Follow Joey & Tamie as they explore Europe by Van
We're not sure where we are going, but we know it won't be boring
Follow Joey & Tamie as they explore Europe by Van
We're not sure where we are going, but we know it won't be boring
Explore Europe with Us
After 7 years of planning- Our Journey Finally Begins
Well, we’re doing it. We are going to travel Europe in a camper van that we built. Crazy? Perhaps. And while it may appear haphazard, it is a dream that we’ve been working toward since 2019.
Married for four years, in 2019 Joey and I started to really think about our future. As a couple, we had already confirmed our lust for travel, unique experiences, and everything opposite of routine. We witnessed people around us “on the wheel”, living the same year, every year, for their entire lives. We held onto a lyric from our favorite Avicii song, “...live a life you will remember”.
Here’s what you need to know about my husband, Joe Cook. He is a big dreamer and a visionary. The camper van scene just started around 2019 and Joey saw this as an inexpensive way that we might be able to reach our dream of traveling. I was hesitant, only because the initial pictures of vans he sent me were of orange 1980 Econoline’s with shag carpet (see Photo Gallery Below- Photo 1). Hardly glamourous. In July 2019 I returned home from my Iceland research expedition to find a camper van in the driveway (Photo 2). My husband, always looking for a deal, found a “unicorn” in Pensacola, Florida. A 2006 Mercedes Sprinter camper van with only 28,000 miles. He bought it from a woman who was an aspiring country singer who intended to use it to pursue her music career. Apparently, her music, nor the van, went very far.
We played around with short weekend trips in Vanny White (her name), but the true value of the van revealed itself during the pandemic. In March 2020, Joey and I had taken the van to Clearwater Beach, FL during my Spring Break from Berry College where I was a professor. When I received an email from my Provost that my college was closed and that we would hold classes remotely (Photo 3A), our dreams came into fruition, we were free. Joey was able to manage his vascular access company remotely, so for six weeks, we lived in our van. Because it was the pandemic, all the hotels and Air BnB’s were shut down leaving us in our camper van at the beach with only the locals. We bought food from grocery stores and cooked it on our stove top or grill. In 82 square feet of space, we had everything we needed: paddle boards (Photo 3B), roller blades, yoga mats, swimsuits, liquor, and each other. Eventually, Joey had to get back to check-in with his employees, but we left Florida knowing that we were going to be van lifers.
But how? We realized that we both had some work to do to put this dream into action. I was a tenured college professor so I would have to reconcile leaving a secure career that hardly NOBODY walks away from. My first book was just about to be published and I had fallen in love with writing and I realized that this could be a great substitute. But, I would still have to replace my salary. Luckily, college professors, especially those at Berry College, don’t get paid much. I thought long and hard about my passions, talents, and economics which lead me the idea of starting an educationally-focused tour company. I had nearly two decades of experience in organizing and leading study abroad trips for groups of undergraduate students. Thus, I knew the in’s and out’s of educational travel. My company, Adventure Geology Tours, was born. I built my company on nights and weekends and launch my first trips during the Summer of 2022. Joey partnered with a medical company that quickly expanded. Over the next few years, they would have enough employees for Joey to step aside from clinical duties, allowing him to provide guidance and assistance remotely.
With our businesses in place, we decided to buy a new Mercedes Sprinter van on May 9, 2022. (Photo 4). We began to work on it during nights and weekends in our driveway (Photo 5). Among the scariest things I have ever done in my life was to watch Joey cut holes in the side of a brand-new vehicle to install the flares and windows. Eventually, we realized that we needed a shop to continue progress on our van build. We rented a damp and dilapidated warehouse for a while (Photo 6) but our tools and equipment were getting rusty. We eventually moved into a very nice warehouse where we were able to install the structure for the flooring, insulation, roof rack (Photo 7), and other miscellaneous chores. This is where we got stuck. Following the lead of van builder, Seven O’Savage, we bought 80/20 aluminum from China with plans to build our cabinets. Once we had the material, we realized that we were in over our heads. We already had so much money invested in our van build we simply did not want the interior to look basic or shitty. We knew exactly what we wanted our van to look like and it was the opposite of a cabin. We wanted sexy, glam, lounge vibes. We hunted for cabinet makers around Rome, Georgia, and basically wasted nine months.
In July 2024, we decided to punt again. We dropped our van off at a reputable van building company in Kennesaw, Georgia called Live More Campervans. While they have a huge shop and build six different layouts of camper vans, the owner, hesitantly, decided to take on our special build. Again, my husband, the dreamer and visionary, had grandiose ideas for what this van should look like. Live More Campervans (Photo 8) were able to complete the furring strips (Photo 9), wall panels, and ceiling. By March 2025 Live More Campervans decided that they, too, were in over their heads, and passed the project back to us. Sigh.
So, here we are again, another set-back. Another thing that is very different between our van and others is the battery. Per recommendation of van builder, Brandon Buckley, we bought a $13k battery from China that can keep us off-grid for two weeks without starting the engine. (Because what is sexier than having electricity?) However, during one of our THREE moves we lost the battery cables and the control screen. FML. Despite searching, and using Google Translate to contact China, we couldn’t find a solution. Joey and I realized that if this van was going to be finished before we die then we were going to have to drive it to the expert van builders who all live on the west coast.
In April 2025 we loaded up the van with all of equipment we purchased (toilet, battery, stove, refrigerator, microwave, etc.) and we drove from Georgia to San Diego, California (Photo 10) where we would meet Keon Tilghman (Photo 11). Keon, a friend of Brandon Buckley, agreed to complete project in three months, which would take six because our infamous fuchsia laminate was backordered.
In October of 2025 we made a trip to San Diego to pick up the finished van. However, miscommunication, and again, a roadblock with the battery, provided another set-back. Sigh. Although I already had the van's shipping container booked for December, I was able to postpone the shipping date to February 2026. The good news is that we were able to meet with Keon in-person to talk though some last minute design details and to see the progress on the van. Without a doubt, Keon has the lock-down on lighting that will make our lounge-on-wheels one of a kind (Photo 12)!
Now you can understand why this dream has taken nearly seven years to complete. Over the years we have told people about our dream to live in a van and travel Europe and we have been met with excitement, curiosity, or pandering responses. Nonetheless, we have never lost sight of our dream. We are excited to hit the road. Follow us at katsbekats.com, YouTube, or Instagram to see where we end up!
Our van life journey captured in photos-PART I
PHOTO 1- This was the very first picture of a van that Joey sent to me. And no wonder I wasn't interested in hearing more about his "van life" idea.
Photo 2- In July 2019 I came home from my research expedition in Iceland to see this van in our drive way. Although I was pleased that it had a bathroom, I was still largely unimpressed.
Photo 3A- The pandemic shut-down found us at Clearwater Beach, FL in Vanny White. I was lucky enough to have my laptop so that I could hold virtual classes. We spent six weeks at the beach in our van and became addicted to the nomadic lifestyle it gave us.
PHOTO 3B- During the pandemic all of the hotels and AirBnB's were shut down in Florida. This left us hanging out with the locals. Despite the NO PARKING sign that you'll see in this photo, we were able to park here over night for 3 days. What a view!
PHOTO 3C- The van literally only has 82 square feet of living space with a "garage" underneath our bed. This means that the things you keep with you are either necessary or useful. We were happy to have brought along our inflatable paddle boards that allowed us to get on the water. (These are iRockers and are from a great small company out of Jacksonville, FL. Highly recommended!)
PHOTO 4- New van pick-up day! During and after the pandemic people were scrambling to buy vans. Additionally, Mercedes had supply chain issues so they were not receiving many. Fortunately, with help from the dealership, we were able to purchase ours in May 2022. We would name her "FULL SEND".
Starting to build our van- PART II
PHOTO 5A- We brought our new van back to our house on Redfern Trail only to realize that it was too tall to fit in the garage. We began our van build in our back yard and our driveway until winter came.
PHOTO 5B- Some of the early things we did was to put in sound deadening panels and foam insulation. Later, Live More Campervans would make us scrap out ALL of the foam insulation because it "violated their warranty". It was a mistake to remove it because they didn't end up finishing the project.
PHOTO 6- In order to make any progress on our van build we realized that we needed some sort of shop. Joey called around and found an empty warehouse. It did not have electricity, so we had to use a generated for power. This old warehouse served its purpose though. We were able to install the floor, flares, windows, skylight, and swivel chair components.
The many road blocks of our van build- PART III
PHOTO 7- Our new shop! Joey was able to contact someone who was selling a warehouse and ask them if we could rent a space. This was a huge upgrade for us. Inside this much nicer space we were able to install our Owl Roof Rack and Side Bars. Here, however, we would hit our first major road block- How to build the cabinets??
PHOTO 8- After waiting months to get our 80/20 aluminum shipment from China, we decided not to build the cabinets ourselves. We chased around cabinet builders in Rome, GA for nine months before we decided to pay a professional to finish the entire build. We landed at Live More Campervans in Kennesaw, GA. While they didn't finish the job, Joey & I left with a good idea of our layout and design.
PHOTO 9- This is what the interior of our van looked like before the walls were put up. These are called furring strips and are necessary to hang the cabinets. You'll notice all of the insulation we had previously put up was removed. Sigh.
Fuck it. Taking the van to San Diego- PART IV
PHOTO 10- After nine months of having our van at LiveMore Camper vans we had not made much forward progress. The battery system we had purchased was complicated and we lost some of the essential components during our move(s). Additionally, we had a vision of a lounge on wheels with lighting options most vans do not have. So, amicably, we parted ways. We contacted west coast van builder, Brandon Bu
PHOTO 11- Dropping off the van in San Diego, California where FULL SEND will be finished.
PHOTO 12- A sneak peek of FULL SEND. Keon really has lighting locked down!