Iya & Denise @Eveee_thevan

IYA:

THE BEGINNING:

I don’t talk much about the motivation behind choosing to start our vanlife journey. Here goes: a few years ago and before I met Denise, I suffered from depression and anxiety. Feelings of impending doom, and not being good enough for anything and everything flooded my mind. I was living in San Diego, CA during this time, far away from my family and friends, my support system. There was a two week period where I fell into a deep depression.I didn’t leave my apartment and did not talk to anyone. My mind convinced me that life was not going to get any better. Afraid that I would get worse, I left San Diego and went back home to the Bay Area, CA. I worked, traveled, and hung out with friends and spent time with family. I did everything I thought I could to feel better, but the same nagging feeling wouldn’t leave me.

THE BREAKING POINT:

In August 2017, I heard that a friend of mine was dying. She had been sick all her life; a genetic condition. She was in comfort care by the time I got to see her. We lost touch over the years, but she was one of my best friends. I couldn’t cope. I watched her life fade away. I cried everyday and couldn’t concentrate at work. I laid down in bed one day and did not get up for one week. Unlike my experience in San Diego, I was motivated to not fall back into the depression I once experienced. I picked myself up, packed my bags, and went on a 10-day road trip. Adventuring made me the happiest. My mind was the quietest when I’m hiking or backpacking. I went to seven different National Parks across California, Arizona, and Utah. On my way home from my road trip I realized that this is what I should be doing. As soon as I got home I was in front of my computer planning the next road trip across the country. Everything was reserved and ready to go, I was just waiting for the day to come to start my road trip, when suddenly my Mom fell ill. My Mom is a single Mom, the type of Mom who worked 2.5 jobs to put all of her kids through college. I love my Mom. My sister and I previously noticed behavioral changes that made us believe Mom was feeling depressed. One day  to cheer her up, I planned on taking her to a Golden State Warriors game in Oakland, CA. We didn’t make it to the game, my Mom who worked so hard all her life to provide a better life for kids had a massive seizure and was laying down on the dirty floor of the train we took to Oakland. At the hospital they discovered that she had a giant tumor sitting on top of her brain. Luckily the tumor was benign and the doctor was able to surgically remove it without any problems. My Mom made a full recovery and is now enjoying her retirement. Between the death of my friend and my Mom’s close call, I was determined that I was going to get as much as I can from life.

THE CATALYST AND LOVE OF MY LIFE:

Soon after my Mom recovered, I met the love of my life, Denise. We met online of all places (thanks, OkCupid). We hung out everyday and was pretty much inseparable since the day we met. We moved in together and lived and worked in Seattle, WA. After some time in Seattle I realized that I still wanted to do my grand road trip. Between our busy work schedules we barely had time to adventure outside. I often told Denise that I felt like time was ticking away. I felt a sense of urgency to do the things that made me the happiest, now, not later. We talked and fought about it. In hindsight perhaps we were in different stages of our lives because even though we agreed that we both wanted a grand adventure we couldn’t agree on when to do it. Finally, we saw Eve, our van, for sale on Craigslist. The price was too good to be true, and the seller was kind and offered support and information. We bought Eve the same day we found her on Craigslist. Moving into the van took a toll in our relationship. Downsizing and moving was very stressful, but Denise always reached out to me after an argument and gave me hugs and kisses. A few weeks after meeting each other I took Denise to her first camping trip ever. A few weeks after that we went to Yosemite National Park and she had her first bonfire ever. Here she is living and adventuring in a van a year later. Denise is the most adventurous person I know. I thought about doing vanlife for over 4 years, but did not have the guts to go forth with it. On top of starting vanlife we also started a small business (Wear a Map), another idea of mine that was never implemented until Denise came along. Simply put, Denise is my other half, my better half, the love of my life, and the catalyst I needed in my life.

VAN LIVING:

There are no words to express the joy we feel now that we’re doing van living. Things have settled. We have developed our routines and roles within the van. Contrary to popular belief vanlife is not all fun, it’s a lot of work and can be stressful at times. The way we think about it is we’d rather be stressed about where to park the van and where to sleep next than be stressed about something we don’t care as much for (i.e., work). We are both explorers and travelers by heart, mind, and body. We truly love spending time with each other, so living in the van where we’re constantly about 3 feet away from each other really works for us. We have yet to live in the van full time because of the holiday season and previously planned international trips. Though, we’ve taken Eve out on mini trips for a few weeks at a time. We look forward to all the upcoming adventures ahead of us. The vanlife community has been supportive! We love hearing from people on social media; it’s crazy to see that we are more similar than different; at some level we all yearn for something that’ll make us happier. We love hearing other people’s stories, trials and tribulations. Through the lens of vanlife, we feel that people are more open to share their experiences. In the “real world” I didn’t even know anything about my coworkers besides the superficial things. Vanlife people are open, caring, and genuine.  To us, vanlife is a platform and an outlet for many people in which they use to live better and happier lives; we love that about vanlife. We also love that we don’t even miss all of the things we had to give up to live in the van. The clothes, furniture, appliances, cars, promotion at work, seemed so insignificant. For us, having less truly is more. All we need is each other, a couple changes of clothes, and yummy food and beers.

DENISE:

I didn’t know about vanlife until I met Other Half. I have always enjoyed traveling largely because of the annual vacations I took with my parents as a child. Growing up in Hong Kong, people travelled frequently to neighboring cities and countries - whether it is to the nearby Macau or Taiwan, or to farther countries such as Thailand and Japan and sometimes even to Europe. Hong Kong is a lot smaller than the United States, so after immigrating to the United States I was really amazed at the very diverse scenery and culture across this country. I have grown to love road trips and seeing the sceneries change before me. I’ve always wanted to go on a grand cross-country road trip, but to do that I would have to quit my job and consequently disappoint my parents. This was before I met Other Half, who has been dreaming about vanlife for almost 4 years. She showed me Instagram vanlife accounts of people’s adventures and stories. Initially, I thought the idea was interesting but unrealistic, largely because of the anxiety and pressure I felt to go along with societal expectations. Growing up in an Asian family comes with expectations to work hard and later on provide for our aging parents. Some expectations are to work full-time right after graduation, make above-average income, give my parents allowance, and somehow save enough to buy a home, raise children… you get the idea. These expectations are not so different from the social norms around me, with my peers competing to secure a full-time job after school, earning enough money to travel and buy friends and coworkers a few drinks, while looking for a life partner, and maybe save enough for a downpayment for a home. However, another part of me yearns for a more carefree lifestyle, where I can make my life decisions freely and limit delayed gratification without hurting or burdening people I love and care for. I believe the trigger for me to make vanlife a goal was when we saw a gorgeous van up for sale on Craigslist that was way over our budget. Seeing the van in person made me realize that we could be living this life, as long as I am willing to let go of societal expectations and the fear of disappointing my family. 

The first van we saw was not Eve, but it eventually led us to Eve two weeks later. Shortly after we decided to leave our full-time jobs and the city we were in for good. Eve is absolutely perfect for us - I especially love her self-sufficiency and simplicity. I have always heard about sustainable energy and even learned about it in school, but I never imagined it to be this easy. The energy we consume in the van is solely powered by our solar panel and the charge we get from driving, which is more than enough for charging our electronics, powering our lights, speakers, ventilation, heater, and our rice cooker daily. Other Half built our foot pump-powered water system, consisting of two 7-gallon containers for our clean and grey water - enough for the 2 of us for up to 5 days, though we always refill our water whenever potable water is available. The storage system of Eve is simple - 2 compartments under the bench seatings, 5 overhead garage heavy-duty baskets, a customized closet that once part of an armoire, and  a few stackable drawers. Our Instagram feed features the interior and exterior of Eve from time to time, with explanation of the parts and mechanics that powers our daily vanlife along with tips and hacks we figure out along the way. 

One of the goals of Eve’s instagram account is to represent Asians in the vanlife community. Vanlife has long been an extension of White privilege, especially in terms of carefree living and being outdoorsy. White people seem to dominate the social media from vanlife to outdoor gear accounts. We want to strengthen the presence of non-White communities who also enjoy vanlife and the outdoors who are underrepresented in this space. We want to share our story to hopefully bolster the understanding and appreciation for vanlife especially in people of color communities, and perhaps inspire more people of color to get on the road. Lastly, we wish to contribute to diversity and inclusivity: #diversifyvanlife #diversifyoutdoors 

Cheers,

Denise and Iya

Follow along Iya and Denise’s travels

Produced and published by Jared Melrose Campbell @vanlifediaries & @youandiandthesky