Tasha Rivard is a graphic designer/artist and digital marketing professional. She is an avid surfer currently based in California. She has produced logos, websites and social media content for a variety of apparel, sporting goods and outdoor products retailers. In addition to photography and design, I’m also a Staff Writer for the surf blog DailyStoke.com.
Follow her van journey at www.tinyvantravels.com, or on Instagram @tinyvantravels. Learn more about her work at www.tasharivard.com, or follow her art Instagram @tasha.rivard.
Be sure to check out her Resources page!
Tasha lives in a 2010 Transit Connect in Carbondale, Colorado. She spent much of her free time studying abroad in Australia traveling the Outback in a rented van. After, she moved to Hawaii, where she met friends living in their vans. She wanted her own van to be small enough to get good gas mileage, drive through cities, and look completely incognito. After tons of research, she decided to go with a 2010 Ford Transit Connect van.
She chose this model for its dimensions and gas mileage. The 2010 is about 5’2″ at its wide point above the rear tires and about 4’11” tall. Since she’s only 5′, she would be able to install the bed width-wise to save space. (The newer models grew progressively shorter and narrower, so it had to be a 2010.) These 4-cylinder vans get 25mpg to save on gas and handle much like a small vehicle.
She found her van on Craigslist. It had been previously owned by a company who had already put 115,000 miles on it. It came with industrial shelving already installed, which was a plus.
Rivard’s Transit Connect includes a compact bed that rolls up to expose a work space with a desk for her freelance design, and art and jewelry projects. A 100-watt solar panel charges a house battery that powers her refrigerator, lights and other electronic devices.
“The whole ‘not paying rent’ thing gives me the freedom to live in places I might not be able to otherwise,” says Rivard. “That has allowed me to go after new job opportunities and live basically anywhere while keeping life simple.”Like many who call their vans home, Rivard keeps up a gym membership where she can exercise and get a shower. She also has a portable electric shower hooked up to a freshwater tank in the van where she can rinse off after a morning surf.
Van life is very community-oriented, and once you get into it, you quickly realize how many other people are doing it too, says Rivard, who credits social media with helping her create connections with like-minded individuals. Safety has never been an issue either. “You get used to picking the right spots, and you just rely on common sense,” she says.
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