“It’s bare minimum and it’s rugged, but it’s freedom”
Brianna and Keith Madia, along with their two dogs Bucket and Dagwood, live in a modified 1990 Ford E350, lovingly named Bertha. Though they live on the road, they have both found home in the deserts of Utah.
The whole gang with their van, Bertha
Nearly five years ago they travelled across America from the East Coast. According to Brianna they were, “Drawn in by the lure of the mountains and the freedom of the American West.” But it was the deserts that have kept them on the road since.
She adds, “We felt an indescribable pull to that undeveloped wilderness.” In Utah the couple prefer to stay off the beaten track. While there are plenty of National and State parks, they much prefer the rugged lands of the desert back country and actively seek out solitude.
Very early in their adventure, the explorers learnt that if something is difficult to access, you have a high chance of having it all to yourself. This is why they invested in Bertha. Modified with a lift and four wheel drive, they now have even greater access to unexplored territories. “Our van life dream had very little to do with fancy furnished interiors and everything to do with those 35 inch tyres and massive off-road clearance,” Brianna says.
It is these wild landscapes that the couple have come to call home
The ability to travel is exactly what van life is all about for these two. Inside, Bertha is very minimal. She has vinyl ‘wood’ floors, a bed, a bench seat with some storage and a swivel driving seat. Keith built a homemade air conditioning unit by connecting a plastic hose to the couples cooler and attaching a fan wrapped in copper wire, which is a welcome addition in the desert heat. There is no kitchen or water system installed so Brianna and Keith cook on a little stove. She says, “The easiest way to describe our set up is that we are basically camping.”
Nonetheless, van living has opened up a whole world of desert landscapes for the adventurous couple. Brianna adds that, for them, van life is “bare minimum and it’s rugged but it’s freedom.”
Follow their adventures on Instagram and find more pictures in our brand new summer issue.
