Thinking of Disaster After 5 Years of Van Life

August 9th marked five years of full-time van travel for us. After owning a 2018 Winnebago Travato 59K and a 2019 Winnebago Revel, we had a custom van built by All Advantures (now Van America) using Adventure Wagon’s modular interior system. Upon its purchase, we made a personal commitment of five more years on the road, so it will be interesting to see how life unfolds through year ten.

I actually thought this month would be full of reflection of our five years on the road, and I would spend some time sharing our experience for those that are thinking of making the leap into van life. Instead, I’ve been consumed with immense grief as I watch what’s happening in Lahaina in the aftermath of a fire that has wiped out over 2,000 acres of multi-generational homes, businesses, Hawaiian culture, and most unfortunately, lives.

No matter your connection to the islands, I hope you will remember the Hawaiian people from time-to-time as the Lahaina Fire begins to fade in national news. Their recovery will be ongoing for years as it has been in places like Paradise, California, that was also victim to a devastating fire back in 2018. If you can find even a small way to help them move forward with rebuilding Lahaina town, their homes, and their lives, it will mean the world to me and everyone affected.

Whether or not you’re familiar with the Camp Fire, I recommend watching the Fire in Paradise documentary. It’s heart-wrenching, but it gave me a different view of wildfires that will hopefully guide me the next time I’m within the vicinity of one. It will also give you a glimpse of the loss and challenges that Lahaina is facing.

The Camp and Lahaina Fires have forced me to analyze our preparedness for wildfires and other disasters as we move about the country in a van. I’m not a wildfire novice as I was directly affected by both the Gondola and Angora Fires in Lake Tahoe with the first forcing me to evacuate and the other raining burning embers on my roof. I also grew up in California. But all fires are different, and I’ve never seen anything like the recent destruction on Maui.

Ruminating over the Lahaina and Camp Fire details, I’ve had the following thoughts about wildfires and van life:

We might have to ditch our van

One of the oft-touted perks of van life is that if you don’t like something, you can relocate. Don’t like your camp neighbors? Move to a different campsite. Don’t like the weather? Drive to another locale. However, in a wildfire or other extreme weather event, it could prove difficult or even impossible. Downed trees and utility poles could block the road, or traffic could be at a standstill as everyone tries to flee. If there isn’t a driveable path, we need to be prepared to abandon our van and go by foot.

And we need to have a go-bag ready

Many people whose homes are in wildfire country have a bag ready with essentials in the event of a wildfire or other natural disaster. There’s no reason why we can’t also make room for one in our small van space that’s easily accessible.

We need to identify escape routes in every area we visit

When we lived in Lake Tahoe, I was very familiar with all the roads in and out of town, as well as back roads and hiking trails. But while we’re in a constant state of travel, I lack intimacy with the paths in and out of every place we visit.

Once while camping several miles down a dirt road far away from the closest town, we received a weather warning that fire danger was imminent. Thunderstorms were approaching with an overwhelming number of cloud to ground lightning strikes expected. We immediately pulled out our road atlas of the state and mapped a way out of the wilderness via dirt roads. (Keeping a road atlas of every state on board is important to me as I find navigation apps to be unreliable at times and lacking key details.) I slept a little better knowing that we knew all the ways out if a fire emerged.

While we identified our potential escape routes at the first sign of danger, we really should’ve had a plan in place before receiving the weather alert. We need to be proactive going forward because we might have less time to figure it out.

And if we have to shelter in place, where will that be?

If we can’t outrun flames, we need to have a plan for the best chance of survival. In addition to knowing roads in and out of town, we need to note places to park and shelter in our van that will give us the best fire buffer like football fields, airstrips, large parking lots, etc.

We need to invest in a satellite communication device

It’s not uncommon for power and cellular service to go out during an emergency and satellite is going to be the best way to communicate with emergency personnel and loved ones.

While we have Starlink, setting it up could take too much time in an emergency. Plus, it consumes a crazy amount of energy and the equipment is too bulky to transport if we have to ditch our van. For a long time I’ve been wanting to purchase something like a Garmin inReach. We could even upgrade to an iPhone 14 which now includes Emergency SOS via satellite. I’ve already read success stories, including one related to the Lahaina Fire.

We should evacuate early

If winds are strong and vegetation is dry, it doesn’t take long for fire to travel several miles. Flames that appear at a safe distance could be at your door within minutes. If our experience and gut are telling us a wildfire is threatening our safety, we shouldn’t wait for evacuation alerts.

The van life advantage is that we can take our home with us and keep it from harm, but that only works if we can get ahead of any chaos. It’s possible that our choice to evacuate early will be considered overly cautious and nothing will transpire, but driving our home to another spot will only be a minor inconvenience compared to potential losses.

We shouldn’t let the resources in our van get too low

During a catastrophic event, it might be difficult to acquire food, water, fuel, power, cash, and more. We shouldn’t let anything we carry in our van run down to nothing.

We already have an oversize 47-gallon diesel fuel tank that we almost never let go below half full. But sometimes we’re not so good about keeping enough non-perishable food and water on hand. We’ve definitely found ourselves without a single drop of water and the closest spigot dozens of miles away.

We have also let our battery run down to less than 10% and that’s not the position we want to be in if a wildfire emerges. We should stay topped off as much as possible.

We need to microchip our pets

While Bruce is sadly no longer with us, and we have no other pets, I’ve still thought about how to prepare for a wildfire event if we adopt another pet in the future.

One thing that has been at the top of my mind is microchipping. Bruce didn’t have a microchip. When he was born, I don’t think they were as highly encouraged as they are now, and I definitely see advantages. If we get separated during an emergency, a microchip could help to reunite us. If our pet is lost to a wildfire, a microchip can help animal welfare agencies identify our cat or dog and bring us closure.

We need to educate ourselves and prepare for a range of disaster types, not just wildfires

I’m sure we’ll cross paths with a wildfire in the future as they are predicted to become more frequent and intense. And we can’t ignore that other weather-related events and natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, flash floods, thunderstorms, bomb cyclones, blizzards, or other catastrophic events will likely affect our van travels.

Before hitting the road, we never anticipated the COVID pandemic which handed the full-time van life and RV community a unique set of challenges. Stay-at-home orders kept RVers out of a number of RV parks, campgrounds, and public lands, and some locals just didn’t want people from out-of-state in their towns, understandably. Trying to pay for a public shower was impossible. Finding emergency medical care was also a concern for a time.

This past winter, we got caught in the cold wave triggered by this historic extratropical cyclone. Our van’s diesel gelled up as temperatures hit -20 degrees Fahrenheit, and we couldn’t drive for a few days. Thank goodness for kind locals that made sure we had what we needed as we were immobilized.

It was also a record-breaking season full of powder days to the delight of skiers and snowboarders across the West but also devastating to people whose homes were crushed by the snow’s intense weight. In some places like Mammoth, heavy snow broke propane lines leading to leaks and explosions. As back-to-back atmospheric rivers pummeled states like California, a state of emergency was declared.

While in Wyoming this past spring, we were under our first-ever tornado warning as we sat in a thunderstorm, lightning striking all around in the middle of an open prairie with no underground shelter anywhere nearby. Not long after our tornado scare, we were in Yellowstone when crazy winds tore through, taking down trees and power lines, destroying buildings, and disabling power for a portion of the national park.

Going into van life, I thought I was prepared for a number of scenarios. While I might have a decent grasp on how to prepare and what to expect when it comes to wildfires, earthquakes, and snowstorms, I certainly don’t have much confidence if I found myself in a hurricane, tornado, or flash flood. While I’ve definitely seen my share of thunderstorms, I’ve yet to experience one with damaging large hail. With the rise in mass shootings, I realize I’m not prepared for that either.

Severe weather is becoming more frequent and extreme. Heat alone causes the most weather-related deaths, which seems to largely go unnoticed. 

There is so much for us to consider and implement if we want to stay as safe as possible, and my thoughts aren’t meant to be an exhaustive list of everything you should do to prepare for the worst. But I do hope you’re encouraged to think about how you’ll prepare for adverse events while traveling in a van or RV and take action if you already live or travel in one.

If you’ve ever been stuck in a disaster while on the road, we’d appreciate hearing about your experience and any tips you have for staying safe.