PRVCA Explore Magazine PRVCA Explore PA 2020 | Page 26

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© Lisa Jacobs @VacayVans
While many were drawn to the lifestyle
because of the flexibility and freedom it
offers, many first adopted van living out of
necessity.
Jessica and Tyler Fossey started camping
when they were dating and wanted an
affordable vacation. Living in Ontario near
Niagara Falls, the couple was finding rent
to be exorbitant and investigated different
ways to live which would also provide the
ability to travel. The couple began searching
for camper vans, eventually securing
a low mileage 1984 Dodge for $5,000.
Today, the couple live in the vehicle while
working during the day in Squamish, Brit-
ish Columbia.
she met and the experiences she shared
while on the road.
“They taught me what the word ‘tribe’
means. I remember coming back and
thinking, ‘I need a van,’” she said, adding
that she bought a similar van shortly
thereafter.
“You wake up in different scenery every
day,” said Tyler. “There are times when we
will work in town and then drive out and
sleep in the forest.” Love and her roommate also saw their
rent in Victoria, British Columbia raised
beyond what two nursing students
could feasibly afford two years ago. They
searched for a new apartment and found
equally expensive dwellings or affordable
places that were tucked in basements and
mold-infested. The two women starting
looking for alternatives and settled on a
1975 Dodge Class-C motorhome that they
each spent a month’s rent to buy – living
in the vehicle for nearly a year while
finishing school.
Nikky Love first got a taste of van traveling
during a road trip with a friend down the
Pacific coast in an old Volkswagen van
fours ago. She was taken by the people The two students turned the living
situation into a positive, taking the small
motorhome on small trips over the
weekend.
26 | EXPLORE Pennsylvania 2020
“We took away the pressure and anxiety
of just trying to get by and were able
to live life more presently and more
abundantly,” she said.
Love hopped back into her van and
the van lifestyle with both feet after
graduation, spending this past summer
traveling the western United States.
For people looking to travel off of
the beaten path, a class-B camper
van offers a lot of advantages that
can’t be found in larger vehicles. The
van’s wheelbase and chassis allow
for easier maneuvering on unpaved
roads and mountainous terrain. The
vehicle’s smaller size also makes it
more manageable in urban settings,
with many more parking options
available than with Class-A and
Class-C motorhomes. Additionally,
for campers who plan on boon-
docking – which is to camp without
hookups – the campers can blend in
much easier than a larger recreational
vehicle.
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