Sunday Thoughts...

"Life is weird." - Us.

Our lives have taken us to places we never thought we would go. Jamie and I have done what we wanted for the last 6 years. Travel? check. Visit virtually every state? Check. Buy a VW Vanagon customize it, and travel the backroads of America at 40MPH hoping we don't break down or fall off the side of a Colorado mountain that doesn't have a guardrail? Check. I like to believe we have a slight extra dash of "outlier" in our recipe than others. It's not that often that people just pick up and go, follow their gut feelings, go through a ton of life experiences together, and continue to make the best of every situation. We are very lucky. We have always had the support of our families and friends, but when you are a nation away from everything you know and the comforts they bring, it's a completely different ball game.

As I sit this morning, with my coffee and a blank page, I started to reflect on how special and weird life can be. Watch any Gary V clip and he will eventually tell (yell at) his audience that there is a one in a quadrillion (I just made that word up I think) chance of being born. Which, if that is true, I haven't done the research, that is pretty freaking weird. Which begs the age-old question of, why? Why am I here? Why are you here? And, more importantly, does anything really matter? Yes, I am reflecting on WHY this morning, such a millennial.

I came across this photo in my camera roll this morning and forgot I took it. I thought it looked cool and then reflected on when I took it. We were traveling around in some California mountain town and stopped at a local brewery. Go figure. It had been a while since we had seen snow so we wanted to capture every moment. There was a mound of snow close to us so I nestled my phone in it, set the timer, ran back and bam, this photo is the results. That day was incredible. It was cold, the heater in the Van was barely working, we had to buy extra gloves, and roadside Mexican blankets to stay warm, but we made it to our destination and were able to fit a brewery in also. What else is life about if it's not about adventuring through it and finding small moments to make it all worthwhile?

Every moment is special if you let it be. I know I sound like a total hippie, but I do believe it. Everything we do can teach us or can be transformed into something unique and special. Take a second today to check out your surroundings, be grateful, take ten good breaths and try to see something from a different perspective. I think you'll find out that life is weird. Let me know what you come up with.

I hope this made sense. If not, whatever. These are my Sunday thoughts.

-YourFriendMatt

Van Renovation: Chapter 2...

"What do you think I should do with these holes in the van floor? We can see the road as we drive." - Me.

After ripping out the seats in our VW Vanagon, it was time to figure out what we were going to do with the empty-space the seat removal had opened up. Put a shag rug in and hang a disco ball? Add captains chairs or turn the seat around so everyone sitting back there can face each other? Leave and never come back to it because renovating anything is a pain in the ass? None of those options seemed right, so we went to Home Depot for some inspiration.

"You always grab a cart! It's a rule!" - Unknown

We finally landed on putting in hardwood flooring, like the kind you would put in your living room. We figured if it was good enough for a living room, it sure-as-shit was good enough for our Vanagon. We did some quick internet searching, and it did not look too hard. We measured and modified our plan, bought some materials and were on our way to put a new floor in our VW.

"Always look for good looking and cost effective solutions." - Unknown

We started by ripping out all the 30+-year-old, stained, shitty existing rug. Ripping up this shit-stained monstrosity felt like ripping up a large piece of beef jerky. The rug had lost all flexibility and covered 30-year-old stain-circles of god-knows-what spilled from years past. Once we had it all out, we had to sanitize the metal flooring, seal the holes where the seat had been bolted down so we could no longer see the road from inside the van, and installed some thick carpet cushion. Once we had that done, it was like playing building blocks. The flooring we got snaps together like Legos, it is a great solution for anyone doing a flooring remodel of any kind. We had to use our handy-dandy Ryobi jigsaw for this and cutting around vents and seats. It is worth it to take your time during this process, measure twice and cut once, patience is a virtue.

"Dangerously under-qualified" - We had to removed the door seam to get the carpet out.

"Where does this piece go?" - We had to remove a panel to ensure we coved the entire floor - super easy to put back on, it just snaps into place.

"Always clean up after you removed 30 year old carpet." - Einstien

Got some good carpet padding and filled in the rest with bubble wrap to create a soft and even base for the floor.

Measure twice - cut once. Had a few handy dandy tools to make light work of this project. Invest in a level, measuring tape, rubber mallet, and a good blade for your cuts. Then just put the panel back and screw down the door seam and you are good to go!

This whole process only took about 2 hours and added a ton of value. Customizing and getting creative with your van renovations is a huge part of what draws us to owning our van. Now we have space for all kinds of activities! 

We have a bunch more plans and ideas lined up so stay tuned!

-YourFriendMatt