Dealing with forest fires while living in a van, meeting with a friend, celebrate/ VAN LIFE IN BC

Dealing with forest fires while living in a van is not easy #vanlife

WEBSITE: http://thecatladyvan.com
Everything inside my van: http://thecatladyvan.com/van-gear/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thecatladyvan
Paypal: paypal.me/thecatladyvan
Business inquires: emi@thecatladyvan.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecatladyvan/
Music I use: https://www.epidemicsound.com/referral/u7l8m5/

Please note the above links are affiliate links so Kelly and I get a small commission at no cost to you when you shop through one of the links. I will never promote something that I don't like or use in my daily life. Thank you so much for the support!!

Thank you for watching! Please like, subscribe and share!

Hi my name is Emi. My van life story starts in September 2018. After a long-term relationship that I was trying for more than a year to rebuild, I decided it was time to end this toxic relationship once for all. This is where I decided to move away from this man that I was still in love with. I put all my belongings inside my SUV (GMC Jimmy) and moved six hours from where I was living. I didn’t know where I will sleep, didn’t know where I will work but I knew I needed to make a drastic move. At that time, I told myself I will only sleep in my car for a month while looking for a place to rent. What I didn’t know is that one month became another month and then several months. In the end, I end up sleeping in my car for a full year. Even if people will consider this the downfall time of my life, this experience was the best thing I couldn’t have done with my life. I took that year to focus on myself, decide what I wanted, and most importantly what I didn’t want. That year made me also realize that for so long, I was chasing the wrong dreams. I was chasing what society wanted me to be: to have a big house, a steady job, kids, get married… None of those dreams was making me happy. In September 2019, while I was actively looking for a van, I received a phone call that someone had found my cat (Kelly). After, trying for hours with no success to communicate with my ex-boyfriend (who was taking care of her), I decided to drive the six hours to go pick her up. Without going into too much detail, it turns out he wasn’t able to take care of her anymore. So I brought her in a cat kennel for a couple of days until I found a van we both could live in. I put all the savings that I had accumulated while living in my car and bought my van (a 2011 Ford Econoline that I end up adding a hightop) In the beginning, It wasn’t so glamour. My cat and I were sleeping on a mattress on the floor of the van. We both had to adjust. Now, my cat loves this lifestyle as much as I do; she looks at the window while I’m driving and she loves exploring new places. Since then, my cat Kelly and I are have been living full-time in myself convert self-converted van