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Van Life before #VanLife (encore)
Description
“I will never have another vagabonding journey that compares to that first one — even though I have since traveled to far more exotic parts of the world — in part because there’s something special about embarking on a long-term trip for the first time.” –Rolf Potts
In this encore episode of Deviate, Rolf and his old friend Jeff talk about their 8-month van trip across North America back in 1994, how they prepared for it, and how it differed from current-day #VanLife excursions (5:30); how they exercised on the road, and how the conditions and travel-hacks of van journeys were different for two young men in 1994 (23:30); the route they took through North America, what happened along the way, and how they kept daily journals recounting events (36:00); the experience riding with cops in Houston, celebrating Mardi Gras in New Orleans, volunteering at a church in Mississippi, meeting girls in Florida, and seeing New York for the first time (51:00); the experience of staying at a Trappist monastery in Massachusetts for one week (1:14:30); visiting National Parks in the American South, Northeast, and West, and memorable books read along the way (1:28:00); and why the trip was life-changing (1:42:00).
Van trip preparation and planning links:- Digital nomadism (travel lifestyle)
- #VanLife (travel lifestyle)
- Composting toilet
- Blue Highways, by William Least Heat-Moon (1982 book)
- On the Road, by Jack Kerouac (1957 book)
- Travels With Charley, by John Steinbeck (1962 book)
- Vanagon (Volkswagen van)
- Volkswagen Westfalia (camper van)
- Trangia (alcohol-burning camp-stove)
- A (literal) photo album from my 1994 van vagabonding trip (blog post)
- 924 Gilman Street (Berkeley punk club)
- Northridge earthquake (1994 earthquake)
- “The Mystical High Church of Luck” (Salon essay about Las Vegas)
- Lollapalooza (music festival)
- O. J. Simpson murder case (1994 media incident)
- USCGC Northwind (Coast Guard icebreaker)
- Bourbon Street (historic street in New Orleans)
- The Geto Boys, by Rolf Potts (2016 book)
- Fifth Ward (Houston neighborhood)
- Cops (TV show)
- Canton (town in Mississippi)
- In His Steps (Mississippi Christian outreach ministry)
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