Hi! How nice of you to want to know more about us. We are Jonathan and Eline, two normal people trying to be adventurous. We are building our first steps to a slow-living vanlife, because we think life’s too fast. We want to observe our surroundings, explore the world and to understand what it is that makes vanlife so popular. Do you want to join our journey?
You can follow our travels here and on Instagram!
How our journey started
When I (Eline) was around 13 years old, I got asked by my friends where on the map I wanted to live. I pointed at an island as furthest away from The Netherlands as possible. Later that little island turned out to be New Zealand. 
Jonathan was hooked on Discovery Channel as long as he can remember. He has always been adventurous and he can’t leave a tree unclimbed. 
After we met and got in a relationship, it soon became clear that we both love traveling. Our first expensive thing we bought together? A 5x5m Sahara Bell Tent. 
Intentional living
We got married, we got jobs and we lived in a rental in The Netherlands. But the dream didn’t go away. We kept thinking: ‘as soon as we have fun jobs that pay enough to buy a house with a garden and a dog, then WHAT’S NEXT?!’
All the things we came up with felt like just killing time, instead of living life. And we know we are not alone in this thought.
So this journey we’re on, is also a search for why people of our generation feel this way. Why are there so many vanlifers and what gives fulfillment to their lives? To our lives?
Tiny Home
Currently we already live two years in a van, traveling around Europe and beyond. We adopted a dog named Alaska (check that of the list!) and every year we come back several times to The Netherlands (NL) for friends, family, mandatory appointments & a bit of working. If we want to keep on traveling, we need some stability while being back in NL. A place we can call our own and where we can rest (if you know, you know).
So, building a tiny house is our next project! We are scared but excited for this new chapter and we really hope we can maintain our First Gear lifestyle this way. With friends, campfire nights, new destinations, swimming in the sea, tending to the garden & sharing stories.
Join our First Gear lifestyle. 
