Harbor the van dog
(First published in Issue 6, September 2022) I’ll never forget the moment I realized I was destined to live in a van. It happened when my husband and I decided to spend a couple of months traveling around Europe. We rented a car and were driving through Norway when we passed a van, and Brant said to me, “You know, we could travel full-time by living in a van.” I had no clue that this one sentence would forever change the course of our lives. That was my first time hearing about van life, but it wouldn’t be the last.
We bought our van in April 2020, at the height of the pandemic. Our original plan was to spend the next year or so building it out so we could move out of our house and into the van. We were going to keep the house so we had a home base somewhere—a place to come back to. All those plans got thrown out the window the moment we realized a Category 4 hurricane was coming through our town. We evacuated but sadly lost our home and almost everything in it. We decided we would move into the van and build it out while we lived in it. As hard as it was, everything worked out for the best, and we’ve made so many amazing memories along the way.
In November 2020, we welcomed Harbor, our dog, into our lives, and it was changed forever. To be completely honest, we had a lot going on—not having a house, cleaning up hurricane damage around our community, and building out the van. It wasn’t the best timing, and it would’ve been a lot easier to wait and pass up the opportunity to get her. Regardless, we needed her more than we ever realized.
She was the bright light and hope that came in a storm of uncertainty. That’s where her name comes from. The meaning of "Harbor" is a safe place or shelter.
So let me tell you a little bit about us as a family. My name is Madison. I’m a freelance photographer and the one behind Harbor’s Instagram account. My husband is a self-taught software engineer. We easily work remotely on the road as long as we have cell service. We grew up in a small town in Louisiana and still visit our family frequently. Harbor is the star of the show. She’s a one-year-old blue shepherd who’s full of sass and loves life on the road. Harbor grew up in the van and has always been great at adapting to new environments and routines with our everyday schedule.
Here are some facts Harbor would like you to know about her (because, after all, she’s the main character here). She’s fiercely loyal, loves other dogs, and is always up for an adventure. She goes everywhere with us—no exaggeration. We plan our daily activities around where we can go and what we can do with her. One of her favorite things to do is to camp with our friends who have dogs. We’re always open to making more friends who love the outdoors as much as we do, so if we’re ever in your area, please reach out!
One of the best decisions I could’ve made was creating an Instagram account to document our travels with Harbor. I started the account because I knew leaving our friends and family and constantly being on the road could get lonely at times. What I didn’t know was that making that account would bring me some of the best friends I’ve ever had. It also gave us endless opportunities to meet so many people (and their dogs, too!). I’ll forever be grateful to Instagram for bringing so many adventures into our life.
The one misconception people have about our lifestyle is that having a dog and living in a van can’t work. Many assume Harbor stays cooped up in the van all day, but that’s far from the truth. We actually spend the majority of our days outside hiking or exploring new cities. One of our favorite places for remote camping is the desert. Utah has some of our favorite van-friendly camping spots in the US.
After two years of living completely on the road, we decided it might be nice to have a place on the side. We didn’t want to give up van life, but we knew there would be times we’d want a home base. We didn’t want anything too permanent, so we didn’t buy a house. Instead, we took some time to decide where we wanted to spend the next year and got an apartment. We love the Pacific Northwest and wanted to explore more of it, so that’s where we landed. We’re loving it so far and are thinking maybe next year we’ll head to the other side of the US and spend some time there.
Our journey into van life was rushed and chaotic. However, we feel incredibly blessed to be living out our dream. There are challenges that come with living a nomadic lifestyle, but I promise it’s worth it. If you ever have any questions about getting started or just want to get in touch, feel free to send us a DM on Instagram!
