never been me either, but I feel like it's a small sacrifice.

It'll be fine. Happy Netflix.

Y and I would be moving in and he landed last morning, waking up at 4:30. It's a cold one.

End of May.

Nothing broken. The van pulling out of the driveway. So that was a win.

It's the last morning that we have to run. I'll probably keep running after this, but it's the last one I have to do.

Let's go. Last one.

You look ready.

Love ya.

Love ya. Have a good one.

I can't believe it's our last day. I've mixed emotions. This has been really good for me. But it'll feel really good to sleep in again and not go to bed at nine.

This is the first time I've ran under an eight minute average.

Well, I think it's this book I'm listening to. But we're all capable of so much more than we think we are. It's just how hard we're willing to push ourselves. The only reason I did this, which I know it's not that fast for a lot of people, is because I knew it was our very last day and I could rest tomorrow. I haven't been willing to push myself that hard for the last 30 days because I knew I had to get up and do it again and again. Feels good.

It feels good to be done.

We're done.

So the plan was to actually live in here, so a shower would be next, but just realized we don't have a curtain, so we would have soaked the whole van. So we're gonna cheat.

Whoa.

We have learned so much just in the short time that we've lived in this van and we have a lot of work to do. But we're very excited about all of our projects to make it more our own. And as soon as we're done, we'll give you the full proper tour with all of the details. We hope you're as excited about this new adventure as we are.

Maybe we want you to put your seatbelt on.

Oh, maybe. We literally have not driven it out of the parking lot and it won't stop beeping.

Oh, so weird.

There's so many lights. Maybe it doesn't like how close I am to the Mini Cooper. And that backup camera is so nice.

Oh, maybe a door is open.

Do we check if that back door is.

Or the hood. Did you ever close the hood properly?

What happened?

But I think they usually break it over the side of a boat. Really does seem wasteful.

You break it over the side of the van.

Cheers. Is this our biggest.

100%. Gar's like. Is this our biggest purchase? 100%.

This is huge. Yeah. Thanks, guys. Thank you for filming. Oh, yeah, we got the. Thank you. She's so happy for you. Can you smile?

Oh, you don't want him to leave.

Oh, me neither. I know.

I'm so sorry. Sorry.

They're leaving.