26th Birthday Wish: Van Life In Ecuador

After a few incredibly challenging years of constantly living in fight or flight, I am inspired to change my trajectory and dare myself to live boldly and freely. As I envision my dream life—one where creativity, storytelling, flow, and adventure are the pillars that sustain me—I realize it comes with great responsibility. A responsibility to dig deep into my desires, trust my intuition, be my own advocate, release fears in front of the things that scare me, and fight fiercely for what feels right for me. With that, I am taking a big chance at the possibility of making my van life dreams come true with your help!

I have had this dream since high school. I imagined that one day I would get a van and live out of it while traveling all throughout the US doing some soul searching, but sometimes life carves out other paths. After a spinal injury in June of last year, which left me unable to continue working and completely depleted of my savings, I decided to move back to my beloved Ecuador to continue my healing process and find a way to lead a less productive (as defined by capitalistic hustle culture) and more fulfilling life. As my body heals and as I slowly learn to regulate my nervous system after back to back curveballs like serious family illness, several big moves, a house fire, homelessness, a settlement, mental and neurodevelopment disorder diagnoses, a car accident, sexual assault, a trial, family death, my injury, and many more things, I am finally starting to feel afloat and able to look beyond just survival. This is where my van life dream comes in! Because of my new life here in Ecuador for the foreseeable future, I realized it would be such a privilege and incredible opportunity to adjust my plan and move it here. My ultimate goal is to do something wildly different from working 50+ hour weeks at the cost of my well-being while creatively and visually documenting and sharing my journey to inspire others to step outside of their comfort zone and live courageously. I would also love to capture the beauty of Ecuador and inspire conscious, respectful, and meaningful tourism to my homeland.

It’s very difficult for me to ask for help because I often want to feel strong and capable of doing everything on my own. If nothing else, this last year has really showed me the value of having a community to fall back on and to help pick up the pieces. I’ve learned that strength is not a measure of our capacity to bear weight alone, but a measure of our capacity to embrace our limitations and rely on others. On my own, I am not able to financially cover the cost of the van (about $10-15k), and all the modifications it will need. Though I plan to do minimal, at home adapting, I will still need a decent budget (I estimate around $3-5k) to make it live-able and most importantly, safe. I’m sure unexpected expenses will arise, but my hope is that I’ll be able to achieve all the necessary work with my goal of $17,000.

I realize this is a very big ask, and as much as it terrifies me, I bravely and humbly ask for any contribution you might be able to make to support my vision. I am profoundly thankful for your time and/or your contribution. ♡

Sinarely