In a world of ever-increasing technology, it’s become much harder to connect with our surroundings, ourselves, or what we’re truly capable of. It’s easier to live safely and sheltered from risk. However, stepping out from this shelter is what we need not only to connect, but also to grow, to know who we are and what kind of world we live in.
In one young woman’s case, she didn’t just step out: she drove out.
Audrey finds herself at a small, still lake as mountains stretch in the distance. Both the water and cool gray landscape reflect tranquility.
Setting Off
Over the past two years, Fenton native Audrey Tremaine has traveled across the United States in her van. Every step of the process has been her own as she embarked on this journey alone, seeking a life full of new discoveries and a self-sufficient lifestyle.
The planning goes back six years, back to 2020 when she was still a college student. “I knew that I wanted to travel the country but wanted to do it in a way that I can stretch my money to travel as long as possible,” Audrey said in an interview with My City Magazine. But it was more than just travel: she wanted to live on the move instead of simply passing through destinations. It would be a lifestyle of her own, not an extended vacation. With this dream, she went on to finish her college education three years later, and she began working to save money and build her sole travel companion: her van. This van was simple; a Ford Transit Connect with a bed and no built-in utilities, but it was enough to send her on her journey in June 2024.
Massive orange stone frames Audrey Tremaine and the vibrant landscape behind her. While she sits in the shade, the orange monolith and open blue sky invite wonder and promises of adventure.
She spent the first part of her new life traveling the Midwest, heading north into Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and looping down through Wisconsin into Indiana. Unfortunately, this part was also short-lived: a collision with a deer left her with no home or transportation, and she was forced to return home to Michigan. Even so, this event didn’t deter Audrey from her ambition.
“I decided it was time to get back on the road because this was just a setback,” she said. “I was ready to make a bigger and better setup this time.” And so she did. She worked to save up money for another van and began looking for remote work to support herself financially while on the road. In the end, she found both, and she wasted no time in ensuring she’d be well-equipped the second time. From adding solar panels and insulation to accommodations such as a toilet and workstation, she structured her new home and went back on the road in August 2025.
She’s been on the road since, currently spending her time along the West Coast.
Audrey takes the wheel, ready to see what’s on the other side of the bend.
On the Road
Of course, time and place are not the only aspects of a journey. The everyday errands and interactions, the quiet moments to yourself, the intentional ventures, the unplanned challenges, the things collected and the things left behind: all of them connect along the threads of time and place to develop experiences, things that change and strengthen you. From working inside her van home on weekdays to weekend chores like going to the laundromat or filling up the water tank, Audrey is able to support herself. This also means tackling challenges on her own. Life on the road can lead to ruts like getting stuck in the mud or puzzling how to drive up a particularly steep cliff, all with no one around to help. However, she’s found a way to move forward each time. And each time, the self-assurance to overcome these challenges grows with her.
A peaceful sunset view in an open van as sun, wave, and shoreline meet in such close proximity.
“You become much more resourceful since you are the only one who can fix the problem,” she said.
While she emphasizes the importance of self-sufficiency, she’s also grown an appreciation for the things she can learn from others when they come into her life, continuing on to say, “I have also learned to take help where I can get it. There is so much to learn from the world and those who have more experiences than you.”
But that doesn’t mean her days are relegated to a 9-to-5 work life with the occasional pothole to triumph over.
“Every day is so different since I am in a new place each week,” she said. “After all my chores are done, I usually head into a national park or go to explore a new city.”
From the “crazy terrain” out west and vast national parks to big cities and sprawling coastlines, the possibilities for exploration are endless. That also includes the closer-to-home (or closer-to-van) simple joys like hiking, painting, cooking meals in her kitchenette, and calling friends after work.
In all of this, in both the simple and the spectacular, every day was different. Every experience was new and something to be excited about.
She described her time in San Diego vividly as her favorite stop thus far: an ocean view, a welcoming van life community, new friends, unexplored hobbies, and finally fulfilling her dreams of living on the coast and surfing every day.
In fact, San Diego was both a culmination of everything her efforts led to and everything she wanted to accomplish with her journey. It was a life with her behind the steering wheel, able to support herself and do the things she loved with little holding her back. A life where she could connect with herself, the world, and the people who live in it alongside her.
As she described it, “I accomplished what I set out to do. Anything after making it to the coast was extra. I felt like I found my people and the place I was meant to be in. It was a great feeling to belong.”
While she may have achieved the independence, connections, and experiences she sought to find on this path, her journey is still far from over. She plans on continuing along the West Coast and visiting the various national parks she comes across this summer. After reaching the tip of Washington state at the start of July, she hopes to loop back down to Yosemite by the end of August, where she’ll meet with a friend and summit Half Dome. And after that?
In her words, “I do love van life so much. I’m not too sure what I am doing after August, but whatever it is, it’ll be so fun.”
Audrey spreads her arms wide beside her van, celebrating the open expanses she’s been able to reach and all she’s been able to accomplish thus far.
The Unending Destination
In a world where so much is so readily available at our fingertips, it can be hard to imagine taking a step out of that world and into one we can experience firsthand. One where we feel the sun on our backs, take paths we can’t find on a review blog, shake hands with strangers, or be challenged in ways that push us to be better and more capable versions of ourselves.
But that step is a vital one. It allows us to truly experience life as it was meant to be: fun. Enlightening. Resilient. Liberating. Part of a bigger world.
Audrey has known for a long time that this was the life she wanted to live. Even when her parents hesitated to let her take this risk, she kept pushing until they saw that this was the path she’d decided to take and would take no matter what. Since then, they’ve even visited her during her travels and continued to support her. She also has them to thank for setting her on this path in the first place.
“My dad had us involved in all water sports, trying new things, and always playing in the snow,” she explained. “I think that is what helped me make the transition from normal life to van life since I already thought having adventures every day was normal.”
She also had advice for anyone wondering whether to take that step into adventure themselves, whether that means living and traveling in a van or something as simple as trying something new, something that takes you out of your usual comfort zone of familiarity.
“I think everyone should do something they think is a little bit crazy once in their life. You learn so much about yourself and what you are capable of.”
And, if others’ concern makes you hesitate, even after your determination is firm, she continued, “If you want to do something, show everyone that it’ll work out eventually.”
Your step forward is proof, not just to the people around you or the people you care about, but also to yourself, that you are capable. So don’t be nervous. Take a step forward, then run, then maybe even drive on the road leading to the life you truly want to live.
To learn more about Audrey Tremaine or her van life journey, you can follow her on TikTok at @audrey.tremaine or on YouTube at @audrey.tremaine.
