Camping &
Backpacking

We are self proclaimed professional campers. Even before we started traveling in our van and camping every night, we have spent many nights tent camping, both at campgrounds and in the backcountry. Here is where you can find all of our camping tips for both tent camping, backpacking, and van life!

How to Plan a Camping Trip! (Our step by step process)
Read the travel guide: How to Plan a Camping Trip! (Our step by step process)
How to find FREE camping in the USA! (Apps + websites, rules, tips, & more!)
Read the travel guide: How to find FREE camping in the USA! (Apps + websites, rules, tips, & more!)
Hiking the Enchantments
Read the travel guide: Hiking the Enchantments
Our Backpacking Gear (+ Backpacking Packing List!)
Read the travel guide: Our Backpacking Gear (+ Backpacking Packing List!)

See more posts →

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After a little detour to Iowa for RAGBRAI, we made

After a little detour to Iowa for RAGBRAI, we made it back to Atlantic Canada for the rest of the summer and fall. And for our next stop, we're on Prince Edward Island, the smallest province in Canada!
With a mix of beaches, rolling farmland, tons of lighthouses, quaint towns, and unique sights, Prince Edward Island feels a bit like you're wandering around a storybook. 😍
We spent four days road tripping all around the island and here's a quick list of what we got up to, but to see our full experience, check out today's video! 🎥
☕️ Grabbed coffee at @receivercoffee
🌼 Wandered around the charming downtown Charlottetown, the largest city in the province.
🌶 Checked out @foundersfoodhall and enjoyed goodies from @datcha.ca, @ohfudgepei, and @maritimemadnessinc
🍦 Had delicious ice cream at @holmansicecream!
🚐 Slept overlooking the ocean at the Cape Egmont lighthouse
🥔 Learned about potatoes at the Canadian Potato Museum
💨 Hiked the North Cape Hiking Trail, surrounded by huge wind turbines
🍔 Tried "Fries with the Works" at @backwoodsburger
🐄 Saw picturesque scenery as we drove all three of the province's coastal drives
🌧 Had a very rainy day at Cavendish Beach
🍰 Ate the heavenly raspberry cream cheese pie at @preservecompany
🌾 Hiked the Greenwich Dunes trail
🎶 Tried to make the sands sing at Basin Head
🥙 Wandered around Souris and had a delicious lunch and coffee at @evergreencafesouris
🍾 Explored Hannah's Bottle Village. A donation based bottle village that supports a children's hospital!

We biked 500 miles across our 50TH STATE of Iowa!

We biked 500 miles across our 50TH STATE of Iowa! 😱🎉🙌🏼
When we knew we'd be finishing visiting all 50 US states this year, we couldn't pass up the chance to end with a bang by participating in @ragbrai, an annual bike ride across the state of Iowa. Over 7 days we rode 500 miles from the Missouri River to the Mississippi River, passing through small towns and larger cities, endless fields of corn, and up and down tons of hills (Iowa is NOT flat).
It was one heck of an adventure...and the best part? We got to do it with two of our favorite humans (@schoandjo)! Together Team JAKE (not from State Farm) conquered this ride and made so many memories along the way.
Here are a handful of moments we will never forget from the week:
🌽 Biting into our first Iowa corn and experiencing the pop of a juicy kernel
🏰 Squeezing four adults into one tiny cold plunge pool and sleeping in "the castle" together at night
🐐 Holding an adorable baby goat
🏈 Riding our bikes through the Iowa State football stadium
🥰 Meeting so many supportive viewers along the way and experiencing the extremely generous hospitality of Iowans!
💦 Sliding down a slip n slide for the first time in YEARS
🍉 Relaxing after a long day and telling Connie (Elliot's mom) how the day went, plus eating the snacks she had waiting for us. #theGOAT
😬 How much your netherregions will hurt after sitting on a bike for 7 days
⚡️ Having to lockdown in a school gym as a big storm passed
🍓 The feeling of eating a frozen acai bowl on a hot summer day
🏆 The indescribable sense of accomplishment when we made it to the end. We have never been more proud of ourselves!
RAGBRAI was hands down the most mentally and physically challenging thing we have ever done. There is so much more we could say, but to see the full experience and all of the highs and lows, check out today's YouTube video!
This video is without a doubt one of our favorites, if not our favorite, that we have ever made. Many, many hours of sweat, almost tears, and hard work went into creating it, both on the bike and within the last couple weeks of editing. We hope you enjoy watching this one of a kind experience as much as we enjoyed living it!

Today marks 4 years of van life! 🎉 4 years ago

Today marks 4 years of van life! 🎉 4 years ago today we drove out of Austin in our newly completed van, Brisket, (enjoy some throwback photos from 2019!) and embarked on what has truly been the most epic adventure of our lives!
Over the last 4 years we have visited all 50 states (49 by van!), 5 Canadian provinces and 2 Canadian territories, driven as far north as the Arctic Ocean, checked off 33 new national parks in the van, and so much more. And we have grown and learned a lot along the way! Here are some of our biggest takeaways:
✨ Some of the best gems on this continent can only be discovered by road tripping. We have experienced so many cool places that we would've never known about without being on the road.
👕 Experiences > things.
🛀 We have gained a new appreciation for water, electricity, internet (Starlink is a gamechanger though!), and long showers. Oh, and an oven! We miss roasting veggies!
💨 Windy days are NOT fun in a high top vehicle. And maintenance is 10x harder when your vehicle is also your home.
📅 Having a routine on the road is tough. Traveling slowly definitely helps create a better work, life, and travel balance. We have traveled WAY too fast and look forward to slowing down in 2024.
❤️ Making nomadic friends is key! Having friends that understand this aspect of our lives and can understand the many highs and lows has helped us tremendously!
🤙🏼 As our friends @schoandjo would say, embrace the pivot! Things go wrong, there are tons of minor inconveniences, and plans constantly change. I am really proud of myself for being able to embrace the uncertainty and changes much more than I would have 4 years ago.
🏡 Home is less about the place and more about the company. Our scenery may change constantly, but we always feel at home as long as we are together. It's cheesy, but true!
We love you Brisket! 🚐 Thank you for taking us to some of the most epic places. We can't wait for many more years exploring together ❤️

We officially made it to our 50th STATE...Iowa! 🙌🏼🎉
One of our goals this year was to visit our remaining states and despite spending the summer and fall in Canada, we couldn't pass up the chance to visit our 50th state in the most epic way...by tackling an event called RAGBRAI (more on that in our next video)!
But getting to the event was a bit logistically challenging with multiple flights, many hours of driving, and having to rent bikes. And in today's video we bring you along as we travel from Prince Edward Island in Canada to Sioux City, Iowa, where our EPIC 50th state adventure will begin!

Do you know what's even better than seeing the Bay

Do you know what's even better than seeing the Bay of Fundy's tides? Going tidal bore rafting!
After experiencing the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick, we popped down into Nova Scotia to visit the Shubenacadie River. This is a tidal river that meets up with the Bay of Fundy and when the Bay of Fundy's tide rises, the river gets a surge of water, called a tidal bore, which creates waves perfect for rafting.
We booked a 4 hour rafting tour (during an extreme tide) with @fundytidalbore and it was easily one of the CRAZIEST things we have ever done! It was basically a rollercoaster on water 🎢🌊 We screamed and laughed nonstop for hours, got absolutely drenched, and rolled around in mud like kids. It was wayyy too much fun!
Today's video may be a shorter one, but it's jam packed with excitement! We hope you enjoy it! 😃

Located between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia lies

Located between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia lies one of the world’s greatest natural wonders, the Bay of Fundy. This body of water is home to the highest tides in the world, with 160 billion TONS of water flowing in and out of the bay every 6 hours, which is apparently enough to fill the Grand Canyon. 😱
To see these crazy tides for ourselves, we spent 18 hours at Hopewell Rocks, a park known for its super cool flowerpot rocks. We experienced the park at low tide by walking on the very muddy ocean floor, which was pretty hilarious when Adam got totally stuck. 😂 Plus at high tide, both from overlooks and on a kayaking tour with @baymountoutdoor. It was absolutely surreal to see areas we were walking on completely covered in water!
You can see the water level difference in photos 2 & 3, but to see the full experience, check out today's YouTube video 🎥

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