Lead essay
The Miles Will Shape You (If You Let Them)A bonfire in my aunt's backyard, my little cousin beside me, and no way to explain what we were about to do. So I didn't try.
A travel journal from the roadStories shaped by distance.
Stories shaped by distance.
Perspective earned by miles.
Eight years of van life. All 48 continental states. Seven months across Southeast Asia. Written down honestly, the uncomfortable parts included.
From eight years of our own photos
Where we've been in JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember
22 places we have been in January, over 6 years.
- Scottsdale
- Grand Canyon NP
- Petrified Forest NP
- Albuquerque
- Assateague Island
- Belmont Park SD
Home was Denver area, Phoenix AZ, then San Diego.
Every place in January17 places we have been in February, over 7 years.
- Dillon / Silverthorne
- Arches NP
- Canyonlands NP
- Great Sand Dunes NP
- Hot Springs NP
- Belmont Park SD
Home was Denver area, Phoenix AZ, then San Diego.
Every place in February20 places we have been in March, over 5 years.
- Biscayne NP
- Everglades NP
- Petrified Forest NP
- Balboa Park
- Belmont Park SD
- Big Pine Key
Home was Denver area, Santa Rosa Beach FL, then San Diego.
Every place in March21 places we have been in April, over 5 years.
- La Jolla
- Lake Powell
- Bryce Canyon NP
- Mesa Verde NP
- Zion NP
- Antelope Canyon
Home was Denver area, Santa Rosa Beach FL, then San Diego.
Every place in April21 places we have been in May, over 6 years.
- Great Sand Dunes NP
- Boulder
- Buena Vista CO
- Columbia River Gorge
- Destin FL
- Flaming Gorge
Home was Denver area, Santa Rosa Beach FL, then San Diego.
Every place in May12 places we have been in June, over 6 years.
- Red Rocks Park CO
- Black Canyon NP
- Grand Teton NP
- Yellowstone NP
- Eden Gardens / Cypress Creek
- La Jolla
Home was Denver area, Santa Rosa Beach FL, then San Diego.
Every place in June19 places we have been in July, over 8 years.
- Red Rocks Park CO
- Grand Teton NP
- Rocky Mountain NP
- Yellowstone NP
- Bailey / Pike NF CO
- Destin FL
Home was Denver area, Santa Rosa Beach FL, then San Diego.
Every place in July62 places we have been in August, over 8 years.
- Badlands NP
- Kings Canyon NP
- Rocky Mountain NP
- Sequoia NP
- Theodore Roosevelt NP
- Wind Cave NP
Home was Denver area, Santa Rosa Beach FL, Finger Lakes NY, then San Diego.
Every place in August47 places we have been in September, over 7 years.
- Ithaca NY
- Acadia NP
- Arches NP
- Canyonlands NP
- Crater Lake NP
- Glacier NP
Home was Denver area, Finger Lakes NY, then San Diego.
Every place in September32 places we have been in October, over 8 years.
- Arches NP
- Bryce Canyon NP
- Capitol Reef NP
- Grand Canyon NP
- Grand Teton NP
- Great Smoky Mountains NP
Home was Denver area, Finger Lakes NY, then San Diego.
Every place in October16 places we have been in November, over 3 years.
- Death Valley NP
- Joshua Tree NP
- White Sands NP
- Arroyo Seco NM
- Belmont Park SD
- Carlsbad CA
Home was Denver area, Phoenix AZ, then San Diego.
Every place in November12 places we have been in December, over 4 years.
- Belmont Park SD
- Carlsbad CA
- Chicago
- Elmira NY
- Ithaca NY
- Kansas City
Home was Denver area, Phoenix AZ, San Diego, then Finger Lakes NY.
Every place in December- 48continental states
- 12countries together
- 100kmiles of van life
Your turn Tap the states and countries you have been to and we will draw your map, ready to post.
Make your map
Hi, we're Jesse & Karlee.
Eight years in a van, forty-eight states, seven months across Southeast Asia, and more wrong turns than we can count. Most of them led somewhere better than where we were headed.
The time we rolled into Mardi Gras
We were somewhere in the middle of nowhere, headed to Florida, when we realized we were rolling straight into Mardi Gras. A friend from Karlee's St. John days had invited us to crash with him in Louisiana. What he forgot to mention was that we'd be arriving in the middle of the biggest party in the country.
We hadn't planned any of it. But we could stop, so we did.
One night turned into four days: beads flying, music everywhere, an electricity in the air that gets into your chest before you've figured out where you are. We had a local guide, a front row seat, and nowhere else we needed to be.
That's the life we've built. It isn't perfect and it's rarely planned, but it's flexible enough to say yes when something worth saying yes to shows up.
New here? Start here and we will point you at the right first read.
From the Road
All the essays Recent stories & guides
Essays
The Shadow at Santa Rosa BeachA landlocked Colorado kid, a lifelong fear of sharks, and the afternoon a shadow in clear water turned out to be exactly what I was afraid of.
Guides
The Pacific Coast by SeasonWhen to drive the Pacific coast, read off our own dated photographs: a year living in San Diego, and one long late summer drive north to Washington.
Essays
Why It Took Us Eight Years to Hit PublishEight years of van life and we kept saying we would write it down. This is why we waited, and why we finally opened the door.
Guides
The Mountain West by SeasonWhen to drive the mountain west, read off eight years of our own dated photographs: the Colorado high country May to November, the desert in winter.
Guides
The East Coast by SeasonWhen to drive the east, read off eight years of our own dated photographs: the Great Lakes in August, New England in September, Florida January to May.
Trip Stories
Every trip story The long way round, one trip at a time
2022 · 49 days
The West Coast RoadtripForty-nine days from San Diego to Denver the long way: Sequoia, Yosemite, the redwoods, the Oregon coast, Olympic, Rainier and Glacier.
2021 · 21 days
Yellowstone and the TetonsThree weeks north with the inflatable kayaks, a bison that stopped dead in the road, and a fox at Jenny Lake.
2019 · 16 days
New England, Corner to CornerTwo weeks from the Finger Lakes to the far corner of Maine and back, and the hike up the Beehive that I did not think I would finish.
Planning a drive of your own? The same eight years, read by season: The Pacific Coast by Season · The Mountain West by Season · The East Coast by Season
From the archive
8 years ago in October
Colorado
The van on gravel, ringed by cottonwoods turned gold
See where we've beenField Notes
See the full gallery Moments along the way
full gallery
Why we do this
We started with a simple belief: travel teaches you more about yourself than anything else you can do in this life.
On a dirt road in Utah or a plastic stool in Hanoi, you find out who you actually are, what you actually need, and what you've been carrying that you could have set down a long time ago.
You don't have to cross an ocean or move into a van or leave everything behind. But if you've been standing at the edge of a decision, waiting for the right moment, we want you to know the right moment is rarely what it looks like in your head.
Take what's useful, leave what isn't, and go see for yourself.