Kory Kirby - Book Designer + Writer + Photographer

Jonny Dustow: How did you get into vanlife?

Kory Kirby: My first glimpse of the Vanlife was in May of 2016 when I loaded up my 2006 Chevrolet Malibu for a good ole road trip! I drove west on I-90 from Bozeman, MT into Washington, and then hit the 101 south into Oregon. It was here I realized the freedom that can come from a vehicle loaded with all your basic necessities. But I soon discovered I was doing it wrong. I kept seeing these epic vans loaded with surfboards, bikes, skateboards, and skis…they had all the toys, and kitchen, and a bed! I was blown away. After my trip, I headed back to Bozeman, MT to finish up college and save money for a Van.

Jonny: So did you buy one?

Kory: Haha nope…I didn’t have enough money. I quickly learned that reliable vans are expensive. But I really wanted to go on an adventure once I finished school. So after crunching the numbers, I determined I would sell my sedan, buy a Subaru Forster and take the extra money I had and invest it into a wonderous experience: bicycling the entire west coast of the U.S. with a trailer and a surfboard. And I did just that! I biked from the most Northwest corner of WA, all the way to the Mexico border surfing at 40+ different beaches. I had just finished school and had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. So I decided to use my surfboard bag as a billboard and write the words, “Why Do You Exist?,” because I wanted to hear why others existed.

Photo by: Alex Colorito

Jonny: Did you find out why you existed?

Kory: Actually yeah. I found out that I exist to teach, and that books were going to be my medium of teaching.

Jonny: So you finished the ride, and you started working on a book?

Kory: Yeah, pretty much. I finished my ride and moved into my Subaru Forester to keep my expenses low so I could teach myself how to publish a book. After a few weeks in my Subaru, I met up with Gianna Andrews (friend from Bozeman). She had just bought her first van, Bentley, and was planning a trip. So we took off on the 101 heading south getting outside as much as possible, seeing beautiful places, and working on our passions. For me, it was my book. For her, it was her paintings.

Jonny: Eventually, you two decide to move out of the van and into a house?

Kory: Yes we did. The biggest reason being that I was running out of money, and needed a job. Gianna soon discovered that it was really hard to paint and run a business out of a van (as did I), so we had to upgrade to a house. We found a sweet little rental in Port Angeles, Gianna sold Bentley, and I started working full time making snowboards.

Jonny Dustow: How was houselife?

Kory: House life was really great for a while: shower, kitchen, etc., all those amazing luxuries allowed me to focus on my book, “Why Do You Exist?” and actually publish it!

But, with the increase in expenses, I had to hold a full time job. At this point, the whole publishing business was just a side hustle. I actually had three jobs while living in Port Angeles (not all at once), ha! But, while living the house life, we still missed having a van. So we purchased Ronda together and Gianna being an artist, painted her! We then used every second of our free time to be in the van…surfing, biking, skiing, and trying our best to live a simple, free life. We eventually got sick of “house life,” as it felt to “domesticated,” for us, so we moved out of the house, sold/donated a bunch of stuff, and hit the road in Ronda for three weeks then Mexico for 6 weeks.

Jonny: What happened when you returned from Mexico?

Kory: We immediately bought another van…ha! We stumbled on a gem of a van on craigslist that we just couldn’t resist not buying. It was a 1978 Dodge B200 Tradesmen. We bought it, and named her Blueberry! We did a super basic build out and lived in Blueberry for a little bit until we found the creative cabin, which is where we live full time now.

Jonny: What’s the creative cabin?

Kory: The creative cabin is a small 700 square foot cabin with electricity, but no running water. It doesn’t feel like a home, it’s a cabin, and its epic. When we moved out of Port Angeles, I quit my full time job and went all in on freelance book design and publishing, and figured the cabin would be the perfect place to grow my business.

Jonny: So you shifted from a van, to a cabin in the woods? How has this transition been?

Kory: The transition has been amazing! Challenging. But amazing. The cabin was abandoned for a couple years so we had to put a lot of work into to it to make it livable. It also has no running water…so we have to fill up 7 gallon jugs for our drinking water and dishes, etc., and drive ten minutes to the gym for a shower (which has honestly been a blessing in disguise…because I now workout 4 times a week). We also have to keep a consistent supply of firewood to stay warm. But once we got the logistics dialed, I set-up my office and got to work designing and consulting clients on how to publish books, as well as working on writing and publishing my own books. And the cabin has been perfect for this. It’s a very inspiring place to work out of. When ever I’m getting a little stir crazy from my computer screen, I just step out and enjoy the woods for a moment…then get back to work.

Jonny: Do you still find time to get out in Blueberry?

Kory: Yes! But not as much as I would like to. I have been hard at work dialing in my freelance business, and launching my publishing company, Little Cabin Press. My goal is to set-up the appropriate systems that allow me to generate an income anywhere with wifi. The goal is to one day be part time van, part time cabin. But, I’m just not quite there yet, and the stability of the cabin is really nice for productivity. Vans are everything to me, but trying to work out of them is challenging because so much energy goes into finding bathrooms, showers, cooking, cleaning, organizing, etc. I’ve found they can be “time sucks,” so for now, the cabin is where I spend most of my time. But, I do miss the vanlife…its so simple. It’s the closest thing to freedom I have ever found.

Jonny: What does freedom mean to you?

Kory: Freedom is having no boss, long hair, wearing flannels every day, and having Mondays feel like Fridays. Freedom is an open schedule that allows me to say yes to any exciting opportunity that comes my way. But true freedom, isn’t a cabin in the woods, it’s a van, a home on wheels with nothing but adventure and the open road.

Jonny: What are your latest releases about and how can we find them?

Kory: Well, I just launched my publishing company Little Cabin Press, and my first two releases are Make It Real & Why Do You Exist?

Make It Real – is a 116 page photo-journal highlighting a bike tour around the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state in the summer of 2016. This book features journals and photography by my good buddy, Augie Schield, and journals and essays by myself. It’s a book dedicated to making your adventure dreams real! It’s a wonderfully naïve, but incredibly thoughtful and deeply introspective story of two 22-year-old wandering souls that are trying to make sense of our society, the 21st century, and their place in it.

Why Do You Exist? Second Edition, is the sequel to Make It Real, a 100 page photo- journal that begins when I was nearing college graduation and had little idea with what I wanted to do with my life. I was questioning the standard path society laid out before me. I was questioning my identity, and my existence. I was questioning everything. I realized, that I didn’t even know my true self. So, I did what I would do, if I only had a year to live. I sold 70% of my belongings, and moved onto my bike. Behind my bike, was a trailer, gear, a surfboard, the words “Why do you exist?,” and a dream to teach myself how to surf while biking down the entire west coast of the U.S. While I was pedaling south on the 101, surfing the pacific, and listening to strangers from around the world answer my question, I found a side of himself I never knew existed. Inside the book are my raw journal entries, portraits of the people I met, and photos of the sights I saw. Both books can be found at littlecabinpress.com

Jonny: What are you most excited about for 2020?

Kory: In 2019 I left my full time job, and started freelancing full time. Getting my freelance business off the ground has taken a tremendous amount of work (60-80 hour work weeks). But at the time of writing this, I have more good paying work then I know what to do with. So, I’m most excited to restore some work/life balance and get out of my computer, and into Blueberry!

Thank you so much Kory for taking the time to share with us and we are so happy to see and hear about all your creative endeavours! If you would like to get in touch with Kory check out the links below.