keeping it fun

Brooke asks: We’ve been on the road for almost seven weeks now?

Doug says: Yeah.

Brooke asks: Is it still fun?

Doug says: Absolutely.

Brooke asks: What’s fun about it?

Doug says: Seeing new places and climbing and always having that new aspect in life. Nothing’s ever boring. There’s always stuff to do.

Brooke says: It’s a pain in the ass, but I like the problem-solving aspect too. And having goals, like doing yoga every day, getting better at climbing, and stuff… The thing about fun is, you kinda gotta work to make it happen.

Doug says: The good kinda fun requires work.

Brooke says: Or not even work, per se, but prioritizing it. Putting it in your path.

Here are some of our ways we put fun in our path:

Our babies: We keep a sketchbook on the dashboard so the navigator can draw dumb, funny pictures, usually inspired by wonky logos on billboards or weird stuff (or, in the case of the sex instructor, weird people) we see.

Spanish flashcards — the best way to keep your mind occupied on long stretches of boring highway. (I’m looking at you, western New York.) Mucho gusto!

Making it easy to work out — like keeping my yoga gear and Doug’s Perfect Pushups readily accessible in the garage.

Art shelf, as I’ve mentioned before, means we have no excuse to not do art.

Atlas Obscura is great for finding weird places.

And Mountain Project is ESSENTIAL for climbing!

Meeting people, to whatever degree seems appropriate. (We are in a pandemic, after all.) We’ve climbed with other van lifers, met up with old friends, and showed countless curious people our sweet setup.