News Reporter Chooses Vanlife After Hiking Pacific Crest Trail
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Liz Bryant hiked the Pacific Crest Trail in 2015 and it took her about five months to get from Mexico to the Washington border. After that, she went back to normal life reporting at NBC San Diego like you would see on the 5 and 6 o'clock news. Within the six months of leaving the trail and going back to her career she thought to herself, "what are you doing? You just learned all about what adventure is and about what living life is and being out in nature." She started looking at the #vanlife hashtag on Instagram. For the next year and a half researched it every single day. Finally she just said, "I'm not researching this anymore. I’m doing it." She bought a 2016, brand new at that time, Mercedes Sprinter and she just said "there's always a back-up plan, so just do it.”
The van, which she has since named ‘Wild,’ is a 2016 Mercedes Sprinter with a 144” wheelbase. The van is a two-wheel drive, which she makes up for with BF Goodrich all-terrain tires and black rhino rims. She wanted the color to be monochromatic, so black on matte black with as much as she could manage. At the back she has a little step which isn’t common across all Sprinters, which she often sits on while parked. She also has a hitch for a bike rack or anything that she wants to tow, and then her favorite accessory on the outside is the ladder which gives her easy access to the roof. She has two 100w Renogy Eclipse solar panels on her roof, which were small enough to fit lengthwise. Since the van didn’t come with a roof rack, she glued her solar panels on with some really strong adhesive and then she put her Thule cargo box on.
The floor is extended, she bought it at a specialty store in San Diego. She felt that the laminate floor that she found at any other box store didn't have that pretty of a wood grain. While the white interior might seem like an odd choice for an adventure vehicle that’s prone to getting very dirty, Liz was able to source fabric that is all stain proof. It's by Perennials Fabric and it's called Acrylic Dyed Solution. She can spill red wine on it, put dirt all over it and she can just easily wipe it off. The bench behind the driver's seat pulls out to a bed, and then her windows vent, so there’s great airflow where she sleeps. She has extra storage under the bench for an extra blanket, towels, and then a hot water bottle which does a fantastic job keeping her warm in colder areas without using a lot of electricity.
In the kitchen she has a quartz countertop and marble tile. People ask her, "how do you make sure that this doesn't rattle off or shake off?" The marble tile was done with a lot of research, she called the company that has the adhesive in the grout and really talked with a customer service agent about what is going to ensure that there is no rattling and that there's no tile falling off when she’s on a dirt road. They assured her that the solution would work perfect for her user case. Her faucet extends, and has really good water pressure.
The sink draws water from her 16 gallon tank which allows her to go about a week between refills, which can be done by putting a funnel in a hose that runs to the tank from the back door of her van. She wanted a really deep sink, and the one she landed on goes down about 10 inches. This allows her more flexibility when she decides to do the dishes. She cooks with a propane Ramblewood cooktop. She runs it off little green canisters from Walmart that she picks up for $3- 3.15 each. To keep food cold she has an Isotherm Elegance fridge. For her shelving in the kitchen cupboards she used Alpha shelving units from the container store, which have been super easy to get out, and clip in place when closed.
Across from the kitchen is her wetroom. It is where she keeps her shades for the back doors, and where she keeps the Tempur-pedic mattress topper that she cannot live without. The walls are made out of acrylic plastic and then her Porta potti is self-contained, so if she wants to take a shower she can take everything out, and use her portable camping shower to rinse off.
Next to the wet room is her closet, which again consists of Alpha shelving units, and next to that is the sports closet. It stores everything from surf leashes to camping equipment. Anything that is too big to fit she stores in the Thule rack on the roof. Her table stores at the very back of the van, and it's secured by a bungee strap. It is probably the most adored piece in the van, it's made by a company called San Diego Urban Timber. It is made from olive wood that she picked out that would normally just go to the landfill, but that company believes in saving all trees from the landfill and using it. Jess, the artist filled in the gaps with resin, which gives the table a really beautiful smooth surface. It attaches to the bench with a Lagun mount that easily swivels into position.
If you are trying to make a big change in your life, give yourself a deadline and accomplish things in that timeline. This is what she did for her first big leap. She gave herself four or five months, and each month she had a checklist. That way she didn't feel pressured, and she felt prepared. When people ask her about finding work on the road, she tells them that it’s a very personal process. She was blessed with an NBC News career for seven years that transitioned her into having a video production company that she could take with her, but everyone is different, and finding a nomadic career is part of your specific journey.
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