Folksblogen

Folks Blogging from their Volkswagen

Hymer ready for the open road

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We received a Hymer pun challenge from our friend Patrick!

Most of us in North America are raised to follow the same recipe for life: get an education followed by a good job, buy a home, get married, raise children, work until retirement at 65 taking regular vacations. We weren’t really any different than this except that being self-employed we didn’t think we’d ever really retire.

We’ve never been big at planning. Change happened organically every five years or so since we started working together in 1990. When we sold our home and printing equipment in Toronto in 2014 we couldn’t have foreseen the trajectory our life would take: living largely (punctuated by stints with friends and family and Airbnb rentals) full-time in an old VW campervan for three years and part-time for one year; buying and renovating a small co-op apartment in Toronto and then selling it a year later; inheriting Julie’s dad’s dog, MacDuff; choosing to move back into a van and then deciding to upgrade to something more comfortable; stumbling upon an apartment in Julie’s hometown and deciding to rent it on the spot. Ask us where we’ll be five years from now or one and you’ll hear crickets. When we rented the apartment in Amherstburg the owner told us they weren’t really lease people and asked if that was okay. We both replied, ‘absolutely.’ There’s comfort for us in knowing we can make a change at any time. And renting is perfect for us right now. We find ourselves wondering if we’ll ever own a (non-rolling) home again. Maybe we’ll try renting in different places every couple of years. Anything is possible!

After selling the apartment in Toronto on July 26thand making way too many commitments we began driving long, un-air-conditioned distances in record-breaking temperatures for a solid month.  We darted from destination to destination in extreme discomfort while dealing with a single ongoing and seemingly impossible to diagnose mechanical problem with the van. We were towed twice, grateful both times for CAA+ coverage. In four plus years in the van we were never so hot or so frustrated. This ultimately lead us to purchasing a new, more comfortable, bathroom-equipped and air-conditioned van with a six-year transferrable warranty – the 2018 Hymer Aktiv. We had actually been researching van upgrades for about a year, however, August in Ontario provided us with the motivation to act on our desire for a more comfortable vehicle particularly since it would be our full-time home, studio, kennel for the foreseeable future.

Just after purchasing our new home-on-wheels we stumbled upon a beautiful apartment, smack dab in the centre of the river front park in the town of Amherstburg. This is the town in which Julie was raised and where her dad still lives. We’ve been spending more and more time here these past few years supporting Bill as his Alzheimer’s Disease progresses, so the apartment seemed like a great solution, for now. It will allow us to continue to travel and live in our new van and while stationary provide comfortable support for Julie’s dad. It’s large enough to accommodate house-guests including Julie’s siblings when they visit Bill and we have a dedicated office/studio space which is something we haven’t had since selling the house and studio in 2014. Sometimes things just feel right. We have learned to trust those gut instincts. The apartment is on the second story of the old town newspaper building, the Amherstburg Echo. It’s kind of neat to be living in a building that was once a printing office given our own printing career. When Julie was 10 years old she skated her first solo in the ‘Our Town’ ice show. Her title was ‘Little Miss Echo.’ These kind of coincidences always bolster our decision making.

We have yet to decide if we’ll sell the Volkswagen. We are currently contemplating potential businesses. Plus, it’s still mighty fun to drive. If you have a hankering to travel in a super sweet VW and want to buy one that has been lovingly maintained and restored give us a shout. It’s got a lot of life left in it.

Here’s why we bought the Hymer:

  • it has a three-piece bathroom with a cassette toilet, sink, shower and amazing two-way fan (we have yet to test the shower!)
  • a great kitchen which includes a sink with hot and cold running water, AC/DC bar fridge with a freezer compartment, two burner propane cooktop and lots of pantry storage (we love being able to wash our fruits and vegetables and our dishes in the van)
  • air-conditioning and heating in the cab and in the living area (having AC means we can carry on a conversation or answer the phone while driving)
  • 250 watts of solar on the roof (constantly charging)
  • 400 amp hours lithium battery (charges while we drive and by solar while stationary)
  • the solar and lithium battery will allow us to camp off-grid and enable us to charge all of our devices
  • fresh and gray water holding tanks
  • lots of electrical and USB outlets
  • a comfortable full-size murphy bed with an actual mattress (feels like a king size compared to the VW)
  • table seating for four
  • front swivel seats (a bit of a workout to get them to swivel but we can use it)
  • blinds and screens in all the windows and retractable screens in the side and rear doors (keeps the bugs out and the breeze coming in from all directions)
  • built in sunshade in front window plus magnetic window covers for the front three windows
  • LED lighting throughout
  • An electronic awning with LED porch light which we would never leave on all night! Best thing about it is that the lighting is on the inside of the awning so illuminates where it is needed
  • Bonus features: an LED television, microwave and Sony GPS/DVD player/radio, cable hookup, spare tire, cup holders galore

This van is a VERY comfortable space in which we are able to work, cook, live and move around in all kinds of weather. This is not something we can really say about our beloved Volkswagen.

The thing we were looking forward to most of all was a maintenance-free vehicle. But, let’s be real… is there really such a thing? Regardless of age! Since picking it up the battery has been replaced and the tire pressure adjusted. As of this morning we now have heat in the cab! On the 30thHymer is going to have a look at a moisture issue in the cassette holding area and a malfunctioning back up camera. It is fortunately all covered by the extended warranties but we seriously hope that’s it for maintenance for the next little while. Funny thing is that the dealership where we bought it kept it for two weeks to allow for enough time to thoroughly test the vehicle and, ‘make sure it was perfect.’ Makes us wonder what testing was actually done or their definition of perfect.

In the meantime we moved all of our belongings out of storage (yay!!) and into the apartment. One thing we’ve learned in the past few years is how to get comfortable in a place fast. We could be somewhere for a few days, a week or a couple of months and we can feel ‘at home’ from the get-go. We are surprised just how ‘at home’ we feel in this apartment. We’re enjoying everything about it including our office, the kitchen, which is perfect for entertaining family and friends (old and new), the ensuite laundry (oh how we’ve missed that), the living room complete with a sofa and just having space in which to spread out. We continue to support Bill and attend to his health, take him to appointments, manage his care, finances and insurance issues, etc. And, of course, the warranty issues on our brand new van. Life. We sure are looking forward to hitting the open road and experiencing some new peaks, valleys and switchbacks before too long.

A Tour of the Apartment:

Zen and the Art of Vanagon Maintenance

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“One day someone will fall in love with you despite all your flaws! Then magic will happen in your life!” ― Avijeet Das

Not unlike a bricks and mortar home, a home-on-wheels requires regular maintenance. When you own a home there is always something to be done … from replacing batteries in smoke detectors to a new roof or furnace. Depending on the age of the home you might have to replace old wiring and plumbing. If you’re lucky the list includes primarily cosmetic changes. And so, with a 28-year-old vehicle you can certainly expect not only regular maintenance but also replacement of key components of the machine. And if you have an aesthetic bone in your body you will want to also make some cosmetic changes too.

Looking at the underbelly of the Vanagon with mechanic, Chris Melo.

When we bought our then twenty-four-year-old Volkswagen campervan four years ago we had a few minor maintenance issues taken care of before we hit the road. We also made cosmetic changes like new curtains and a new linoleum floor and added some storage solutions like baskets, a roof rack and Thule box.

It wasn’t until two months later when we reached the northern tip of Newfoundland that we had our first breakdown. It wasn’t that it was major – it was just a water pump. The hitch was that we were in a remote part of Canada where it took a week to receive the replacement water pump. In the end it was an incredible place to spend a week. We met awesome people – locals and travellers – some with whom we are still in touch. If you are not on a schedule, and we were not, breakdowns can be a blessing. For one thing you may end up exploring a place you had only meant to pass through quickly. And the memories of your time there may end up becoming some of your favourites. This first breakdown definitely set the tone for future breakdowns.

This breakdown / maintenance formula has worked well for us as we’ve travelled from coast to coast in Canada and the USA and into Mexico in our van:

  1. We have used two websites to help us find Vanagon mechanics all over North America: Vanagon Rescue Squad and Road Haus. These resources have been super helpful. We’ve also referenced forums on the The Samba and available articles and video on the GoWesty site.
  2. Remain calm. Don’t stress over the time it might take to receive a part or how long the repair will take.
  3. Trust those willing to help you. And be grateful! But also be informed yourself. Research, research, research.
  4. Make the most of being in the place in which you are ‘stranded.’
  5. Try not to make plans. Be flexible. Adapt.
  6. Use the experience as a learning opportunity.
  7. Trust your intuition. Learn to know the sounds your van makes and when they change you will recognize there is a potential problem.

We half jokingly say that we have replaced almost all of the parts in this Volkswagen van. In truth we have replaced a good number and some of them more than once.

“Gumption is the psychic gasoline that keeps the whole thing going.”― Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

We have visited mechanics all over Canada and the USA. We do have our favourites! One of the challenging issues of dealing with maintenance and breakdowns when you are living and travelling around the continent in your home-on-wheels is the lack of continuity in mechanical care. Sometimes we wish we could visit a favourite mechanic in Sarasota or San Diego but the distance is too great and the issue at hand needs a mechanic that is far closer and immediate.

We know this van so well now. We know every sound and smell intimately. It has, after all, been our home for the past four years. We’ve loved it despite it’s weaknesses and sometimes because of them. Just because something is old you don’t necessarily discard it. You cherish it, treat it with respect, love it. It is, after all, in many ways no different than we are…. aging, tired sometimes, parts are wearing and in need of a break. We have pushed this old van to many corners of this continent and for the most part it has been uncomplaining and we are so grateful. We have after all experienced magic these past four years. Thank you Van Morrison and Gibb!

Sea of Cortez, Mexico.

Our journey toward home

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Our endless and impossible journey toward home is in fact our home.

—David Foster Wallace

Hiking through the Andes in Peru with Apus Peru, 2013

A dream, however uncertain it may be, deserves to be fulfilled. And so we explore, observe and document, learn and interpret, invent. Travel is just one way we fulfill our dreams. Of course, it sparks more dreams too!

This is a maquette of a project we envision recreating life size: Nature Seeker by Brave New Wild.

We have not been travelling for the past two months. Not unless you include visits to Julie’s dad in Amherstburg, our son in Guelph or our friends near Collingwood.

We are living (while trying to make it look as though we are not) in Toronto, in the apartment that we are trying to sell which we constantly stage for a stream of strangers who make appointments to look through our apartment while we aren’t here. When not vacating the apartment it is our workplace. We are spending time with friends and family.

Christian in our apartment (for sale) on Bloor St W in Toronto.

We’re dealing with a host of mechanical problems on the van and getting it ready for our next foray into the unknown.

Add to that, a bunch of boring tasks like visits to the dentist and doctor and filing our taxes; not so boring birthday celebrations; and something we’ve become unintentionally good at… moving from one house to another – this time, son, Elia and his wife, Margot, moved and we helped.

Recently we were included in an article in Toronto Life Magazine’s May issue about Torontonians who sold up (or moved out of their parent’s homes) and moved into vans.

We’re anxious for this apartment to sell (fingers crossed it is soon!) though we don’t know what we are going to do when it does. Have you ever felt trapped or cornered? That is how we feel these days. Plus frustrated and impatient. We are ready to move on and start fresh again. Ideally in a place we love! So….we are dreaming, planning and scheming various options. Ideally we’d buy a small house somewhere in southwestern Ontario (not too far from those we love in Toronto, Guelph or Windsor) with a little yard for us and MacDuff. Not just anywhere. It must have a vibrant, creative community! We have not found our utopia yet. We have been looking at houses and lots in Prince Edward County, Collingwood and Grey County, Windsor and Essex County and one of Toronto’s latest ‘suburbs,’ Hamilton, and …. NOTHING appeals to us. This is absolutely déjà vu! We have looked at pre-fabs, Airstreams, tiny houses and are even considering moving out of the Volkswagen and into some sort of van conversion that is suitable for four seasons and includes a workspace and a bathroom. The van conversion plan would have us downsizing to practically nothing. We’re close to that now. The problem with that is that we don’t envision it as a long-term solution. That said, we didn’t envision living out of the Volkswagen for more than six months to a year! We feel like it could work for us for the next few years but it wouldn’t be an investment like real estate.

We’re struggling with these decisions because we want to be able to afford a future filled with travel, creativity and (fingers crossed) good health and not be property poor which was the situation when we last owned a home. This was our goal last year too, when we bought this apartment. We thought we had found a solution that would work for a while anyway, a longer while than a year! Looking back on the last five years we sometimes can’t fathom just how much we have seen, learned and experienced. We’d like to continue on that path but a home base, landing pad, crash pad – whatever you want to call it – also appeals. A place we can work from, receive mail, entertain, enjoy community. Of course, in an ideal world this home base would be in Corsica! However, it always comes back to proximity to family and friends. So, this is your invitation! Let’s all move to Corsica! We are ready.

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A Love Letter to Florida:

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Dear Florida,

You are our sunshine but so much more. We appreciate your fresh squeezed welcome and look forward to those first sips of orange or grapefruit upon crossing the state line. We want to scream out the open windows of our bright green van – hello palm trees and Florida orange groves, live oaks dripping with spanish moss and air plants, hello – we are so very happy to see you again!

We understand the moniker, Snow Bird, now, more than ever. Leaving the clutches of winter for your warm embrace is the truest elixir of Ponce de Leon’s fountain of youth. Come November you are our north, our south, our east and our west. We love exploring your entirety.

Every beach, hammock, prairie, trail, spring, lake, glade, barrier island and dune. We love your vegetation, your tides, your salty waves that knock us flat and make us laugh like we are five years old, your sunrises and sunsets.

Your wildlife surprises and delights us; an Armadillo scratching around underfoot looking for nourishment as though we are not even there; a Gopher Turtle lazily moving along as though it doesn’t have a care in the world, oblivious to we humans; banks of rivers lined in sunbathing alligators charging their solar panels for hours on end; birds, so many birds – seagulls, hawks, woodpeckers, eagles, buntings, robins, geese, cranes, egrets, pelicans – we watch and listen and marvel.

We will never tire of your salty ocean air, the sound of crashing waves, dolphins frolicking, sharks in hungry pursuit of a school of fish, frenetic shore birds on the beach or graceful pelicans soaring in formation, barely skimming the water.

We can think of no better way to start a day than bearing witness to your sunrise and regularly pull up front row seats to watch the sun falling into the horizon and the magic that follows after it has set. Your dark star-filled skies are the perfect bedtime story night after night.

We love your state parks which you’ve branded ‘The Real Florida’ – the before it was bulldozed and overdeveloped Florida; those natural habitats which draw wildlife and humans alike in search of beauty and quiet. Thank you for protecting and preserving the real Florida and for creating safe havens for vulnerable wildlife such as Loggerhead Turtles and those gentle giants, the Manatees. Through your parks we have discovered vestiges of old Florida, nooks, crannies, glorious expanses of wet and dry prairie, choruses of frogs singing all night long.

We love learning about your history, about the original people who called this place home before it was ever known as Florida, but also after the Spanish invaded their land, about those brave homesteaders and cowboys, about the earliest hearty settlers and yes, even the dreamers and visionaries and capitalists like Henry Flagler and Bertha Honoré Palmer.

We recently discovered the writings of a small town editor named Ernest Lyons. Ernest was born and raised in the St. Lucie River area. We devoured his remembrances, accounts and observations of a place he truly loved and called home for his whole life. He inspired us to appreciate Florida using all of our senses. He wrote of a time before pollution, bulldozers, dams or industrial farming yet acknowledged that ‘life is a changing river.’

Ernest Lyons said, ‘we need wild places to cure humanity’s obsession with self-importance. There must be wilderness set aside and available where people can get away from people and take the cure that nature provides. Nature produces humility, awe and wonder. Contemplation in beautiful wild places gives one a feeling of kinship with all other living creatures, impels appreciation and gratitude to the creator and self-importance vanishes. Quiet time in wild places restores a proper sense of values.’ We couldn’t agree more.

It wasn’t love at first sight. It was a very long, sometimes bumpy, courtship. We keep trying to figure out the exact moment we fell in love with you. It could have been the first time we laid eyes on the oh-so-beautiful beach at Bahia Honda or watching the sunrise at the last remaining tract of dry prairie in the centre of the state or gliding across the wet prairie in Big Cypress or even the first time we gazed out over the endless canopy of tree tops at Myakka River State Park.

We love your nature but your culture captured our creative hearts. We’re smitten with the Ringling Museum in Sarasota; with Vizcaya, the Wolfsonian and Wynwood Walls in Miami and the Salvador Dali in St. Petersburg.

Florida, we love you. We love you from the Emerald Coast to Little Talbot Island, from the Suwannee River to Big Pine Key. We love you from Fort de Soto to Myakka River to the Jupiter Dunes, from Kissimmee Prairie to Blue Spring, from the Sanibel Island to Highlands Hammock and back down to the Everglades.

You will remain in our dreams and in our hearts until we meet again.

All our love,

Julie and Christian (and MacDuff)

 

 

It’s a (snow) dog’s life!

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My name is MacDuff. I am a wired-hair fox terrier. Some wisecrackers have referred to me as a fox terrorist. I get where they’re coming from but really?! Yeah, I love to or more accurately ‘live to’ chase squirrels, raccoons, possums, (hold your nose) skunks, chipmunks, armadillos and even some … ahem…. endangered animals like gopher turtles. Okay, so you’re probably thinking they aren’t too far off. But I digress. Up until two years ago I lived a ‘normal,’ comfy life. My best friend, Bill, would line up about ten different, delicious snacks (junk food to some but breakfast of champions to me) on a bench in the front hall while I ran around the back yard checking for evidence of intruders that dared to enter my domain whilst (my ancestry is British) I slept. And of course, I did my morning ‘business’ for which I have always received praise — what can I say, humans are weird. Bill would drive me to this park along the town’s waterfront ostensibly for a walk but really we would stand around while he gabbed with every Tom, Dick and Harry. We spent a lot of time together in the backyard during spring, summer and fall since Bill loved to ‘garden.’ Each month we would drive (I was the co-pilot) to Toronto to visit his kids and grandkids. I don’t mean to brag but I was always something of a celebrity there. People in the Roncesvalles neighbourhood would fawn over me in the most embarrassing ways. Everyone knew my name. My favourite memory of that neighbourhood was that it smelled of polish sausage. To this day I dream about that glorious smell. Bottom line: I loved my life.

Then gradually things began to change. Bill would forget to let me outside and feed me the requisite number of treats. The smoke alarm went off so much I considered pulling a Van Gogh on both of my ears. Bill’s sense of direction was diminishing. Eventually Bill’s kids moved the two of us into a retirement home. Our new apartment was in the locked Memory Care section of the retirement home. For two years I was on a leash more than not. The kind old folks loved me and fed me all kinds of delicious crap. Even a dog knows that lack of exercise and junk food is a bad combination and I got sick, very sick.

Enter Bill’s daughter and son-in-law, Julie and Christian. These two are credited with nursing me back to health. I am now on what they call a prescription diet and typically walk about 10km a day. There is one problem, they’d moved into a newly renovated condo in Toronto in June which (drum roll, please) … does not allow dogs! What. Were. They. Thinking?

Lucky for me, instead of ditching the dog (that would be me) they put the apartment on the market for sale and the three of us took off in their Volkswagen Campervan at the beginning of December in search of sunnier skies and warmer weather. Humans call those who head south to avoid winter snowbirds. Well now you can call me a snowdog! I’m a convert.

We spent three months wandering around the state of Florida. I smelled things I never thought I’d smell. I chased animals I had never before seen. I peed all over the dang state from north to south and east to west, on beaches, in hammocks, on trails, roads, sidewalks, grassy lawns, fire hydrants, fences, rocks, you name it I peed on it.

Julie and Christian scouted out every dog-friendly beach, trail, park and restaurant. That’s just the way they are… In all we camped in 20 parks, some twice. My favourite spots in the sunshine state included:

Fort de Soto over on the Gulf side, south of St. Pete’s. It had a campground just for folks travelling with dogs! Very civilized. Plus it had the largest fenced in dog runs I have ever encountered and a dog beach!

The causeway beach on the way to Sanibel Island. J+C drove the van right onto the beach and we set up camp, swam and ate a leisurely lunch while watching paddle boarders, fishers and dolphins playing in the bay. Oh, who am I kidding… I wolf down this new food. It’s like crack. I seriously can’t eat it fast enough.

Oscar Scherer State Park in Nokomis. You’re not going to like this but we had an oblivious Gopher Turtle hanging out in our campsite. Unfortunately J+C locked me in the van like some convict and helped the intruding tortoise move (slow as molasses, I might add) to a location out of my reach.

Highlands Hammock State Park near Sebring. I came ‘this close’ to nabbing an armadillo. Again, J+C locked me in that blasted van to protect that blind shell of an animal. I didn’t let them forget what they had done though. I whined for hours. It drove them crazy! Hehehehe

Myakka River State Park near Sarasota and Venice. J+C loved this place! We walked and walked and walked and walked. One day we walked 17km. They took me to the top of the tower at the Canopy Walk and all these humans oohed and awed saying their dogs would never agree to climb high above the canopy of trees. Believe me I developed a very unflattering mental picture of those wimpy canines. We even took a selfie on one of the many trails with some alligators which were a dime a dozen along the Myakka River. Oh and I almost forgot… I came ‘this close’ to nabbing another armadillo. Those humans’ interference on that one still makes my blood boil.

Tomoka State Park near Daytona. This was the third park we met up with this cheesy couple (wink, wink) from Wisconsin named Jeanne and Jay and their two identical Westies, Arny and Joey. The humans had a difficult time telling one from the other but not me with my super powered sense of smell. I could tell those two boys apart from 100 miles away. It took three parks and countless glasses of wine before they finally invited me into their 1962 Shasta. They had to drag me kicking and screaming out of that comfy trailer. Those boys have a mighty nice assortment of toys and a sweet gig in a rig.

By far my favourite memories were made in a bungalow in Jupiter. J+C rented me a house for a month. I had my own yard once again, chased squirrels morning, noon and night. I had my pick of comfy spots in which to nap, sleep, hold court. I ate like a king. THIS was my happy place. And to top it off my favourite human, Bill, came to stay with me for two weeks. Jupiter has some of the most beautiful ‘dog friendly’ beaches I have ever seen. J+C even let me off leash. I ran with other dogs, I dodged waves, I dug holes for hours. Take me back! While Jupiter-based we visited Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Riverbend Park, Frenchman Forest (dogs aren’t technically allowed but everyone and their human goes there), Jupiter Dunes, House of Refuge on Hutchinson Island and McArthur State Park to name a few. We even made a day trip to Miami. That’s a city with some smells I can wrap my nose around. Plenty of photo ops at Wynwood Walls too. I was posing like a supermodel. My only beef was that I was turned away at the gate to Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, even with my status as an Emotional Support Animal. That left a bad taste and Bill was not best pleased.

J+C don’t often stay at KOAs but they decided to stay at a beautiful one on Lake Whipporwill in Orlando simply because it was next to the golf community where Jakob is spending the winter. Jakob is their nephew, Bill’s grandson and president of the MacDuff fan club (he uses a photo of moi as his avatar on Instagram). He’s apparently got a talent for hitting balls with a long stick. Frankly, I think they are overlooking the talents I have when it comes to balls and sticks. Anyway, there’s a sweet dog run there that I made good use of on two separate stays.

After three months on the road I can safely say this dog’s well suited to vanlife. I can ride in comfort with a view in any direction. We spent most of our time outside on the trails, beaches, in State Park campgrounds. Plus I have a 360 degree view of approaching intruders. Every day promises new smells and new places to leave my mark. All that’s missing is a Queen size bed and my other human, Bill. Hint, hint J+C!!

What’s better than sharing a meal?

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We can’t think of anything.

When I (Julie) think of family this is the picture that comes to mind… everyone gathered around a table with plenty of delicious food……in this photo there also seems to be more than plenty of spirits!!

 

Are sunday night dinners the same as they were when you were a kid? Were they meaningful for your family? Are they a significant part of your weekend now? What do you eat on sunday nights? For host of the Sunday Night Dinner Podcast, Suzanne Hancock, her dinners while growing up included popcorn and ice cream which would seem like a dream to most kids.

Christian cooking over a wood fire at Picacho Peaks in Arizona on New Year’s Day 2015.

Note: Looking at these photos one might think Christian does all of the cooking!  The truth is that one of us seems to be able to cook and take photos! :))) Also! We travel with our favourite cookware: All Clad plus a Cast Iron Frying Pan.

When Suzanne asked us to be guests on her podcast we immediately thought of cooking over an open fire to share with her how we approach cooking and eating while travelling and living in the van. We don’t often cook over an open fire but when we do it is special. We had camped at the Glen Rouge back in June when our friends Jess, Andy and Braden were camping there. So we decided the Rouge would be a perfect location for the podcast. Our site happily overlooked the Rouge River on what ended up being two of the warmest days of the summer. Luckily there was a lovely breeze along the river and a canopy of trees which shaded the campsite.

While preparing, cooking and eating Suzanne asked us lots of questions about Sunday night dinners on the road and about dinners with our families while growing up. We also talked about our experiences working on the Canadian Chefs’ Congress from 2007 to 2014 and how it influenced our relationship to food. The experience of travelling on the Congress bus – a converted school bus with a professional kitchen and dining room turned bunks for eight by night – from Ontario to Nova Scotia and back in September 2012 was, in retrospect, the precursor to vanlife.

Have a listen. Not just to our podcast but to all of them especially the one where our friend, Chef Michael Dixon, makes classic French Onion Soup. But seriously, listen to ours first. 😉 Here’s the link: http://sundaynightdinnerpodcast.com

Thank you Suzanne for sharing Sunday night dinner with us on a Monday afternoon!

Saint of a River

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I choose to listen to the river awhile, thinking river thoughts, before joining the night and the stars. — Edward Abbey

We left Toronto at the end of July bound for Québec with Nova Scotia in our sights. We didn’t make it to Nova Scotia. We followed the south shore of the Fleuve St-Laurent to the Bas-St-Laurent to the Golfe du St-Laurent all the way to the Gaspé before crossing over to the Côte du Nord where it became the Route des Baleines (the Whale Route) at Les Escoumins (an Inuu settlement dating back 9,000 years). We followed the St. Lawrence all the way back to Lake Ontario never veering too far inland and always camping as close to the water’s edge as possible.

We know how we feel in proximity to the ocean. Now there is scientific evidence that proves that even just a view of the ocean can boost a person’s mental health. Dr. Wallace J. Nichols explained in a Ted Talk that water holds vast cognitive, emotional, psychological and social benefits. “Nature is medicine – a walk on the beach; a surfing session; a stroll through the woods heals us. It fixes what is broken inside of us. Nature can reduce our stress, it can make us more creative and bring us together.”

We spent hours trying to describe in words, the smells, colors and feel of the river, particularly once it became tidal, beyond Québec City. The ocean and the tides feel and smell like home to us, like a cleansing breath, the Fleuve St-Laurent lifted our moods and filled our heads with creative energy. An endorphin shot that had us hungry for more.

Our route was not planned. When we travelled through the Gaspé three years ago we concentrated on Forillon National Park and Percé Rock. We visited neither this time round. We did, however, return to two campgrounds which we loved just as much this time, both, of course, overlooking the St-Laurent.

What did we do and love this time?

Farm Stands – we feasted on the summer harvest from Saint-Mathieu-de-Beloeil to Riviere-Madeleine to La Malbaie and back to Toronto.

Ciderie St-Nicholas – we tried two kinds of cider, sparkling and crackling, and we loved them both!

Basque Cheeses and Smoked Fish – the Basque were the earliest Europeans to make their way to the St-Laurent (unfortunately to hunt whales) and left their culinary mark near Trois Pistoles on the south shore.

Signage for Laitiers and Casse-Crôutes – giant ice cream cones for the former and boxes of giant fries made using two by four pieces of lumber to represent the fries for the later. Kitsch folk art in the best way.

Le Vieux Moulin in St-Flavie – makers of everything honey. We visited without expectation and left smitten. We are not Mead lovers but their dry honey wine was a winner as was the tree sap honey…imagine sitting in the middle of a boreal forest with your eyes closed and drinking in the sweet scent of the surrounding trees.

The smoked fish dips from Atkins et Freres in Mont-Louis.

St-Fabien-sur-mer – we learned quickly to follow any sign ending in sur-mer! There we enjoyed a simple Basque lunch on the beach.

The Alpine Cottage style bath houses at the municipal campground in Trois Pistoles. Adorable!

The croissants at Pain d’Exclamation in La Malbaie! Still wondering why didn’t we stop to restock on our way west???

Campsite 19 at Camping des Érables in La Malbaie. Complete privacy in a terraced site with a perfectly stunning view of the St-Laurent.

We were invited to stay at the most perfect 100-year-old cottage in Cap d’Aigle. We watched an incredible thunder and lighting storm from the safety of the ample porch overlooking the St-Laurent. We scaled the cliff down to the shoreline and watched Minke Whales dance in the surf. We ate, drank, laughed and shared cooking, porch breakfasts, and wood fires with our generous hosts Felicity, Sarah, Robbie and Pierre.

The ferry between Trois Pistoles and Les Escoumins – we love a ferry! especially one where we can watch Beluga and Minke Whales frolicking in the river.

The Inuu run Tipi Campground at Les Escoumins – possibly the cleanest campground we have ever visited. Unfortunately there was a boiled water alert which is all too common in First Nations Communities in this country.

Parc National du Bic near Rimouski – a gorgeous marine park where we hiked, climbed rocks and enjoyed beaches that reminded us of Corsica. It was here that we first attempted to put the scent of the tidal river into words. Watching the fog roll in from our campsite in the morning was the icing on the cake.

Ask the river where it comes from? You will get no answer. Ask the river where it is going? You will get no answer because the river lives inside this very moment, neither in the past nor in the future, in this very moment only! — Mehmet Murat ildan

 

The Saguenay River – we explored too little of what might be Canada’s best kept secret. This fjord leads to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and offers views that made us think we might be in Iceland or Norway. The Côte du Nord highway breaks at Tadoussac where a ferry service commutes cars to the other side of the Saguenay. If you are lucky, as we were, you will see Beluga Whales playfully feeding while you cross the river.

Discovering the St. Lawrence Parks near Cornwall. We camped on Morrison Island (a happy accident) which is a campground within a migratory bird sanctuary on the river. We arrived, without reservations, of course, and after hours (it happens), and during a downright frightening thunderstorm. By the time we were set up in a campsite the sky cleared and the sun was shining.

We avoided major highways on this roadtrip as much as possible but as we neared Montreal we travelled briefly on Route 20. At a rest stop we encountered Interzone 3, an artist project by Mathieu Latulippe, which was part of a larger project called Truck Stop. It wasn’t until we arrived back in Toronto that we realized it comprised of 15 different roadside works between Montreal and Quebec City. Wishing we had known as we would have happily visited each one.

If you want to get a sense of just how many saints there are in this world just drive through Quebec! It would seem that the list is infinite and that Quebec has tapped this list without needing to ever repeat a name. The saints denote towns, villages, cities, streets, rivers, and lakes. Have you ever heard of Saint-Télesphore, Saint-Polycarpe or Saint-Zotique? Our favourite saint in case you’re wondering …. Lawrence, obviously.

Travelling through la belle province we became inspired and began dreaming up new projects. Roadtrips, nature, and exploration offer inspiration we wouldn’t get any other way. We’re back in Toronto with a to-do-list inspired by our time in Quebec.

Be like a river. Be open. Flow. — Julie Connor

 

Never Stop Dreaming

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Travels with Charley Julie and Christian

Towards the end of November we felt as though we were living in a Steinbeck novel, a combination of two actually, Travels with Charley and Grapes of Wrath. So many people are searching for meaning, inspiration, beauty, a simpler life, experiences instead of things, personal connections with like-minded people, work that makes them happy and fulfilled, a sense of place, an alternative to the predictable life that we have been conditioned to think we should live, you know the one. And an increasing number of folks are seeking a less sedentary, more nomadic lifestyle. That could or does describe us. We continually ask ourselves questions like what do we want, what makes us happy, where do we want to live/to go, what kind of work will excite and fulfill us, how do we achieve all or some of our goals while remaining close to family and friends. We keep asking and…. the answers keep changing.

Anyway, back to our Steinbeck experience…

Changing World.

The times they are a changin’, as Bob Dylan wrote, and it doesn’t feel good. Happily we live without a television. We are largely spared the incessant and repetitive news broadcasts. We do still get too much through social media! The United States not only feels like a different place than it did in 2014/2015 but it is a different place. All the way from Ontario to Florida and back we saw only ‘Trump Pence Make America Great Again’ signs. Huuuuuge signs. Many, many signs. We really never saw a Hillary sign, other than ‘Never Hillary’ signs. We did see signs that read, ‘Take America Back.’ We pondered, ‘back from whom? wasn’t it already taken from the Native Americans (sic)!’ People are either more guarded or much more vocal. For instance, a couple from Illinois approached us in a campground in Florida and after asking us why we were in the US when folks like them would rather be in Canada as the inauguration of the most backward and potentially damaging president in history was fast approaching. Meanwhile our neighbouring campers from Kentucky were slamming doors while eavesdropping on our conversation. Or on New Year’s Day, while we were stopped in front of a mural of Trump in Joker makeup strangling the Statue of Liberty in Miami’s Wynwood District. There we were approached by a young black American family that told us of increased racism and bigotry since the election which motivated them to move to Equador where they believe they can raise their teenager daughter in a supportive and healthy environment. We know it is not just America. The whole world is more scary and in the icy grip of a neo-con, alt-right revolution. The upside of living from our van is that we are light on our wheels and able to move on any time we wish.

The ‘Nomadic’ Lifestyle.

At one end of the spectrum there are so many retirees travelling; many living in fifth wheels and bigger; needing so much stuff, surrounded by bigger, better, more!, bikes, kayaks, scooters, televisions (indoors and outdoors), a gadget for everything, including a leaf blower to quickly and loudly move the sand off of their outdoor rugs. If they’re in a big bus they’re usually towing a full sized car. For some, this is their full time home. For others, they still have a traditional home in a city, town or village full of all of the above and more. Either way, in this scenario it is clear that folks want as many of the comforts of ‘home’ as possible!

On the other end of the spectrum are young wanderers in their 20s and 30s, recent graduates perhaps, looking for an alternative lifestyle. They may have given up a rented apartment, a tv and a few pieces of furniture and the change to vanlife didn’t require a tremendous lifestyle change. Other than their laptops, cell phones, yoga mats, hula hoops and surf boards these people live with very few possessions and opt to stealth camp as much as possible which means forgoing showers, toilets and electricity. They catch as much free wifi as they can and obviously don’t have wide screen televisions and outdoor kitchens mounted to the exterior of their campervans. We are generalizing here!

Walmart and Casino parking lots are something all of the aforementioned have in common at some point.

We probably fall somewhere in the middle of those two camps.

 

Campground observations:

Poisons.

Everywhere people are spraying poisons to kill all of the bugs and more that are part of the natural environment. They spray the vegetation, the ground on top of which they set up camp, and everything else to try to direct the irritating bugs elsewhere, wishing for a sterile, bug-free, utopian campsite straight out of the ads that we see on billboards and in our Facebook feeds. The offending fumes always blow straight towards our home on wheels.

The Campfire.

Everywhere we go people are burning wood, fallen wood, twigs, branches in the face of signage stating this action will result in a fine. Nature be damned. And the frequency in which they burn! Morning, noon and night. We have seen people light fires only to retreat into their trailers or drive off for a few hours leaving the unattended fires blazing or smoldering smokily. There simply must be a fire burning at all times, at all costs. Our favourite is the liberal use of gasoline as an accelerant – way too common!

Lights.

We have come to believe that people are afraid of the dark. They leave lights burning all night long to feel safe from nature. Much less so in National Parks and slighty less so in State Parks. Our favourite park for darkness so far was a park in the centre of Florida, Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park. This is Florida’s largest and only remaining tract of wild prairie, 54 acres. We were lucky enough to snag an Astronomy site from which to view the night sky. From this part of the park campers are not allowed lights of any kind including headlamps, cell phones, ipads and computers unless they are red lights that will not interfere with neighbouring camper’s appreciation of the stars above. Believe it or not with the light of the moon it is absolutely possible to navigate in the darkness.

The Downsized Lifestyle.

We were wondering about the retirees who sell their homes and nearly everything else to begin living from a mega bus or a fifth wheel… Do they ever regret selling everything and long to live a stationary life again. Although it should be said that many of those folks do live a stationary life for the most part – 6 months in a southerly spot for the winter and 6 months in a more northern spot for the spring, summer and fall. They don’t do a whole lot of moving around generally speaking. It seems to us that they cling to their motorized home the same way they did when they lived in a rooted home. Again, we’re generalizing.

Working from a van.

We marvel at the people that seem so very able to work and earn a livelihood from the confines of an 80 square foot van. We frankly find the conditions increasingly difficult. All the things that can be controlled from a home like temperature, insects, belongings, weather are all much more difficult from a 27-year-old van. Also each day you have to decide where you will park your home-on-wheels and you have to get there. Often it is determined by weather and sometimes it is far. In the first year or year and a half it was a challenge and exciting. We were mostly going to places we had never been. We also thought there was an end in sight to living in our home on wheels and so every moment counted. And now we’ve reached the elusive end of the tunnel.

Sunshine State of Mind.

We’ve been battling the feeling that we’ve been frittering away our time lately and we don’t like it. We continue to try to keep our costs as low as possible which for November through January meant camping, where it was both available and warm enough… Florida. That also meant spending Christmas on our own in a State Park. We knew we had to return to Toronto at the end of January to take possession of our new home base so we remained south of the border basking in the warm sun for as long as possible.

We have a funny relationship with Florida. It was the same in February 2015. From the moment we arrived we weren’t sure we wanted to be there. This time it may have had a little something to do with millions of biting no-see-ums combined with fumes from decaying rodents followed up with a chaser of bleach in the frame of our van…. We wished we were back in the west in the year 2015 – Arizona, New Mexico, California or Mexico. The turning point both times – people. For us, places are just places without human connections. We made some new friends, met up with old and older friends and spent 11 days with Julie’s dad, his dog, MacDuff, and her aunt and uncle in West Palm Beach which was super special. By the time we find ourselves leaving Florida we feel as though we are leaving home. We leave as slowly as possible, becoming more and more melancholy the further north we travel.

The future never existed and we’re hungry for it.

On February 1st (1,000 days!! since we sold our home + studio and became van based) we took possession of a one-bedroom co-op apartment across from High Park in Toronto and simultaneously moved into a basement apartment midtown while we renovate our new digs. Neither of which we would have envisioned for ourselves three years ago! However…we’re eager to feel productive, plan, earn an income, make things, to continue to build on what we started at our artist residency in September. So, we’re doin’ what we gotta do!

Upon arrival in Toronto we stopped at our storage unit to pick up some winter clothes and were faced with the fact that the real downsizing of our life has yet to begin. Our 500 square foot apartment simply won’t accommodate what we last spread throughout 3,300 square feet of house + studio, not to mention outdoor space. Simply put we will have to divest of nearly everything we have paid dearly to store these past three years. And that is daunting. Or challenging? Depends on the day. Or maybe liberating?!

Right now we are trying to navigate a renovation around the restrictive rules and regulations of an old co-op building while trying to satisfy our design sensibilities. If it were only about design it would be so easy. The old building just won’t support the modest upgrades that we envisioned and so, we are back to square two! With a whole lot of luck we hope to be able to move the stuff that will fit into our renovated apartment by April! We can hope! We do dream.

 

A Pied à Terre is in our future

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It’s been more than a month since we left Spark Box Studio in Picton and our friends Chrissy and Kyle. We promised to elaborate on our month-long residency when we last posted here… We have been pretty busy since then. We immediately moved over to Cherry Valley for a few days to chicken sit for our friends John and Lily which gave us time to return borrowed items to generous folks around the county. Special thanks goes out to Baxter Arts for lending us their super-duper video projector; to Kate Golding and Johnny Lam for lending us a video projector, 60s-era table lamps, strings of Christmas lights and macramé lawn chairs for the installation; to Alex Fida for allowing us to use the coveted Eriba Titan camper which he co-owns with Chrissy and Kyle as a projection screen and for more patio lights. And the biggest thank you of all goes out to Chrissy and Kyle who gifted us time and space which allowed us to focus, work, be inspired and imagine the future. They are two of the most creative, tireless and inspiring people we know. We are so incredibly grateful that they chose us to be the recipients of their National Residency Award and first Annual Dawson Bursary! Our biggest surprise was just how much we would enjoy cohabiting with the other residents. It was incredible to witness their various work practices and mediums. We got to know each resident, some more than others simply because we overlapped for a longer period. We will always remember the Picton Fair, ‘baby parts’ and Tony from ‘The Shining’ with Bernat and Deborah! Scheduling Willona Sloan’s residency to coincide with ours was brilliant! Our common themes of home, memory and the open road made for great conversation around the dining table and her writing workshop was the icing on the cake. Sharing Mario’s apple pie and music with Kelly, Chrissy, Rebecca and Joanna around the campfire on the second night of the installation made for a very memorable evening. It exemplified the spirit of our journey.

From Prince Edward County we made our way to Toronto to Amherstburg to Toronto and back to PEC again where we worked on a grant application from a gorgeous little guest house belonging to friends Sarah Crawford and David Kirkwood. We worked away and each evening they invited us to join them for a delicious meal and spirited conversation. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect place from which to continue building on the work we started at Spark Box. The sidebar to why we returned to PEC to work on our grant application: to look at properties! Having spent a little more than a month in ‘The County’ we realized that we like the community. A lot. We have been considering the idea of a home base for a while: a base from which to work; settle the stuff that has been residing in a storage unit in Scarborough for nearly two and a half years; and to live when we aren’t galavanting around in the van. The month at Spark Box clarified two things for us: we miss a dedicated work space (that can accommodate things like a large video monitor for editing, a sewing machine, a printer or two, etc) and community. While we aren’t ready to live a sedentary lifestyle we do appreciate the benefits of having a home base.

We left the County without having purchased a property, made a pit-stop to look at some prefab homes at Green Terra in Trenton, stopped briefly in Toronto before picking up Julie’s dad and his dog, MacDuff, in Amherstburg and returning with them in tow to celebrate Thanksgiving in Toronto. It was the first holiday in three years that our family was all together. Back to Amherstburg where we loaded up the last of all the belongings we had been storing there since we moved into the van and carted them to one of our (cringe) two storage units in Scarborough. Over the course of two days we consolidated the two units into one 300 sq ft unit. Our 17-year-old nephew, Jakob, helped us on the second day and perhaps saved our lives. Moving stuff doesn’t get any easier as you get older!

We made an appointment for the van to have some pre-emptive maintenance done while we were in Toronto in preparation for heading south on the open road where we intend to escape winter. While in the care of our mechanic it was the victim of a hit and run. Our four-month-old paint job and restoration! More than $1,600 damage NOT including the immense hassle and numerous other expenses that have arisen from the resulting delay. We had to drive the van back down to Amherstburg (a boring four-hour drive on the 401) to our amazing auto body shop for the repair and then return to Toronto. Again. This drive is getting to us. Try as we might to appreciate the changing sky, the autumnal colours and the landscape the drive is at best repetitive and at worst soul destroying. The bad news is that we will be making this drive regularly for some time to come so we better perhaps work on an attitude adjustment.

Also while in Toronto we learned that a 500 sq ft co-op apartment overlooking High Park was going to be listed for sale. We looked at it pre-MLS, without any expectations whatsoever and ….. we bought it. It will literally be a pied-à-terre and checks off a bunch of boxes for us: 1. a mailing address 2. storage (carries for less than our current storage unit) 3. home base 4. work space 5. good location                     6. underground parking that can accommodate the van 7. close to family, friends, doctor, dentist, etc. 8. low or zero maintenance 9. cheap! What it is not is our dream space. We have come to think that a dream home is overrated. For us life experiences and travel are the priority. That said we will make the space our own. It will require that we get rid of most of what we own and have been paying to store for too long. Most people do this in their 70s, 80s or leave it to their children to deal with once they are gone. Here we are, further paring down our lifetime of accumulation in our 50s! We have at least 10 file boxes containing samples of our work; more art than we will have walls; books, boy do we have books; and ephemera/ family history/ our history. This is where we will find it difficult!

a-46

When we initially sold our home and studio we had this idea that we would be downsizing and simplifying. In Toronto. And that our next home would be our last. The place where we would likely spend the rest of our days. And then instead we decided to travel in a van. For six months or a year. We thought we had really pared down our belongings and 26 years of design and printing work as far as we could and we did. We didn’t know how moving around North America in a 60 sq ft van would change us and our priorities. We don’t feel like we have any more answers than we had two and a half years ago. We may in fact have more questions. We aren’t exactly happy with the purchase of this apartment but we aren’t unhappy either. It is probably the right thing. For now. Sometime in the new year, probably March, after renovating, we will move into our new old apartment and make it a home where we can once again welcome our friends and family and work on projects that excite us. We look forward to that!

Pied à terre implies a temporary second residence and is usually a small living unit in a large city some distance away from the owners primary residence. 

And now, we can’t wait to get our primary residence back on the road!

 

PS – There are many wonderful people who have hosted us in their homes this past two and half years. To all of you THANK YOU! We have loved spending time with each and every one of you and appreciate your generosity and friendship. The biggest thank you goes out to Julie’s sister, Tina, and her husband, Mark – they have hosted us more times than we can shake a stick at, often without a whole lot of notice. We are eternally grateful.

And tomorrow we move on…..

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We haven’t left yet. Tonight is the final evening of our Shangri-La installation and residency here at Spark Box Studio. Hard to believe we have been here a month. We are eternally grateful to Chrissy Poitras and Kyle Topping, our hosts and now friends. We love them, their dog Rico and this special place they call home and work and share so generously with artists from round the world. We are something like numbers 300 and 301 in 7 years.

We will elaborate on this special month. Later.

For now we are excited to share this post from CBC Arts about all of the above.

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/arts/this-artist-couple-has-turned-their-campervan-into-interactive-art-1.3784601

Signing off for today,

two happy campers

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