When Pat and I started watching scores of YouTube videos about building and living in a campervan, I was delighted to see that quite a few #vanlifers travel in their tiny homes with pets.
Our absolute favorite #vanlife YouTubers are Snow and Curt (check them out at thechilldaze.com). Not only did they build a van of our dreams, these beautiful badasses are taking it on a ten year trip around the world with two kitties in tow. The pandemic has put a crimp in their schedule, forcing them to hunker down in various parts of Mexico for most of 2020 until now, but hopefully they will be able to cruise through Central America soon and we will be following them on YouTube the whole way.
Snow and Curt’s example made me think… if they can drive their van across six continents with GMoney and Vanna, is there any reason why we can’t travel across North America with Maya?
Except that, well… it’s Maya.
Our sweet dog is a very “sensitive” girl. She quakes in fear when it rains, wind terrifies her, she jumps at unexpected noises, and if she eats anything other than her Sensitive Stomach and Skin dry kibble, there is a decent chance that we will be cleaning up vomit and diarrhea for several days. When Pat recently couldn’t resist slipping Maya a risky morsel, I gently reminded him that by giving her that little piece of apparently harmless deliciousness, he was agreeing to be the All Night Barf And Crap Cleaner, if necessary. Fortunately, it was not.
The point is that Maya, with her delicate system and sensitive psyche, does best with routine, structure and consistency. My concern grew a few weeks ago when we drove to pick up the van. Maya came with us and we ended up spending the night in a hotel so we didn’t have to drive 12 hours up and back in one day. I expected that the Residence Inn we stayed at would be empty and quiet, but good Lord! What were all these people doing at 3 in the morning? Where had they been congregating all night in the middle of a pandemic? Up until 5am, doors were slamming, people were laughing and talking, and I could hear the television in the room next door.
Maya was a nutcase. Every time she heard someone walking or talking in the hallway, she jumped up and ran to the door, unsure of what was going on and what her responsibility should be. She’s not usually a “barker” but she did woof once to ask the people in the hallway “who are you and what are you doing?”
I wondered the same thing.
We didn’t sleep all night, and it worried me. What is going to happen when we’re parked at a campground, in the wilderness, or in a Cracker Barrel parking lot for heaven’s sake, and she hears people or critters outside? Is she going to be able to relax? Will bags the size of saggy water balloons grow under my eyes from lack of sleep?
One good sign is that although car rides initially caused Maya anxiety when we first adopted her, she now enjoys riding in the car. She is content to sit in the back and watch the world go by. So I am hopeful that as long as we develop a routine, allow her plenty of time to walk, run, sniff the world, and give her a comfy spot in the van to chill out, I think she will adjust.
Besides, there are other looming #vanlife issues to think about. For example, just wait until you see what’s inside a big cardboard box in our garage.
Next up… meet our new and future toilet…
