Have you ever fantasized about walking out the door and leaving everything behind for good? I have. And then, I actually did it.

In 2019, I answered the call of my lifelong wanderlust. Since then, my home has been my trusty 2010 Toyota Sienna. My backyard is anywhere I park it.

Before that, my plans for putting rubber to road were stalled by a profound depressive episode that nearly killed me. I eventually inventoried which aspects of my life I could truly control. Whatever didn’t contribute to good mental health had to go. That long process ultimately enabled me to make the leap of faith necessary to give up a stable job and leave a conventional home.

While traveling the US and Canada solo as a full-time digital nomad is indeed a dream come true, it's become essential that I explore what else, besides my wanderlust, propels my travels. Turns out that living the dream has not made everything right. Why have I put so much distance between myself and my loved ones? To achieve genuine fulfillment, it’s become necessary to unpack all the baggage I’ve been dragging with me. This self-examination is serialized in my podcast, “The Carol-Van: A (Van) Life Podcast." Through deeply personal narratives, I follow breadcrumbs leading to painful, ridiculous, and triumphant revelations and confront the consequences of unresolved issues. Not only for those I love that are struggling to understand, but for my own emotional well-being and desire to reconnect. The only way forward is to expose what's holding me back.