This Is What You Came For, Right?
Meet our new baby.
A big part of my life has been travel. My parents traveled frequently. That being said, I didn't venture onto an airplane until I was 14 years old. We always took road trips. There's something about driving to a destination that makes me feel like anything is possible.
The concept of a road trip has stayed near and dear to my heart as I've gotten older. I very rarely board an airplane. I'm a true believer in the journey being as important as the destination.
For about 13 years, my husband and I have been traveling the country in a 2000 Volkswagen Beetle. When I say "travel the country", I don't mean a couple hours from home (home being Kentucky). This precious car has been to Vegas (twice), Arizona (twice), New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Utah, Montana, the Dakotas and Wyoming. She's also taken many regional trips to Tennessee, Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia and Illinois. She's been a trusty car that has taken us to the tops and bottom of mountains. She's had her share of problems, as any VW will. But we've given her more than the usual attention and it's paid off for us.
On our last trip out west, though, we started to think it may be time to retire her to city driving. It's not that she's slowing down. Not in the least! Part of our issue had to do with space. We don't pack a ton of stuff, but the stuff we pack can be cumbersome. Our backpacks, tent and equipment can take up precious space in a Beetle. We were also quite aware we were still spending money on hotel rooms when we couldn't find camping or it was too late to set up a proper camp. We travel as late into the night as we can. If any of you tent camp, you know what a pain it can be to set up a tent in the dark or in the rain. I knew there had to be a better way to do this type of travel.
I had a few things in mind with regards to how we travel. I wanted something that we could sleep in. I also wanted something that could park in a regular parking space. We wanted something that could easily be worked on and parts were accessible. We searched for about a year and half looking for something that fit our needs and budget. My "regular" day job consists of budgets and moving money. My husbands day job is a mechanic. We definitely came into this being smart about our budget and what we could handle working on. I did not want to get over our head money-wise. And I know he didn't want to get over his head with never ending repairs.
There were considerations that we had before pulling the trigger on buying something. Other bills needed to be paid off, money needed to be saved and allocated before we could do anything. And then a post on thesamba.com changed it all.
I'd say we were 2 months away from being ready to start looking. You know how when you're not looking for something, that's when you find it? Needless to say, we found a Westy in our city for the price that we were looking for. Money was moved around, things were accelerated.....5 days later, it was in our driveway.
We are now the owners of a 1985 Westfalia Vanagon.
She's going to be going through some big changes very, very soon.
Everything will be documented here and on our Instagram, @binkadventure. We will keep you guys up to date on all the steps we're taking to get her where we want her to be. During this build, you'll be hearing from Andrew, my husband, on everything he's doing mechanically. I will be keeping the books on how much money we're blowing on this thing (LOL) and I do intend on sharing that information. Pricing is something that was lacking when we were looking up what kind of vehicle to buy. That's a huge deal to me when trying to figure out how much money to save. So, we're going to keep this as transparent as possible.
I hope you'll enjoy this little journey. Feel free to follow our accounts on Instagram, @binkvisualstudio & @binkadventure. Leave comments and let us know what's on your mind.
-Bink