What is vanning anyways?
I'm sure that like anything, it depends on who you ask. Basically though, vanning is an interest in customizing and traveling in vans. It's a fairly straightforward hobby that pupated in the 60's, spread its wings and fluttered joyfully through the 70's and then died in the 80's splattered across the windshield of a wood paneled Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Like the phoenix, vanning would rise from its own ashes and transform itself from a shag carpet covered fad into a die hard subculture of people who saw something more. There was something more there than just a big custom car with room for airbrushed murals and velvet covered beds. There was a vehicle that could transform the very way a person lived and perceived the world.
I took an interest in vans even before I really noticed them as a vehicle. I was the kid that would scour the neighborhood trash, waiting for someone to buy a new refrigerator or washing machine so I could drag the empty box home and haul it up into my room. I would draw dials and controls all over the inside and put my radio and sleeping bag in. I would sneak out of my bed at night so I could sleep in the box that I had made all my own. Something in me preferred the small space. Inside there, everything was how I wanted it, and it all made sense to me.
I had always loved to travel. Some of my earliest and fondest memories are of family road trips from Pittsburgh to visit relatives in New Jersey or Maryland. Predawn departures, CB radio chatter, watching the scenery fly by all captivated me. I always got such a kick out of making up my little bed in the back seat to sleep during the drive. The back seat became my own personal house for the duration of the voyage. I watched the Muppet Movie over and over on our Beta max, lusting over the idea of a cross country journey and of seeking my fortune on the open highway.
When I was young, my mother worked for a plumber. I recall one day being in the back of one of the company's brand new Chevy Astrovans. It was still empty, without racks of parts and tools. I was probably around 8 or somewhere around that. I remember being in the back of that empty van, looking at the open space around me and thinking for the first time "Hey, I could live in here.". I have never looked at a van again without thinking the same thing.
It's that concept of a small efficient and mobile home that drives the vanning subculture today. Inside the back of a van, everything is usually installed, arranged and maintained by the person who occupies it. Everything makes sense and can be dealt with in a way that most people can't apply to large complex home. Above it all is the sense of freedom. To be able to drive anywhere and always have your little home right behind you. The freedom to explore at will without having to worry about where you would sleep that night. It's a lifestyle of simplicity and self sufficiency that provides more security than many people could ever fathom. John Steinbeck wrote in Travels with Charley of his camping truck, saying that he was "a kind of casual turtle, carrying his house on his back." That line always stuck with me and I am currently on my 5Th van named "The Casual Turtle 5".
The internet has lead me to know of others out there who share this philosophy and embrace this lifestyle either full time or part time. This blog is my attempt to join in and become an active part of this online community of van dwellers. To share what I have learned and to learn what others have to share with me on the subject. To stoke the embers of a passion that more than any other in my life has defined who I am.
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