MichelVangelo to be exact. We decided we needed a “project,” because renovating a 1935 home wasn’t enough… Katie scoured Craigslist to find the perfect gem, and she hit the motherload! A 1990 Ford Econoline 250 with 90,000 miles. We drove to the used-car dealership where the salesman asked if this was going to be a “shaggin’-wagon,”… SOLD for the price of $2,500.
The thought was to turn this van into a “campervan” and take long weekend camping trips. That idea quickly changed when we searched #vanlife or some variance of that on Instagram. We found ourselves in a world where people have been traveling for years while living in a van. We thought, well, why not us? So the planning began.
Katie is the dreamer and Jason’s the realist which has served us well through our 6 years of marriage. In typical fashion, Jason began crunching the numbers to see how much we would need to save to live on the road for a year. Once we determined what we needed, we began to save. Each month, we would throw whatever we could into the “van fund.” At the beginning, it wasn’t much; student loans and car payments calling their dibs first. Three years later and debt-free, we’re able to launch this freedom mobile.
We are starting our year-long trip in Manitowish Waters, WI shortly after the 4th of July. From there we will head West, jumping up into Canada a few times but mostly staying along the perimeter of the United States.
Our route was made due to weather; our goal being to stay around the 70° mark during the day and 40s at night. After we purchased MichelVangelo we found out that it did not have A/C… so for that reason we would like to avoid extreme heat!
So, follow along with us as we share more about our build, budget, gear, and all the shenanigans as we get on the road!
Cheers! -Katie & Jason
MichelVangelo 