10/02/2026
Happy 1 year van anniversary to us!! We picked up our van from Next Chapter Camper Vans on September 26 of last year and it's been an epic adventure ever since! I thought it might be fun to look back on the last year of van life to share some stats. (You might remember this photo from last year when we got it!)
There is definitely a learning curve and Doug (the owner of NCCV) has gotten his fair share of texts and calls from us with questions - all of which he's been amazing at responding to and helping us figure out every concern! Seriously, if you're in the market for a van, you won't find better customer service OR a better price - especially for the quality of the materials. Call them and get your build on the schedule. ;)
But anyway, let's talk stats! Here are some fun facts about our travels over the last year... (yes, I'm a weirdo and I track all kinds of stuff 🤣 If there's something you're curious about that you don't see here - let me know and I might have it! haha!)
🇺🇸 We have visited 31 states in the last 12 months and driven approximately 26K miles. (more detail below!) We've traveled across the north, across the south, and across the middle of the country as well as up the east coast! We traveled all around Florida in the winter and we stayed up north and in the mountains as much as we could in the summer. It's nice to be able to move with the weather. ;)
🚐 We've stayed at state parks, city campgrounds, private campgrounds, parking lots (Walmart, Cracker Barrel, Camping World, etc), dispersed camping areas (public land and forest land), people's driveways and businesses through Harvest Hosts, National Parks, friends/family, and even hotels for some nights - inside and outside in the van. ;)
⛽️ We've probably spent a small fortune on gas. As we all know, the gas prices have not been our friend over the last year. We've been in some areas where the gas was close to $5 a gallon and in some were it was in the $2-$3 a gallon range. The latter is definitely our friend! lol!
🛒 Our Walmart stops are probably in the hundreds. lol! We don't buy a lot of groceries at once so we're stopping for a few things here and there every few days typically. Sometimes daily. 🤣
🏞️ We've visited 55 National Park Service sites in the last year including 11 of the official 63 National Parks (4 of which we'd been to before but the others were a first!).
🏢 We've visited 21 museums with our NARM membership and many others in addition to that!
🗺️ We stayed in 138 unique locations and had 147 total stops over the last year. This is a breakdown of where we spent the most time (this is nights spent in each state):
Oklahoma — 148 days
(We had to be in Oklahoma for some family stuff this year plus staying local for the holidays and camping in other areas of OK we definitely spent more time there than anywhere!)
Ohio — 34 days
Texas — 24 days
Idaho — 20 days
Florida — 20 days
North Carolina — 16 days
Michigan — 12 days
Wyoming — 11 days
Missouri — 9 days
South Dakota — 8 days
Iowa — 7 days
Tennessee — 7 days
Illinois — 6 days
New Jersey — 6 days
Indiana — 5 days
Virginia — 5 days
Colorado — 4 days
Maryland — 4 days
Nebraska — 3 days
Utah — 3 days
West Virginia — 2 days
Louisiana — 2 days
Alabama — 1 day
Arkansas — 1 day
Delaware — 1 day
Mississippi — 1 day
Pennsylvania — 1 day
Wisconsin — 1 day
That about covers our year I think. Is there something else you're curious about? Ask us below and we'll answer anything we can! :)
