New York, New York

New York has been so good to us but more so, the people who live here.

Miles and Zach <3 NY!

Upon returning from Phoenix, Zach picked me up and we immediately drove up to Narrowsburg, NY, to my brother’s house to spend a couple days. It’s the most beautiful, relaxing space on a large plot of land with a beautiful view of the mountains. Also, it’s for rent people! We spent the two days doing puzzles, yoga on the deck, and cooking delicious meals. It was so peaceful. Zach said it felt like a vacation... which is funny because we are currently on a 2 yr vacation... but I get it. Traveling full time is hard work! There are logistics to deal with like planning where to park/sleep every night and where and when to fill up our water tank. Laundry and showers aren’t as accessible in a home on wheels and need to be planned out in advance.  So though we are not "working", in a sense we are. We just get paid in experiences and personal growth and every day lessons of how to live in a van instead of being paid in cash.

Doing puzzles.

View of Brandt’s house & property.

Polaroid for my journal of Fran in front of Brandt’s house.

While we were there we also opened up our very first care package- thanks, Allyson!  She sent us a game to play, something salty to snack on (CHEEZ-ITS, of course), and something sweet.  Miles even got his own gift as well!

Care Package!: Settlers of Catan, Reeses’, Cheez-its, and a toy for Miles!

Miles loves his dog beer!

We also gave Fran her first bath and got her all cleaned up and ready for her big television debut! Let me back up really quick. Tyler, Zach’s brother, is the newest cast member on Million Dollar Listing’s upcoming season!! It’s such a huge accomplishment and we are so proud of him. Shortly after he began filming, we purchased Fran in New Jersey. Zach flew from SF to Newark, picked up the van and drove into Manhattan to film with Tyler. The fact that Zach and I just bought our first "home" and it just so happened to be a van is a hilarious contrast when Tyler sells multimillion dollar homes in NYC. Bravo wanted to capture that. They followed our progress on the build and since our trip was going to take us back to New York, they wanted an update! A before and after if you will. So as soon as we left Narrowsburg, we drove straight into downtown Manhattan to the Bravo Network offices to film a follow up on Fran! We aren’t sure if any of this will air but if it does I’ll be sure to provide the details!

The only photo we got was this random one having a late night drink at Tyler’s apartment... will do better next time!

Tyler isn’t the only famous brother in our family.  My brother, Brandt, has also been KILLING it in his career and is just starting in his newest Broadway show, Moulin Rouge! We were able to attend their Invited Dress which is essentially the first time they perform the show in its entirety before paid performances begin and is reserved for friends and family. It was such a cool experience and we loved it! Their first preview was the next night and opening day will be late July!

Ready for the show!

Cast

Set view from our seats.

Post show selfie!

It was brief (we HAD to get out of Manhattan... not exactly camper van friendly when it comes to driving and parking) but it was really great spending time with both of our brothers.

On our way out of the city we stopped at a friend’s house in Rockland County, NY, where she so generously offered to make us lunch! We even gave her and her two kids a little tour of the van. Prior to seeing it, Casper (the 3 yr old) asked where we lived and we told him we lived in a van that is parked outside. There was no convincing him that we lived in a vehicle until he saw it and was blown away! He never wanted to leave.  Can’t blame you kid, I’m pretty attached to my little home too <3

Nicole making delicious sandwiches.

Lunch time!

"No way. A car can’t be a car AND a house."- Casper, 3, right before his mind was blown.

We closed out our time in the state of NY with a backpacking trip in the Catskills.  We hiked 2 miles in with our packs, set up camp, and then hiked another 5 miles round trip to the tallest peak in the region we were in.  It was pretty peaceful and the first time we had gotten some really good exercise in a little while.  The entire time we were there we kept relaying to each other how lucky we felt to have such giving, kind people in our lives. Everyone we have met up with along the way of these first few weeks has been so generous. Whether that was cooking for us, sending a care package, letting us fill our water tank from their spigot, giving us a stationary home to sleep in for a few days, or gifting us little things along the way, it has all been so kind and something we are so appreciative for.

We hiked out the next morning to take a quick shower since we had a little privacy, or so we thought... When it was Zach’s turn he had a car pull up on him, saw him standing naked behind the van, and quickly pulled away. It was absolutely hilarious. Just before that duck and hide we were just talking about how freeing it felt to be naked and standing outside. Whoops! 



Shower time!

As much as we loved New York we are excited to head to our next destination... Boston!