2018 Asheville Van Life Rally
Hosted by Micah Pulleyn. Written by Kathleen Morton. Photographs by Steve Yocom.
The Asheville Van Life Rally took place September 21-23, and one thing I heard over and over from the attendees was that they wished it didn’t have to end.
“For me, this event was a good reminder that the southeast has a vanlife presence and it’s as alive as ever.”
More than 200 rigs showed up to JuneBug Retro Resort in Weaverville, North Carolina, about 15 minutes from downtown Asheville. JuneBug is a 50-acre property, with several retro campers that can be rented out. I really loved that this area had a river running through it as well as an organic farm.
I arrived before the event began on Friday and saw a van city get built overnight. Vans came in throughout Friday afternoon and evening, and filled up both areas on each side of the river.
There was a central area near the entrance where the food trucks parked, the beer was poured and the music was played. It was also a prime spot to escape the humidity and get some shade. Near that area, there were several skoolies parked as well as an off roading section for 4x4 rigs.
The skoolies had some impressive build outs that resembled modern apartments.
Micah, the host and mastermind behind the event, coordinated so many moving parts from food and drink vendors to sponsor booths to emergency and medical staff to volunteers to a jam packed event schedule.
What I appreciated about this event was the way it bridged the van community with the Asheville community. This is the 4th annual Asheville Van Life Rally and this year was the first time they made it a weekend camping event. On Saturday, the event was open to the public and those who were van curious came to tour rigs, listen to live music and enter to win raffle prizes.
A huge thank you to our musicians Freewheelin' Mamas, Brooke & Nick, JBOT, Pleasure Chest and DJ Marley Carroll.
Some of my favorite activities included yoga, a workshop on sustainability and off grid housing and an impromptu creekside jewelry making class. I also really enjoyed the food truck and street vendors which ranged from coffee and doughnuts to an all-cheese food truck and one serving creole and southern soul food.
A portion of the proceeds from the event will be going to the Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity.
Thank you to Micah for letting Vanlife Diaries be a part of this event!
And thank you to all our sponsors: Mercedes-Benz of Knoxville, YETI, UJoint Offroad, NCLINE Adventures, Blue Ridge Adventure Vehicles, Gnarcissist Lenses, Yakima, Navitat, NUCLEO Community, Voited, Quigley, Fifth Element Camping, Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine, 98.1 The River, Wedge Brewing and Skoolie.com.
Raffle and giveaway partners: ROVA Magazine, RXBar, Chaco, Topo Designs, Women on the Road, LuminAID, GoSun, Biolite, Lodge Cast Iron, Rumpl, Lems Shoes, Mountain Khakis, Big Agnes, Fold-A-Flame, REI, Roanline, Renogy, One Eleven Watches and BROO.
Thank you to everyone who came out to make this event so special!
