She’s a 2022 Ford Transit with all-wheel drive, a 148″ wheelbase and a high roof. She used to be a rental and, I think, was mostly used for FedEx deliveries. I went to Maryland to get her, traveling 3.5 hours on a train and then 45 minutes by car, past horse farms and mansions and rolling, rain-spattered hills. The plan, the one I’ve been hatching over the past several months, is to turn her into a camper van, a tiny home on wheels for me, Claude the Dog and the cats, Bitty and Edgar Poe, and then, all together, we’ll set off into the wild unknown.

I finally settled on this plan last summer, but I’d been bumping up against it for years. I’ve spent more than 20 years in the military, mostly full-time with the Virginia Army National Guard, and as I’ve inched closer to end of my full-time service, I knew I wanted to cap this part of my life with a big adventure.

Initially, I thought I’d figure out pet care and drive around for six months or so, camping and exploring and wandering, but the thought of leaving my pets for any amount of time felt bad. I spent a whole year away from Luke and Sadie while deployed and that was time I always wished I’d been able to get back. I knew I’d regret the time away from Claude and at least one of the cats, too.

I’ve always been attracted to van life, have long followed people living on the road or going on long-term adventures and finally, I put it all together and realized I should get a van and turn it into a home so that I can do all the things I want to do with my pets and not away from them.

I am still very much figuring out what this all will look like, both the van and my life. The end goal is to build out a van with solar power, running water, and a freezer big enough to stockpile at least one container of Tillamook ice cream. I have a rough layout in mind, but feel confident it will shift and change as I get further into the build process. I also have a handful of people anxiously awaiting an opportunity to help me do this thing, plus an abundance of DIY experience that comes from living alone in 100-year-old house for a decade and a half.

The first step involves cleaning the battered floor of the cargo area, then touching up the paint to prevent any rust from developing. After I get through that, I’ll probably start cutting holes in the van for windows, a fan and maybe a little skylight, or I’ll work on building the subfloor.

Interspersed between each step will be a lot of research. I don’t really know what I’m doing, at least not fully, and a lot of the things this build will require me to do will be new to me, which is terrifying and exciting. It’s not going to be a quick process. I’ll probably be working on the van for the rest of the year and maybe even into next year, too, but I’m excited for the challenge and, of course, the adventure.