simply.

thankful for this amazing life.

perfect day.

A Sunday evening on Maui calls for little beach! We drove down to big beach yesterday so ian could get some waves with this swell that's coming through. I worked hard on my tan and just enjoyed the waves, the hot sand and getting to just relax. Ian and I played in the biggest waves I've ever even seen before, diving under them or waiting till they crash right over your head. So much fun.

Around 6 we started walking to little beach, the clothing optional beach. We both decided to opt in on the clothing part. On Sundays its a huge hippy party with a drum circle, with naked hippies and fire dancing during the sunset. Its probably one of my favorite places; open minded people playing happy music, happily dancing, being carefree and enjoying the sunset and natural beauty of Maui. Its an experience, but a fun one every time.

Our night ended with finding a beach shower for me to remove some unwanted sand after a huge wave decided to wrestle with me. Found one that was kinda in the shadows so I grabbed my bar of soap and a towel. Ian came 'for protection' because there was a kinda creepy-ish man somewhat close to the showers. I obviously stayed in my suit, washed off and then we chilled on the park bench. We joked around about my next blog being about my first public shower with the weird man who just happened to leave to a different table (closer to the van) as soon as the lights turned off 10 minutes after my shower. Weird.

We did some organizing, threw the trash away then as I was walking back to the van the man goes "Hey tell your boyfriend you guys are doing Maui right. You guys have it made" Now he was blog worthy.

We couldnt help but smile.

Yes, we do have it made with our situation and our minds.

And I am beyond thankful I get to share this with my best friend and lover.

createlove.

vanagon work day.

Our day started off waking up on the most peaceful private beach and a huge rainbow, I should have known better and got a picture of it, i will next time though. We had a vanagon workday with our friend Elie who has a 84 vanagon. Got our baby a tune up and finally got out box of shit(excess clothes, books we dont need right now and just other random stuff) that is not necessary to have in the van in a storage place, thanks elie! Got the van purrrrrin and running great!!!

ian is now at work and im spending the evening at the laundry mat.
createlove.

our first little confrontation.

So back around day 4 of having a mobile house we went up to Honokawai to go paddle boarding. We parked at a grocery store around 11am, walked across the street to the beach and found the little spot with the boards. It was really windy so paddling against the wind was pretty tough. After maybe 20 minutes we decided to come back on a less windy day. So we chilled for a couple minutes and then went back to our car and bought lunch at the grocery store and ate in the van.

After we ate we were trying to decide which beach to go to. That's when the security officer, who obviously takes his job too seriously, came up to us. It was maybe a little after noon so we'd been parked there a bit over an hour.

He stuck his head through our back window and said, "There's no overnight parking here." Ian and I just looked at eachother kinda confused and the security man repeated himself. We told him we got lunch at the store and were leaving to go to the beach. He reminded us again, no overnight parking. Then left. After he left we were kinda confused. It was noon; even if we were going to park overnight in a parkinglot while we camp on a beach, we're smart enough to come back after dark, dummy.

That was the first and only time we had anyone say anything to us, so far.

createlove.

day 23.

Just a couple random thoughts after night 22...
Organization is key living in such a small space.  Something we didn't really think about before moving in. At first it was chaos every day looking for something, especially at night when we'd misplace the flashlight. Everything now pretty much has a place, work clothes with work clothes, toiletries all in 1 place, little things we use every day in a little plastic container, food in one spot and so on. I was never super organized before, so the van is forcing me to work on my life skills.
Luckily we both work a lot, and our jobs have bathrooms. But its a whole planning process, ok, were going back to the van I need to stop at a bathroom while I have one. Maybe this is too much for a second post but at 22 days in a van, I've popped some squatts and cut the top off some water jugs. I appreciate EVERY toilet a lot more now than I ever did, even the mcdonalds toilet. Showers are taken at the house i babysit, luckily. But theres always the option to go to the camp ground or use a beach shower after sunset with not many people around and a bar of soap. Christmas list, my own pack of seat covers and a go girl. For real though.
Electronics. During the week I can charge everything up at the house I nanny at. By sunday my phone needs charged, just enough to get through the day just in case i need it. So sitting at Starbucks a norm. I've learned the earlier the better. Its almost like a game, beating the bums to the comfy chair by the outlet. This last Sunday we noticed some other guys charging their electronics. We briefly started talking one guy was from Modesto, other New York they live on the beach we camped on when we first got to Maui because they want to save money and live simply. then the question came up, "you guys car it?" all I could do was laugh, no one we haven't told knows, and it was the first time being questioned. So I replied yep! Then he goes on to say he thought so because he recognized my curly hair and saw me charging my stuff at the other Starbucks.
Hahahaha.


Off to the beach,
createlove.

The Story

Hello all! I'm Brittney and I live in a van on Maui with my boyfriend Ian. I am not a writer or even good at spelling for that matter. These are my thoughts and stories as they come and this is my venue to share them.

We're just 2 average kids in our early 20's seeking some adventure. We lived in a small town most of our lives but ultimately we found ourselves stuck in our hometown. We were re-introduced several months ago, fell in love and started planning a get away. We easily decided on Maui because I already had some job connections, not to mention the beauty and beach life Maui has to offer. We started planning, booked our flights, put in our 2 weeks notice (at jobs that had promised promotions) and started packing.

We moved into a friend's perfectly located 1 bed 1 bath ohana(back house) but since they use it as a vacation rental it was just for 1 month. Next thing we knew we had 5 days to move out. I got a job being a nanny for the cutest toe-head 18 month little boy. Ian is working at a surf/skate clothing store and a really nice seafood and pizza place.

We couldn't find anything we liked in Lahaina within our price range so we started joking about living in a van. But it got us kinda excited for some adventure! We continued to look for a place that wouldn't compromise showers, cooking, downsizing our wardrobes (again) and our own bathroom but nothing else was coming up that wouldn't result in us dropping 2 grand on rent and a deposit for a place that wasn't a perfect setup. The van idea started to sound good.

We had both wanted a WV vanagon since we were kids, so the blue, teal and orange striped beauty on Craigslist grabbed our attention. The story went like this: Owner asking $2400. I test drove it. Loved it (and the included bed and dresser). Offered him $1700. He accepted and papers were signed.

So, why we decided on the van...

1. No Rent. If we do decide on a house we will have the money saved (and still have the van).

2. Living a simpler life. Ridding ourselves of the extras that we take for granted. 

3. To eat better. There's so many benefits to raw food and now we have no oven, fridge or even microwave so it pretty much forces us to shop daily and eat fruits and veggies. 

4. Take advantage of Maui. We don't coop ourselves up in the van, we enjoy our new home.

5. For a story. We want to tell our kids someday that we lived in a van and because of it  were able to save money and travel the world.

6. This life is for fun. We want to work to live instead of living to work. 

7. Saving Money. Our biggest reason of all.

I hope you keep up on our adventures, daily life, learning to live in a van and whatever else comes to mind the next time im on the beach listening to the waves and decide to share another story.

createlove.