Michele M with Tiki & Bali in a Ram Promaster
Michele, a 65-year-old independent woman, embraced vanlife after years of research and downsizing to fit her new nomadic lifestyle. In the spring of 2020, she hit the road in her 2019 Ram Promaster 2500, customizing her van as she traveled. Her journey taught her the power of letting go of material possessions and finding community on the road. Now, with her two dogs, Tiki and Bali, she thrives in a life of freedom, discovering new places and building lasting friendships.
Michele M. (Age 70)
Living in a 2019 Ram Promaster 2500 since for the past five years.
Michele describes herself as an independent and introverted woman who takes her time making decisions, always conducting thorough research before committing to something significant. Her life has been full of adventure—she’s been married, raised a family, owned a bar, driven trucks, and even worked as a card dealer in a casino. She hints at a “wild” chapter in her past but keeps those stories to herself. When she decided to leave that life behind and embrace a future filled with travel, she immersed herself in YouTube videos of nomads who had already taken the leap. Eventually, inspired by their journeys, she realized it was time to take her own.
During the pandemic, Michele found a van at a local dealership that met her needs, one of which was finding a van without windows, hoping to deter any break-ins. She had previously considered buying a boat, but her father’s advice stuck with her: ‘There are only two happy days when you own a boat—the day you buy it and the day you sell it.’
Realizing that vanlife would be a better fit, she factored in her age and the desire to minimize breakdowns and maintenance issues on the road. In the spring of 2020, at 65 years old, she made the leap and purchased a 2019 Ram Promaster 2500 with a 159-inch wheelbase—a decision heavily influenced by her research.
“After watching so many YouTube videos, I noticed that most full-time van dwellers didn’t live in the shortest vans, like the 136-inch ones. That’s why I went with the longer model.”
Preparing for Vanlife
Michele took the transition seriously, keeping only what was necessary for her new lifestyle.
“I decided that I was going to keep what was important to me, what I needed to live, and everything else I got rid of. My house was amazing—it was all beach. People loved my house. I sold almost everything except for a dresser, a bamboo couch that I could use outside or inside, my outside patio dining table that folded up, my vacuum cleaner, a mop, my sewing machine, and some lamps. I thought, ‘If I can’t handle it out here, I am going to need something to get an apartment. I need something to live on. I am too old to live on the floor.’ Everything else I got rid of. The process was emotional, but Michele is grateful for the friend who stood by her through it all, helping her sell her belongings and reminding her of the bigger goal. In the end, she learned an invaluable lesson: letting go of possessions also meant letting go of an unseen weight she had been carrying.
“Thank God one of the gals I knew was helping me do this because as stuff was walking away, I was thinking, ‘What am I, nuts? I love that thing. Why am I selling it?’ The funny thing was, at the end of the day, I walked into the house and thought, ‘Oh, God, this is nice.’ All of that weight I had been carrying, that I wasn’t even aware of, was gone. That stuff had such a weight on me that I could not even imagine until it was gone.”
To prepare for vanlife, she sectioned off a small part of her living room to replicate her van’s space.
“The main things I needed were my bed and a place to cook. I cordoned off a section in my living room, and that’s where my bed and little kitchen station were. Everything I needed had to fit within that area. If there wasn’t room, guess what? I couldn’t have it.”
Hitting the Road
After downsizing, saving money, and setting up for her journey, Michele hit the road in the spring of 2020, without having done any conversion to her van. She visited family and friends at first, doing minor modifications to her van build along the way.
“My son and I put my floor in, put the rails up for my bed, and off I go into the wild blue yonder. I used a little tote to cook on top of, and as I progressed, I was like, ‘Okay, this makes sense. I think I want to do it this way.’ I had drawn all these plans, but none of them were working. I had two little dogs that loved to spend time on the bed, but there was no way for them to get up. Picking them up 500 times a day was tough.”
She lived in her unfinished van for a while, making improvements only after she was certain about how she wanted to utilize the space.
“When I see all these people rebuilding their vans, I haven’t had to do that at all because I built it as I lived—not as someone else thought it should be designed.”
Finding Community
Michele hired a professional to install solar, but when a component failed, she had it replaced at a tiny house gathering by the original installer. That event was a turning point.
“That’s when I started meeting a lot of people in the community. From there, I was invited to other tiny house festivals.”
From there, her community mushroomed into what it is today, friends she now calls family.
Life on the Road
She very rarely stays overnight at store parking lots or campgrounds. Instead, she’s self-contained and prefers to seek out spots far off the beaten path, where she can stay for the night or even for a few days. Over time, she’s built a solid network of friends within the community, many of whom offer land for her and her two dogs, Tiki and Bali, to stay on for extended periods. Michele laughs as she recalls the conversations with her sister and old neighbors, still in contact with her, who often ask, “Aren’t you tired of doing that yet?” or “I can’t believe you’re still doing that.”
Her response? Classic: “I have no intention of stopping. There are so many places left to see.”
