Airstream Vanlife in Utah

I tried to find angle that would make this van look as tall as it really is; I think I was successful. Here she is, our rental home for the week, a 2004 Airstream Westfalia on a Sprinter chassis. Only 250 were imported to the US under the Airstream name, but the market just wasn’t ready for a high end class B at the time, and it was discontinued. In Europe, there have been decades of iterations of these known as the “James Cook” on various Sprinter chassis all the way up to the present day. Why we can’t get them in the US, I have no idea. Such efficient design for a family of four. #airstreamsprinterwestfalia #vanlife #familyvanlife #11feettallandonlyalittlelonger

No one here but us Airstreams. We generally find that our travel days take one extra hour per “Google hour” of drive time; And sure enough, 6 hours after we left Provo, we pulled into Hurricane, 3 hours to the south. But the welcome from @backroadbennetts, @weelittlenomads and even a visit from @drivingdownadream made this whole crazy fly-from-Mexico-to-Houston-to-Salt-Lake-City-and-rent-a-van plan all worth it! #airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #wellsorta #oneofthesethingsisnotliketheothers

We were just a couple miles up the road from here last year at this time. I’ve told anyone who would listen about circling up the campers with a buncha nomadic breeders and opening the doors for the kids to run, play, dig, collect and create all day. This feels like what childhood should be (and the parents standing around chatting while taking in the view ain’t so bad of an “adulthood” either). #nomadicbreedersunite #littleairstreamfriends #littleroadfriends #childhoodunplugged

We definitely cut an interesting silhouette. Out of sight in the background, runners passed by with headlamps on a 100 mile endurance race that started at 6:00 am that morning. #airstreamsprinterwestfalia

One is small, a little disheveled, sometimes smells like poop and is most comfortable a few miles down a dirt road; The other is Backroads Remi. #airstreamwithkids #vanlifewithkids #travelwithkids #familytravel #airstreamsprinterwestfalia

Covered in red dirt inside and out, practically becoming one with the high desert, but all the while riding the knife’s edge between ugly and cute. #airstreamsprinterwestfalia #weelittlechalupa #astuffedbunny

I’ll admit it. I’ve been a little van-obsessed for the last few months. Googling interior dimensions, watching build videos, sketching floorplans. But I’m not exactly sure why. Part of it I’m sure is just to push the envelope. How small could we go? But we’ve spent time in vans and smaller motorhomes. We know we *can* do it. And the story goes that smaller means more access to wild places, and of course to an extent that’s true, but on the other hand, here we are at the end of a rutted dirt road in the middle of spectacular scenery... with a 30’ and a vintage Airstream trailer. And *we’ve* gotta go to town to dump tanks and fill water every two days, packing up the whole “house” when we do it, while they just hang out in camp or drive their trucks to town whenever they need for water, laundry or just a cup of coffee. There’s no one right answer to the trade-offs for everyone, but after a few months of thinking about vans and three days of living in one, I can’t wait to get our trailer out for the next trip. #straighttalk #deepvanthoughts #airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife

#vanlifewithkids in 1 min (actual time 7 mins). #campingwithkids #travelwithkids #familytravel #vanlife

I’m not gonna lie, things got a little weird out there in the desert with 8 road kids. #bambam #lunchsnack #roadschool #childhoodunplugged

My last mountain bike was a ‘92 Rockhopper. The bikes Ann and I rented for a day of trail riding with @backroadbennetts in Hurricane were... different. Now we’re both hooked. #roadmoms #babesonbikes

As the sun sets on our week in the van (yeah, I said it), we’ve learned a little bit more about ourselves; We’re not van people. And honestly, that may very well be because we’ve spoiled ourselves with the comfort of the Airstream, arguably still managing to take it to some amazing places while never having felt limited.
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And in the months prior, we’ve also learned that we may not be “expat people,” again possibly because we have the luxury of not having to choose one place for an international experience and get antsy for the next thing pretty quickly.
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But if an experience teaches you something about yourself, what more can you really ask? It doesn’t mean that Guanajuato isn’t strikingly beautiful and amazingly rich in Mexican culture (it’s both) or that the before-its-time Airstream Sprinter Westfalia isn’t the best van layout - regular *or* long wheelbase - I’ve ever seen (it is). Truth be told, while neither is right for us long term *right now*, I’d say there’s a pretty good chance we’ll spend more time in both sometime in the future.
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#indecisivedeepthoughts #airstreamsprinterwestfalia #travel #rvlife

Heading home (for a bit...). #travelwithkids #familytravel #sisterhoodofthetravelingparents

Advodna is pronounced “ADVO” then “DNA” (or ADV - o’ - D ‘n’ A) which came from Adventures of Dave and Ann. Whatever. It is what it is.
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It started in 2010 as a blog of a trip down part of the Pan American Highway in a Nissan Xterra with a roof top tent, shifted to farm-follies as we learned how to live on the 4 acres of land we bought when we returned, moved onto Instagram when we hit the road for 2 years of life in an Airstream with two little kids in 2015 and has since been a general mix of family travel with most of our life at home on a separate account. All that stuff has been archived on the blog, link in profile or at advodna.com (did you say it right? 😂).
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Well, we’re back from our latest adventure and excited to spend some time at home with friends and family, pursuing some hobbies (parents with kids, gasp!) and enjoying our small house walking or biking distance to everything. So while we may not be loading up the Airstream before Fall, we’ll be posting here about a series of mods and maintenance we’ve been wanting to get done (new rear hitch for a better bike rack, bigger fridge, bathroom storage and laundry hamper, tow mirrors for the Sequoia) as well as tidbits from some of my motorcycle rallies and trips and the occasional snippet of life at home.
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But right now, I gotta go. I got chicks climbing all over me. #wegotchickens #halftimefamilies #pleaserefrainfromchickenjokesoriwill(cock)blockyou