During the height of COVID, Chris spent months transforming his GMC van into a cozy home on wheels for a cross-country adventure. He set out from Georgia, making his way across the Southwest, camping under the stars and soaking up the quiet freedom of the open road.

A few weeks into the trip, he invited Jess to join him for part of the journey. They met in San Francisco and spent the next ten days camping, hiking, exploring, soaking in desert hot springs, and watching movies curled up in the van. Their route led them all the way to Las Vegas, where they traded campgrounds and trailhead parking lots for a $42 hotel room and wandered through nearly empty casinos into the early hours of the morning.

The next day, it was time for Jess to fly home. As they said their goodbyes in the airport’s cell phone lot, Chris asked if they could make things official right before, in his words, he “sent her ass back to Georgia” and hit the road again.

J&C