Clothing, kitchen, coffee, SUPs, rock climbing gear, dog necessities all needs to fit into 72 square feet as well as Kristin, Chestnut (our 60 pound dog), and myself. It’s tight, our cabinets are often full, and adventure awaits us. Packing the van is a given when you go on a vanlife road trip like we are doing around Nevada, Idaho, and Utah, but there are so many little things you forget about until it is time to leave like finding someone to water your plants, cleaning the house so you can come home to a cleanish house, putting the mail on hold, and all that “adult” stuff we didn’t think about as kids. Growing up, road trips were a staple. Every holiday, besides Christmas, that I wasn’t swimming, the family packed up our “toys” and went somewhere in an RV. None of these RVs were fancy, but they got the job done. So, maybe that is why I love to road trip as much as I do, or, maybe it’s the freedom of the open road. I don’t really know, however this morning made it clear packing always takes longer than expected.

And we are off… after a few stops

Around noon, we were packed, but a few stops still needed to be made. Kristin’s parents house to drop the plants off. Whole Foods to return a poor Amazon purchase. Target for batteries and a few essentials. Trader Joe’s for food. Walmart for shelf organizers (our cabinets were a mess). Costco for gas. Schatt’s Bakery in Reno for our favorite bread and some sweet treats.

The clock continued to tick as we made each stop. Overall, I would consider myself a laid back traveler, but today I was nothing but a ball of anxiety. My head kept spinning that we were running late and were not going to “make it anywhere”. I wanted to rush, check the boxes, and move along, but the reminder that “slow is fast” also raddled around in my head. Maybe missing my morning meditation was taking a toll on me, or the lack of road trips in the past two years. That go with the flow attitude seemingly was tossed out the window, I was a ticking time bomb.

Thankfully, the end of errands came.

Dropping off our plants, in a bucket, for Kristin’s parents. Photo by Dalton Johnson, follow him on Instagram

On The Road At 3PM

3:00pm; it’s finally time to hit the road and make our way through Northern Nevada into Idaho.

Our planning for this trip was different than most. We didn’t create a day to day itinerary, instead we plotted a course on Google maps, then found places along that route we wanted to visit. With a goal to stop as much as possible for micro-adventures, we were not sure where we day one would take us. Our original goal was Pyramid Lake, but we didn’t realize there was a permit system, so we kept driving north.

We did not have a destination in mind for sleeping, as we didn’t know how far we would get, but the land outside of the window was barren, spotted with green bushes that Chestnut enjoyed looked at. The speed limit signs read 75 miles per hour. Most town exits reminded you gas was a long ways off if you didn’t fill up now, often stating “Next Fuel 83 miles”, with some longer and some shorter stretches. But, we didn’t care as the indie folk playlist was queued with Lord Huron, Mumford and Sons, Ben Howard, Gregory Alan Isakov, and many more iconic artists curating the perfect mood for a road trip.

Finding Home For The Night In A Dust Storm

As the day’s light began to fade, we decided to take a risk on a wild camping spot at the Pitt-Taylor Dam in the middle of, well, nowhere. The only pieces of civilization we could see on the map was a prison about an hour drive away and the highway. I think that sums up most of the driving in Nevada. If you are not in Las Vegas, or Reno, you’re in no man’s land. Which, is strangely of comforting for me. Yes, I am an introvert, so being away from people is how I charge my batteries, however, the responsibility of self-preservation is always a nice touch. In many ways, this provides me with a heightened sense of respect for the places I travel, because I know the consequences become greater the farther removed one becomes. And, with the impending summer storm, that awareness was omnipresent.

The drone could barely hold its own in the sky, so this flight was short and to the point to capture an image of the van heading directly into the oncoming storm with an impenetrable dust front. Photo by Dalton Johnson, follow him on Instagram

Bouncing down the one-lane dirt road, the van swayed side-to-side with each gust of wind. Dust pelted the side of the van with the continuous audible onslaught, tin-tin-tin-tin. Kristin and I wanted to drive fast, to find a spot to park the van, so we could begin the process of unwinding from the day, but the washboard road prevented rapid forward progression. Instead, we settled for a 10 mph crawl that felt even slower after the hours speeding along the highway at 75 mph. However, we made it. Nobody was insight, for a little while.

Where the open road meets the storm somewhere in Nevada. Photo by Dalton Johnson, follow him on Instagram

Pulling into the lot and hopping out of the van for a quick stretch of the legs to find the “perfect parking spot” we watched the storm clear overhead and the sun come out. Gusts of wind still barraged us with dust, coating the inside and outside of the van, but we had found a place to lay our heads for the night. So, the unwinding process began:

Cook dinner; tonight was caprese salad with left over brisket from my parents
Set up Starlink
Stretch; I call this yoga, but really it is three cycles of Sun Salutation B
Finish any work that is outstanding/couldn’t be finished on the drive; tonight this had to wait, my body takes priority, I was going for a run

A Quick Run and Lake Dip

My busy brain wouldn’t stop. As a kid, the only thing that got rid of this was going for a swim. Today, the body movement is choice is still swimming, ideally 2 to 3 miles, but on road trips that isn’t always possible, so I run. Running isn’t easy for me, nor is it easy in a van because you get sweaty and we don’t have a shower in the van, so, I only run when there is a body of water to dip into. Thankfully, this campsite opens to a man-made lake. Yes, the lake is pretty much a mud bath, but I can deal with that later on. For now, it was time to put my headphones in (I forgot mine, so I borrowed Kristin’s) and set off.

When running, I listen to music or podcasts. For this evening’s run I started a podcast with Kyle Thierman and Chris Burkard about photography, surfing, creativity, and family. As my feet moved under me, this interview sucked me in and I lost track of what I was doing. My focus drifted into the conversation and I did everything I could to be a sponge, a fly-on-the-wall, soaking up as much knowledge as possible. As somebody who is self-taught in the photo and writing industry, any glimpse I can get into how somebody became who they are really helps me understand my own journey. So, podcasts like this one really help me improve my craft and understanding of the industry.

Zoned into the podcast and out of the run, the sun was setting as I arrived back to the van. Sweating, I grabbed a towel and headed directly for the muddy waters to cool down and rinse off. It worked… kind of.

It’s Late, But I Still Need To Write

Feeling clean enough to return to the van, I sloshed my way back home. It was late; 9:30 ish, but I still needed to upload the images, cull the images, color them, export, and then upload into this document. Then, write. Need is a strong word here. Nobody is requiring me to write about this journey or share these images. I am here for me, but I also made a promise to myself that I would try something different on this road trip.

A daily article to bring readers along for the journey.

That is what I have set out to create on this road trip. Will it happen, I hope so. However, 11:30pm came quickly, the images are edited, but the words are not done. I don’t have the perseverance to start writing an article at 11:30pm so, tomorrow I will have to finish putting words to paper. Digital paper that is. For tonight, I have done enough.