So, yeah, we bought a van. And just like that, our lives instantly became more complicated.

WHY did we buy a VAN??!?  That seems to be the hot question of the day.  As soon as we posted a pic on Instagram, I started getting comments and messages.  And let me tell ya, those comments on Facebook are still cracking me up.  I love our friends.  So here we go – here’s why we bought the van.

We are not independently wealthy.  We are not trust fund babies.  Our life on this little sailboat is based on staying within what most would consider a meager budget ($1000/month).  What does that have to do with anything?  Well, we’d like to increase our meager budget a bit.  And to do that, we need a 3rd rental property.  Or maybe a flip…

Shortly after we changed our plans from sailing to the DR or PR from the Bahamas, we decided to add a little extra moolah to the Adventure Fund.  If we were heading back to the States anyway, we should make the most of it. Our current budget is based on us living on a portion of what we make in rent from our 2 rental homes in Savannah.  Yes, we still strive to spend LESS than we make.  That is how we got into this crazy life in the first place.  I know it’s not typical American culture, but we dig it.  However, that means if we want to spend more each month, we need to make more each month.  And we’re not quite ready to pick up jobs as we travel.

That brings me back to Creepy Van.  Mark found a smoking deal, here in the Keys, on one of the styles of van we had previously discussed purchasing.  If we’re going to remodel a rental (trust me, our budget dictates LOADS of sweat equity) we need a vehicle.  We sold both of ours in Sept 2016 – just before we headed to the Bahamas.  Even if we’d kept our cars and paid for storage and insurance, they weren’t suited for remodel (hello, 2 seater!)  And if we’re going to buy something, it needs to be multi-purpose.  Enter Creepy Van.  We picked her up last week, after sailing down to Lower Matecumbe from Key Largo.  We immediately had to A: purchase insurance B: figure out what to do with her while we continue to sail thru the Keys C: decide what to do with Luna Sea while we did that mystery storage something with Creep Van.

Finally we decided to move on down to Marathon for a week.  There’s a mooring field here at Boot Key that is relatively inexpensive, convenient, safe and well protected.  I drove CV down, and Mark logged his first ever single handed sail.   I stayed with LunaSea and the dogs, while Mark drove CV up to Savannah. He had to stay a couple of days in order to get her squared away, registered in GA, etc.  Bouncing around on the ball in Marathon allowed me time to do projects I’ve been procrastinating (theoretically.) He arranged a ride with a friend back down to Marathon.  And soon we will be free to sail south to Key West and the Dry Tortugas!

But the ties to land sure feel like they are creeping back in.  The insurance, a place to store the van, a potential van face lift, and all of the small things that go along with owning “things” again add up quickly.  We’ll see how it goes.  Creepy Van will get a bare bones make over in order to do a potential road trip this hurricane season.  Then we will decide if we keep her (and give her a better conversion down the road) or if we sell her and put the money back in the Adventure Fund.

Who knows? Every day is an adventure around here!

About Author

Jennifer

Artist, food nerd, SUP/yoga enthusiast and travel obsessed blogger – chronicling the process of going from land to sea. Selling all of her worldly possessions so that she can set sail into the sunset with her husband and two dachshunds – searching for that next sunrise paddle. Follow along. It’ll be fun 🙂

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