Full interview with Kara in Tiny House, Tiny Footprint.

Roll with Kara in a Dodge Van

Hi, Kara here! I am 24, and in May I quit my job, and left my home in Lake Tahoe to hit the road in my van Namron. One of the most common questions I get on the road is why did I decide to drop my life, and live in a van. The answer is always a no brainer for me. It’s a healing journey. My story is hard to put into words, and can be hard to tell.

I lost both my parents within 10 months of each other when I was 21 in 2013. My world was turned upside down. I was lost- I lost my best friends, and then I lost myself. I didn’t know how to heal. Everything seemed off, almost wrong really. I tried to return back to my everyday life. I started back at work as a vet technician, and went back to my normal routine, hoping that this would take my mind off of everything. Needless to say, it didn’t. There was a giant hole in my heart that no one, no matter how hard they tried, could ever fill. Something needed to change, but I did not know exactly how or what was needed to make my heart whole again.

Now it was March 2015. After years of feeling like my life was at a sad standstill, I decided it was my turn to flip my life upside down, but this time for the better. It was time. Time to make a change. I had grown up traveling all over the country with my family in our motor home. It was my Dad’s favorite thing to do. He would just light up whenever we would leave for a cross-country adventure.

I knew exactly what I needed to do. It was time for me to buy my own van and travel the country. I needed to find healing. I needed to start loving life the way I did before I lost my parents.

Two weeks later, I found my van. A 2002 Dodge Roadtrek camper van. As soon as I saw her, I was in love, and I already had the perfect name for her– Namron (my Dad’s name spelled backwards). I was beyond excited, until the nerves hit! What was I doing? How could I support myself, and my two dogs on the road? Did I just make the biggest mistake? Absolutely not.

May 1, 2015 was my last day of work. With my dogs, Eiko and Franti, I took off. There was no turning back.

Namron has been the absolute best thing I have ever done for myself. I have cried more times than I could ever count, but I have smiled, laughed and loved more than I have in a very long time. This is the life I remember so fondly and the life I was meant for. To see this world in all the beauty that is it. To truly feel my parents in the most beautiful places on Earth, and all the places I know they would have loved. To feel the sun’s warmth from a sunrise or to hear the cool rain on my tent, I will be able to feel them again.

I’ve lived, I’ve felt miserable, I’ve cried from laughing so hard, I’ve been in agony, I’ve found myself, and lost myself, then found myself again. This is my journey of healing, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Read the full interview with Kara on Tiny House, Tiny Footprint.