On the Road

"I found myself alone with the same question echoing in my mind: why wouldn’t I go?" —Henry Proegler The idea for the On the Road series was born out of a desire to connect with the travelers, wanderers, and van-lifers that make up the community...

"It’s the natural thing to do for this kind of animal. We’re the only animal that’s put ourselves in zoos of our own creation, right? And we don’t even make the zoos natural to who we are. Maybe that’s what it is. That’s what the...

"I remember sitting in the back here, reading [Van Life Diaries], and I was like, Man, this is pretty cool. My lease is about to be up... I think I could do this." —Eric Pappas Filmmaker’s Notes After driving from Austin deep into Texas hill...

"I’m very comfortable in solitude. There’s just something about getting out on the road where you want to see what’s around the next bend." —Kathi Foy Filmmaker’s Notes The red-ochre cliffs of Palo Duro Canyon stretched out in front of us to the horizon as...

"I think it's about doing less. I don't think it's about the highlights. I think it's about the quiet moments." —Dan Deublein Filmmaker’s Notes: It was almost a week into our trip and a couple hours after midnight when we rolled in beside a dark...

"I would rather help people be healthy and happy, and be able to adventure and do the things in life that they really want to do, and not just have to watch it on YouTube." —Angela Siatta Filmmaker’s Notes: After spending the morning with Dan,...

"There's something about sitting around a campfire at night and telling ghost stories and having s'mores, I just feel like that's something [my kids will] remember forever." —Mercede Goates Filmmaker’s Notes Joshua Tree carries a kind of mystique – some combination of the dry air...

"I definitely have a wanderlust, an adventurous spirit. But for the first 40 years of my life, I did what everyone expected me to do. Now, I get to ask, “what does Diana want to do?” And it’s a little uncomfortable sometimes, but I’m getting...

"I've learned that van life is a state of mind actually, that's one of the biggest things that I figured out." —Jupiter Filmmakers’ Notes At this point in the trip, we had started to settle in a bit. We’d been in Joshua Tree for a...

The money isn't worth it. The lifestyle wasn't worth it. I mean, we had a beautiful apartment downtown Denver. We had new cars. But for what, so we could not see each other all the time? — Brittani and Adam Fenimore Filmmakers’ Notes The Fenimores have...

When the sun came up in Salt Lake City, we felt a tiredness deep in our bones. We had left a camp of old and new friends at Joshua Tree the day before and drove into the night towards Utah. At this point, it was...

For Andy and his wife Kristina and their daughters Ava and Anna, spending time on the road is more about time spent outside than time spent inside the van. We met up with him and talked about what it means for them to be able...

Filmmaker’s Notes: The final stretch of our journey was a bit of a slog. We had gotten a little sleep here and there at rest stops since leaving Topeka, but as we rolled into the Arkansas highway rest stop where we’d hoped to spend the...