• Sprinter Conversion
    • Africa
    • Antarctica
    • Asia
    • Australia
    • Europe
    • North America
    • South + Central America
    • South Pacific
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Search
Menu

The Wandering Woods

Street Address
City, State, Zip
Phone Number

Your Custom Text Here

The Wandering Woods

  • Sprinter Conversion
  • Destinations
    • Africa
    • Antarctica
    • Asia
    • Australia
    • Europe
    • North America
    • South + Central America
    • South Pacific
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Search
Featured
Internet In Your Van: WifiRanger Review And How To
Nov 28, 2018
Internet In Your Van: WifiRanger Review And How To
Nov 28, 2018

Being able to access the internet on a computer is something that’s important to a lot of people living in vans and other unconventional types of homes. While most of us could do with less connectivity, it’s necessary for some people for things like work and school (and let’s be honest - Netflix for some of us), but can be a hassle having to visit a coffee shop or library every time you need or want to get online on your computer. After trying some different ways of accessing internet in our van, we eventually settled on the WifiRanger Sky Pro, and it’s been the perfect vanlife internet solution.

Nov 28, 2018
How to Change Grille From Dodge to Mercedes in a Sprinter Van
Sep 28, 2018
How to Change Grille From Dodge to Mercedes in a Sprinter Van
Sep 28, 2018

A how to for switching an unbranded or Dodge grill for a Mercedes grill on your Sprinter van. Hint: all Sprinters have the cutout on the hood for the Mercedes symbol (hidden behind whatever non-Mercedes grill is on it) so it’s not as hard as it may seem.

Sep 28, 2018
What Life in a Van is Really Like
Jun 11, 2018
What Life in a Van is Really Like
Jun 11, 2018

Lately, it seems like the authenticity of #vanlife has been called into question and lambasted by many as a ploy to sell a falsely beautiful and carefree lifestyle in which people pull their vans onto beaches to enjoy campfires and lay in bed naked gazing out their back doors at magnificent mountain vistas. After living in our van for a year I'm going to give you the scoop on what (our) life in a van is really like. 

Jun 11, 2018
Short Stories From Eight Months in Our Van
May 9, 2018
Short Stories From Eight Months in Our Van
May 9, 2018

It's kind of hard to believe that we've been living in our van for eight months. In some ways, it seems like we just moved in and in other ways, it feels like we've been living in it forever. I'm not going to pretend that I have loads of exciting stories to tell you, but I thought I'd share a few anyway. 

May 9, 2018
5 Hacks for Living in a Van
Apr 17, 2018
5 Hacks for Living in a Van
Apr 17, 2018

Five things we've learned whilst living in our van that will make your life easier if you too decide to move into a van. 

Apr 17, 2018
#Vanlife Interview II
Apr 10, 2018
#Vanlife Interview II
Apr 10, 2018

A second van life interview that answers questions like what we do when we have to pee during the night and how we manage to live in a hospital parking lot. 

Apr 10, 2018
From FedEx Van to Home
Dec 7, 2017
From FedEx Van to Home
Dec 7, 2017

We've made some posts showing different steps of our FedEx Sprinter van conversion + what it looks like now that we're living in it, but we haven't shared any photos of what it originally looked liked. As such, I thought you might like to see the original compared to now as well as what it looked like in between as we moved through the conversion process. Also, it's officially our six month anniversary of living in the van! 

Dec 7, 2017
#Vanlife Interview
Nov 20, 2017
#Vanlife Interview
Nov 20, 2017

A brief van life interview regarding things like what question we get asked the most and what people assume when they hear we live in van. 

Nov 20, 2017
Planar Heater Install
Oct 18, 2017
Planar Heater Install
Oct 18, 2017

Knowing we were going to be living in our Sprinter through a cold northwest winter meant making provisions for a heater. While the German made Espar diesel heaters tend to be the most popular, they also come with a pretty price tag. In order to save some money for other features we were interested in, we decided to go with a Russian made Planar heater. The following describes the steps we took to installing it in our van. 

Oct 18, 2017
Sprinter Oven: How To
Oct 10, 2017
Sprinter Oven: How To
Oct 10, 2017

If you follow us on Instagram, you've seen that we have an oven and a range in our Sprinter. We didn't think people would think much of it, but we've received a lot of questions about the oven. As such, I asked my father (who installed the oven for us) to provide some details about the install and the following is what he sent me. 

Oct 10, 2017
Frequently Asked Questions: Vanlife
Aug 31, 2017
Frequently Asked Questions: Vanlife
Aug 31, 2017

Frequently asked questions about living in a van. 

Aug 31, 2017
Van Tour
Aug 11, 2017
Van Tour
Aug 11, 2017

A short video tour of the inside or our van. 

Aug 11, 2017
Life in Our Van
Aug 9, 2017
Life in Our Van
Aug 9, 2017

We've been living in the van for two months, so I've decided to share what our life has been like so far. As expected, there have been ups and downs. Having no bathroom and living in a vehicle during the heat of summer have been the two biggest downs. Saving lots of money and having rad conversations we wouldn't have experienced otherwise have been the two biggest ups (for me at least). 

Aug 9, 2017
We've Got A Floor Too...
Jul 27, 2017
We've Got A Floor Too...
Jul 27, 2017

Over the Christmas/New Years holidays we were finally able to find the time to install the flooring. When looking into the various options available to cover the floor of our van we came across so many choices that it seemed daunting at first. Upon further research and discussing flooring options with knowledgable family, friends and even patients at work we settled on vinyl planking.

Jul 27, 2017
We've Got Solar Power
Dec 9, 2016
We've Got Solar Power
Dec 9, 2016

One major project done! The solar panels are on. Our journey to making the Sprinter off the grid ready started with the purchase of a Renogy 300 watt monocrystalline solar kit, which included the charge controller. Shortly thereafter, we had a week off from work and decided a trip to California to visit Justin's parents would be a good idea because a) we like his parents b) his father is gifted in all things mechanical and has a large shop with lots of tools. 

Dec 9, 2016
#Vanlife: Bringing Our Sprinter Home
Apr 29, 2016
#Vanlife: Bringing Our Sprinter Home
Apr 29, 2016

Well, it finally happened. We got a Sprinter van. Six months ago, my car got stolen from right in front of our house. It was a totally bummer, but it made us start seriously thinking about putting the money we'd spend to buy a replacement vehicle towards buying a used Sprinter van instead. We'd been contemplating getting a Sprinter for a long time, with plans to renovate it into a small home - Instagram has a way of convincing you that you can do anything.

Apr 29, 2016

@wandering.woods

Is it sad that one of my first thoughts upon waking is how happy I am that it's a new day so I can eat another gummy vitamin? 😂 That has nothing to do with this photo, just thought I'd put that out there.

This photo is yet another from Big Sur and documents the first time we've simultaneously had ocean and campfire views out the back of the van. It's something we could get pretty used to #parkedinparadise
Stormy sea views along Highway 1 from our Big Sur adventure last weekend. The first time Justin and I drove Highway 1 to Big Sur was a totally spontaneous trip. We were dating at the time and he was in med school and had a little time off for some sort of break or holiday. While we were hanging out that evening, Justin said that we should make the most of his freedom and take a road trip. We pulled out a map and after a few minutes decided six hours to Big Sur sounded pretty good. I went home and got some food and my sleeping bag while Justin packed the car and then off we went with no plans aside from finding a campground. When we got too tired to drive, we slept in a Wal-Mart parking lot in the wee hours of the morning. When we woke up, I found out I'd passed my nursing boards which I'd been pretty sure I'd failed leading to lots of tears and dramatic statements 😁 For that reason and many others, Big Sur will always be a memorable place for me. The moral of this long story is that you should never be afraid to go on spontaneous adventures! Sometimes they turn out to be the best ones.
When your jacket matches the ocean 😍 We stopped at this pullout overlooking the most amazing beach during our Big Sur adventure this weekend. It's hard to see in this photo, but there's actually a waterfall flowing onto the beach and the ocean was such a surreal color of blue. The beach appeared to be private property with a gated road leading down to the beach where a very neatly spaced row of palm trees made us wonder if there used to be a house there. Can you imagine? What would be the view from your dream house?
Ocean and campfire views out the back of the van = a perfect way to spend the weekend. When Justin and I were dating we took a spontaneous road trip to Big Sur and drove by the most incredible campground perched along the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. It was completely full so we weren't able to camp, but we've never forgotten about it. Well, this weekend, seven years later, our wish to camp there came true and it was every bit as amazing as we thought it would be 😊

Subscribe

we know your inbox is already cluttered, but if you want a heads up when we post about a new adventure, sign up!

we respect your privacy

Thank you!

{all photographs copyright of Justin + Betsy unless explicitly stated}