Van Home Couple

By Rebecca Drew

MEET the couple who shunned traditional office jobs and spent $5,000 converting their Dodge Sprinter van into a home to live life on the road with their beloved pet dog.

The series of envy inducing pictures and video show Pete Thuli (24) and Taylor Bucher (23) also known as Always the Road from Wisconsin, USA enjoying life on the road as they travel around the states of America with their American Staffordshire Terrier, Snoop.

Other shots show how the couple worked for four months whilst both holding down full time jobs to refurbish the van’s shell into a fully functional home complete with kitchen and an all-in-one living room and bedroom.

Other images show Pete and Taylor who have clocked up 7,000-miles on the clock so far working in the back of their van, snuggling up in front of the fire and enjoying a meal with Snoop.

“After coming home from traveling through Southeast Asia for ten months, we realised how much of our own country we had never seen,” said Pete and Taylor.

“We knew that committing ourselves to an office job straight out of college wouldn’t make us happy, so we started brainstorming ways we could travel for an extended amount of time.

“Once we came across the van life community, we were instantly hooked, living and traveling out of something we built with our own hands, what’s better than that.”

So far, the couple have travelled through twelve states from the Midwest to the East and West Coast in pursuit of warm weather.

“Since we began our travels in the colder months, we’ve been chasing the warm weather and have spent a good amount of time in California, Arizona, and Florida,” they explained.

“We’re eager to make it to the northern states and National Parks once it starts to warm up.”

The couple say that life on the road is simple even though there were some hiccups along the way.

“Life is simple because of our limited space and resources, we only travel with the objects we need, eat food that we’ve cooked ourselves and use alternative energy sources to live sustainably,” they added.

“This lifestyle also forces us to spend our time intentionally, rather than filling empty spaces in our day with TV and other modern day distractions.

“We never feel too confined in our tiny home, but if we do, we just open the back doors and step into our backyard, wherever that might be on that particular day.

“Because the van we bought had many previous owners, there were a lot of little things that we had to fix and figure out on our own.

“Neither of us had very much carpentry or construction experience, so building the van was a huge learning curve.

“We can’t thank our family and friends enough for lending their knowledge when we had questions. If it weren’t for obstacles in the conversion process, we wouldn’t have half of the knowledge we do today.”

The couple say that living in the van is action packed and there is nothing stopping anyone from doing the same.

“One thing that we love is the freedom that this lifestyle allows us,” they said.

“But with our lifestyle, we’re able to pick up and travel anywhere at really anytime.

“We also love living minimally with only the belongings that we truly need, it has given us perspective on how little we actually need in life.

“If you’re passionate about traveling and living a similar lifestyle, put your whole heart into it and follow that passion.

“We all have the chance in one way or another, so if you want it, go out and live it.”