Where are you going?

When someone learns of my plans to live in my van and travel around the USA, the first question I get is, "where are you going to go?"  My answer is "I don't know" or "everywhere!"  I wish I could be more specific but I really never know.  I tend to have a general direction on where I will go and depending on the weather and circumstances, it determines the next day and so on.

I admit that it's not the best way to travel, but it's worked for me so far.  I would like to see Marfa, TX and perhaps make it out to the salt flats but other than that, it's a blank canvas.  I am assuming I will travel with the weather so that usually means I will head North during the hot months and South in the Fall.  I always enjoy being on the East coast in late summer.

I will be making goals along the way and sharing photographs, including portraits of people I meet on the road.  If you know of a place I shouldn't miss, please let me know.

You can always follow me here:
Instagram - user name is alisontravels
Facebook
Twitter - @alisontravels
Photos

Also, to help fund the trip, I am thinking of publishing small books in limited numbers to sell with portraits and travel photos. Once that is completed I update that here.

Thank you for your support!

Getting Ready To Live On The Road Again, For the 4th Year...

It's the time of year where I start thinking about goals and what I want to do when I grow up.  I just had a birthday and now I'm diving into my (cough) um, later years and I think  time, all of a sudden started going by faster.  Like, really fast.

This past year I decided to stay in one place and go to school.  My year is up soon so now it's time to get out and see the country again.  I toured around the first year in a teardrop trailer, the next two years in a tent and now I am going to roam around in a van.  I am pretty excited about it.  It's really the little things like waking up and making coffee without anyone seeing me. What a luxury! Usually it's me slowly getting off of the ground in the tent to an upright position and walking in slow motion to a bench to put water in a pot to boil for coffee.  I can barely see out of my eyes and during this time you will usually see an early morning camper already cooking breakfast after their morning run waving to me across the way yelling, "good morning."  Thank god I will escape that torture in the future by not being seen.  Ok, I am really not that groggy in the morning but sometimes this is how I feel in the morning when I try to sleep cozy in a tent in 28 degree weather.

The other luxury is saving money by sneak parking to sleep somewhere and not having to pay the hefty fees some campsites are charging these days. Needless to say, I am looking forward to the adventure.

As with years past, I plan to document my travels here and write about the people and places I come across, including any tips that I might have to share.  I hope to capture even more people in photographs than I have in the past.  I don't know how long I will be living in the van, but it will be a while since I can go pretty much anywhere with it in about any weather.

If you are new to the blog, below are some links to topics that might be of interest to you about my travels.  I can't wait to get going and I will be sure to let you know when I do!  As always, any suggestions of places or people to meet are appreciated.

I wasn't sure what to name the van.  My teardrop was named "trailie" and for some reason, "Campy" came to mind so it's going to be me, max and Campy!

xo Alison and Max

Click on topic to learn more about:

My story on quitting my job to live on the road that was published on Salon.com
How you can do it too!
What I did in 2009
What I did in 2010
What I did in 2011
Tips on Traveling with your Dog

WestyFest III Gathering In Upstate New York

Max and I were fortunate enough to be invited to this 3rd annual WestyFest event in upstate New York last weekend.  As we arrived, I was a bit wary about camping since the forecast said to expect showers and thunderstorms all weekend.  I pulled into the property just as the owner, Bill and his friends were departing for dinner.  Instead of waving me through, they came back around to show me around and Bill (third from left in the photograph on the left) even offered his Westy for Max and I to call home for the weekend!  We couldn't be happier.



We met thirty nine Westy owners over the weekend and each person had a unique story to tell.  Even though most of the attendees are from the east coast, with the exception of Juju (Who lives in Hawaii), they all had such varied backgrounds.  I was able to chat with bee keepers, retired school teachers, an optometrist, a professor from Yale, several photographers and everything in between.  All sharing the same love for their Airstream Sprinter Westfalia.

I have to say that this is not "roughing it" by any means.  This vehicle is designed perfectly for sleeping, sitting, driving, eating and it even comes with a bathroom.  There are a lot of perfect reasons to own one.  I know that over the weekend I developed a crush on these vehicles.  I think Max did too.  It's the ultimate in comfort and is compact enough that you can take it anywhere, in any weather conditions and be comfortable.  I love my tent, but I have to say that the idea of being able to sleep comfortably in the vehicle you drive is very tempting.

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I am so thankful to have the opportunity to meet all of these wonderful people that I hope to keep in touch with and meet on the road in the future!

For all photographs I took at this event, click HERE.