Who are we?
Hi everyone. My name is Bionca Smith, this is my son Carter and our pup Chili. We live, work, homeschool and travel full time from our 1989 Ford Econoline Van. You may have heard about us on social media through numerous blogs, podcasts, magazines or seen us on national tv where we are known as Off The Grid With A Kid. Our van has served as our one and only home and primary transportation for over 2 years! Since we began our van life journey in 2017, thousands of you have been inspired by our lifestyle and expressed your desire to try it out also. Well, we have a surprise for you! For 30 Days I will be going live for 30 minutes or uploading a video on YouTube to talk about the most common questions about Van Life.
Why are we doing this?
Today people are moving into vans and RVs left and right as they learn that van life is a genius idea for so many reasons. Whether you’re considering van life, in the process or on the road full time now, my goal is to make your transition and experience easier in any way that I can. When I first got on the road, I was a lone wolf with my cub. I did not know anything about van life. I had never even heard of it and therefore I didn't even know anyone that I could talk to about it with. It took me 8 months on the road before I met another van lifer by chance. It was a year before I discovered that there was an entire community of van lifers on the road, so this meant that at first, we had to figure out a lot of things alone. We learned about what works for us so that we could have an epic experience on the road that meets our personal and professional goals.
What makes our van life so interesting
Unlike the majority of van lifers today which are Caucasian and male, I am a single, African American woman, traveling and homeschooling all in a van with my kid. I am not living in a van down by the river, (lol) rich, married or retired. If I can do this with a kid… anyone can do van life!
We are transparent about our journey and do not filter our experiences.
Families can learn from a kid’s view about the pros and cons of van life.
We love to give back to communities through volunteering and public speaking about bullying and self-help topics.
Our conversion van is vintage and has shown us how beneficial it is to have certain amenities that we still do not see in the new custom van builds today.
We’re experienced! With over 2 years primarily stealth camping through all seasons with several ups and downs, our journey has taught us a lot about how to survive mentally, physically and financially!
What to expect?
In this 30 day series, I’m going to explain to you everything from how we got started to what we learned. I’ll be sharing all of our routines, gear, resources, costs, shower and wifi hacks, mechanical breakdowns, emergency plans, camping spots, schedules, recipes and more. You’ll learn what van life has done for me personally and professionally. In this 30 day series, I’m going to explain to you what the van lifestyle has done for me personally and professionally then as we get through the series, I’ll go into more details about how we have navigated successfully through this lifestyle that we still enjoy today. I am also going to have my son Carter tell you what our lifestyle has done for him as well. We are committed to helping as many people as possible have a wonderful experience out on the road and we only want one thing in return….Spread the word! Share our story and share what information has helped or inspired you. Community is everything and you never know what information you will learn from sharing what you have discovered too!
Don’t miss out!
Subscribe to our YouTube and hit that notification bell so that you will be notified when we go live. Don’t miss out because this will be a fantastic opportunity for you to get all your questions asked and connect with us on a more personal level. This is what I'm personally looking forward to the most. See you soon!