Dreaming of Namche Bazaar

Step 1 - Van Trip to Martin Dies Jr. State Park - 24 October 2025

As I get to the other side of 50, I often wonder what will the next 20 – 30 years look like? What new experiences will it bring? How different will it be from the last 20 - 30 years? And most importantly, how can I make it count? I have no idea or rather, I have ideas that are half baked, fantasies (or as they say where I come from – “khyali pulao” or imaginary paella 🍛 😭 🍛) and hours of being influenced by YouTube videos.
As I contemplated the future, I also started to think about the future of Lens and Atlas. With all the advancements in Generative AI, what chances does an amateur travel and photography website have? Will it ever be meaningful content for anyone? But does that really matter? The idea for Lens and Atlas was to just chronicle the world through my unique perspective for myself and possibly close friends and family. And to them, in a few years from now, this might be the quaint corner of digital content that was created by a human, doing human things. And there is some assurance in that. I was recently re-reading the Nepal blog, and I was amazed how soothing it felt. And for that reason, I have decided to never use Generative AI for any content on Lens and Atlas – photos, videos, text or code. We will see where that goes. Let the experiment begin.
Back to the half-baked ideas. We have been toying with the idea of shifting the focus of our travels for some time and at least for the last 5 years we have explored the idea of getting an adventure van and doing some more land-based travel. One of the first times we started to think about it was during our trip to Patagonia where we met with several travelers in Ushuaia in vans and motorcycles who were just finishing their trip on the Pan American Highway. The idea has morphed in all sorts of directions as we have spent countless hours on YouTube and the internet researching motorhomes and trailers, full time vs. weekend traveling and even moving to a better place to launch our travels. Like I said, we are fantasizing.
However, over the past few months we have been getting some clarity. At least, we have a good agreement on what we want to experience. We want to venture into land-based travel but definitely not full-time. We want to go to difficult to reach places but not rugged off-road travel. We are okay to be uncomfortable in return for some amazing experiences and views. We want to be able to do that for extended periods of time. And we do want to be able to come back to a home base and refresh. It was important for me to write this down to be able to revisit this often as we define the next chapters of this journey.
I wanted to put this present state clarity to test with some real-world experience of getting into land-based travel in an off-grid van. The opportunity came when I had a free weekend and the weather in Texas was getting somewhat cooler at the end of October. I rented a very basic conversion van from Outdoorsy and went on a two day trip to Martin Dies Jr., State Park in Jasper, TX. The trip blog is embedded below, but here I wanted to record the experience and learnings from the trip itself. It is amazing how much you can learn over 48 hours through real life experiences vs. watching YouTube videos of the exact same thing. These are also things that I am recording to come back to later. Experience – Record – Tweak – Repeat. In no particular order:

• Vans like Sprinter or Ram Promaster kind of drive like a car but you sit much higher. Initially it feels strange but actually they are easier to drive. Of course, I was driving a short 20’ van. I am sure a longer van is a little more challenging.
• A van DC air conditioner that is not ducted is loud and if it is raining outside it will pump in some of the dampness of the air.
• Park hookups for water and electricity are very standard and there is not much guess work. I am sure there are variations, but I was surprised how well they worked at Martin Dies Jr. State Park
• I, way overpacked for the trip. It was a rookie mistake, but I did not use 60% of what I packed. To my defense, I could not use some of the things because it was raining both the nights.
• I rented a Ram Promaster 2500 conversion van and it was just about ok for me and Oslo. For a couple and a dog, a longer body van is a must. At least that way you can have decent sleeping areas and a full wet bath. Two days of heavy rain made the need for a bath very apparent.
• Being organized with your things takes on another meaning in a van. You are continuously playing Tetris, even if everything is packed and labeled and you remember where they are.
• A good amount of time needs to be dedicated to cleaning and tidying up every day to keep your sanity.
• I assume, it takes some time living in the van to get the rhythm of things and find places for things. This is the same as when you move to a new house.
• The van must be set up specifically for photography gear. Must think of design that will keep the gear safe and be quickly accessible. Will also need to think of editing setup on the rig itself.
• Mosquitoes are a reality of living outdoors. Van must be fitted with bug nets.
• As we travel, it is important to take it slow and live in a place for some extended periods. There will be good and bad days, and one needs to experience it all to make the most of it.
• Need to give good consideration for the type and placement of the air conditioner.
• Mattress choice will be critical and must be firm and supportive.
• Life is at another pace when traveling in a van and not working. Need to keep that in mind.
• Need to balance where Oslo spends the day – inside and hiking.
• You drag in a lot of dirt getting in and out of the van. We put some towels on the entrance which was a great idea.
• Bed stand is a must and place to hang keys etc.
• Placement of lights and having night lights is critical.
• Must figure out laundry for long trips.

Those are the learning from this very first step. I will plan on capturing every step of the way under “Wonder” and hopefully this will lead to the next chapter for Lens and Atlas soon.

There are additional things I am contemplating about what I want to do for Lens and Atlas. Things that will take some time to learn and build. I have dreaded video content but want to venture into regular and drone video. I have been thinking about combining my passion for sustainability and conservation with my hobbies for Photography and Travel. There are some ideas brewing on that front. What excites me is that there is so much to do. I will not be bored, that is for sure.

And here is the YouTube video blog of the trip.