Dave and amazing guests Sim and Kartik talk about Craigslist van shipping, Indian weddings, and one questionable church visit. Kartik and Sim are from India but have called Canada their home for the past 10 years. They live, work and travel out of a self converted 77' Dodge B200 camper van. Their current plan is to drive down south all the way to Patagonia. Travel might not look the same as it once used to pre-covid but there is a silver lining to their experience and they think it is worth telling.

Find Sim and Kartik here:
Instagram: @TheBrownVanlife
Youtube: Youtube.com/TheBrownVanlife

"The moment we park and get out of our camper van this dude is walking towards us with a massive gun in his hand. It’s like a really big one, I don’t even know what it was. It was an automatic definitely because there were bullets that he showed us. And he was walking towards us and we both just shat our pants. We were like “we don’t want to take the shot we just want to go. Forget the shot, let’s just get out of here”. But by then it was too late, he was already walking toward us and it would be really impolite if we looked like we were trying to run away. He might just shoot us. We are like “ok, let’s just stay here, it’s all good.” So we wait around and this guy comes up and says: “Hey guys! Welcome, there are a lot of people who come here for this picture” And I was like “ok, cool” and he was just talking and I ask him “Hey, why are you holding this massive gun in your hand?”. And he’s like “Oh, I was just cleaning this gun, I am the pastor of this church..."

Rapid Fire Questions and Answers:

How did you stay clean on the road?
A lot of hot towels, wet wipes, changing undergarments every day, and showers on the road at rest stops.

What do you consider van life essentials?
Our solar system is essential for us so that we always have power. I also would say a jerrycan because I always forget to fill up the gas.

What is your favorite driving song?
Funny story, the engine on this camper van is so loud you cannot put music on so our driving song is usually just the wind and the nature and the sound of the engine and that is it. We love techno music from the band Above and Beyond. And our adventures Bollywood song recommendation is called Bang Bang.

What was your favorite place you visited?
Grasslands National Park and Nā Pali Coast in Hawaii

What is one thing everyone should know before they live out of a van?
Oh wow, I would say that the freedom is something you will never experience outside if you’re trapped in a house or if you’re living in a stationary home. The freedom that comes with vanlife, you could be starting your day in one city and seeing the most beautiful sunset by the end of the day while maintaining your daily routine. And that doesn’t come if you don’t leave the home. You don’t get to experience that ever. The freedom that van life gives you just parking under the stars and just seeing the most phenomenal sunrise and sunsets while maintaining a daily life or a daily routine. You would have to wait for a weekend to do that. And van life gives you the opportunity to just experienced this every day pretty much. That is just rare. It teaches you discipline that you might not be able to learn while you’re living under a roof.

What's your favorite book you either read on the road or that inspired you to try it?
We love Into The Wild (book by Jon Krakauer).