Society & Culture
What started as a road trip across Australia blossomed into a two-year Pan-American van life road trip for the record books. Mattijs bought the pale yellow Westfalia he and Desiree call home almost immediately upon returning from Australia and set to work. No more waiting, they were going to do this thing. Mattijs fixed it up, banked overtime at his job and they went on a six-week test trip to Spain and Portugal where they met the true love of their lives, Paco. They figured out what worked, what didn’t work and they geared up for their big journey. We caught up with the three while they were driving through Riding Mountain National Park, and offered them a driveway to stay in for a night. We all huddled together inside the van and chatted all things van life, how long it took to start, how long they’ve been on the road, the struggles and triumphs along the way, and why they chose to ditch their old lives for one on the road. Thru Here releases new episodes every Thursday. You can learn more about Des and Matt’s journey by checking out their website at http://www.dreamsonwheels.nl, or by following @dreamsonwheels.nl. Follow along on the rest of their 1.5 year journey! Season one of Thru Here takes place in Riding Mountain National Park, a vast forested oasis among Manitoba’s hundreds of kilometres of prairie, and a destination for many travellers. Thru Here is recorded on Treaty 2 territory. The land is the traditional territory of the Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene Peoples and the homeland of the Metis Nation. The land is also used by Indigenous nations from Treaties 1, 3 and 4. Follow us on social media, we’re @thruhere on Tumblr, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.