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An interview with Kalen, a full time adventurer.
Welcome back to the Frontier Journal! In this blog, Kalen Rivers, a full time adventurer, gives us insight into truck camper life. Living life on the road full-time is a dream for many, but for Kalen, her husband Kyle and their dog Cake, it's a daily reality. As a dedicated truck camper, they’ve embraced a minimalist and adventurous lifestyle that’s as challenging as it is rewarding. From navigating remote backroads to discovering hidden gems, Kalen shares insights into what it takes to turn a truck into a home on wheels. In this interview, she reveal the highs and lows of life on the move, offer tips for fellow adventurers, and discuss how this unique lifestyle has changed their perspective on freedom and home.
What inspired you to embrace the road life? Was there a defining moment that made you take the leap?
Travel changed my life. Seeing this world, experiencing new cultures - it’s where I feel the most inspired. A month or so before our wedding in 2017 Kyle, my now husband, had shown me Youtube videos of vanlifers. I honestly didn’t think much of it with everything else on my mind at the time but, when we returned home from our 3 week wedding/honeymoon romping around Europe I was certain I could live out of a suitcase... I just couldn’t do it without my dog, Cake. Road life was the solution.
What does this lifestyle mean to you? Is it about freedom, adventure, simplicity, or something else?
It certainly started out as an insatiable desire to travel. To go and see as much of the U.S as we could. So yeah, adventure, of course! And simplicity, sure. I never want to go back to owning stuff I literally don’t need. But over the course of the last (almost!) 5 years this lifestyle has come to mean so much more to me. This way of life - living with far fewer conveniences, learning how to be self-sufficient in a lot of ways, being in situations where we’ve had no other choice but to figure it out on our own - it’s built character. If you accept the challenge, life shows you how capable you are and if you’re willing to pursue that level of self-responsibility there’s a depth of freedom you experience that most people will never touch. Once I felt that freedom, life as I knew it changed. Completely. So, this lifestyle means everything to me. It’s made me realize how little I need to thrive and how truly happy I am with less. Less stuff, less obligations, less “keeping up” with society. It’s made me more curious, about humans and our stories, our beliefs and our choices. It’s taught me patience and understanding. It’s encouraged me to be wildly intentional. And my favorite of all, it’s shown me the magic – the absolute PERFECTION - of our natural world!
Can you describe your setup?
We have a ‘95 flatbed F-250 with a ‘96 pop-top Shadow Cruiser camper, built out with external storage boxes. We lived in a 27’ 1995 International school bus for about 3 years before we switched to this set up. We wanted 4WD and we wanted to be able to sit next to each other and talk while we drove.
In the cab of the truck we have a closet rack where we hang things like jackets and backpacks. We also keep a 35L Dometic freezer where we store important things like quality meat and, of course, ice cream. Inside the camper we have a 2 burner propane stove, a residential apartment size fridge, a 40 gallon water tank, composting toilet, full(ish) size bed, diesel heater, and LOADS of storage.
How do you manage your daily needs (e.g., cooking, sleeping, hygiene) on the road? Any tips or tricks for making it more comfortable?
Embrace it! Truly, that’s my trick. I don’t think the average person would consider this lifestyle comfortable but I do think there’s plenty of comfort to be found in embracing and appreciating the magic of it.
I recommend considering what matters most to you and building your set-up to accommodate that. Our set up favors cooking. We prioritized our kitchen set-up because it’s what we use most when we’re in the camper. Most of our interior storage houses pantry items and kitchen staples. We have a relatively large fridge compared to most in this lifestyle and combined with our cab freezer it allows us to have fresh produce (BIG farmers market people!) and farm raised meats on board, always.
As for everything else, we have an outdoor shower which is great during the summer or when we’re down south for the winter. We also have a Planet Fitness membership that I use exclusively for their shower facilities. I’ll take my training outside please & thank you. We use apps like iOverlander to find places to camp, fill our water and dump. We do our laundry at laundromats. We fill up our propane every 2ish months and spend a mortgage size payment on fuel haha.
The inconveniences of this lifestyle are worth it to us because the trade off is a constant rotation of epic backyard views and endless memories.
How do you choose your next destination? Are you more of a planner or do you prefer to go with the flow?
I’m a little of both but I definitely lean more towards going with the flow. We tend to always have something that pulls us in a certain direction. When we first hit the road we wanted to make it to Georgia by Christmas to be with family. So, we took that opportunity to explore the south. Then we wanted to be back in the PNW for summer, so we drove back across the U.S. Soon we got the itch to spend winter in Baja, so we did! When we needed to build out our new rig we headed back across the U.S, again, to North Carolina and stayed in my in-laws driveway for 4 months. Then we booked it all the way back to Baja that Spring. Looking back on the last 5 years we’ve consistently had a place we either wanted or needed to be at that decided the direction we were headed and we just choose our route depending on what we feel like seeing along the way.
What’s the strangest or funniest thing that’s happened to you on the road? Any wild stories?
I’ll be honest, when we first hit the road everything seemed crazy and weird and new. But the longer we’ve been out here the more I think I see “strange” things as normal things LOL. So much so that when people ask I struggle to think of anything wild to share. I do imagine that my everyday life is probably pretty wild to a lot of people.
One memory that will always stick with me was getting “stuck” in the Florida Keys at the onset of Covid lockdowns. The whole situation was just a beautiful cosmic wink. The Keys were never even on our radar but once we were in Florida everyone we met kept telling us we had to go. As luck would have it my husbands old coworker had connections in Key Largo and she was ironically going to be in town at the same time we were. So we went. The first day she got us set up with ocean front parking. The second day we rented a Mustang convertible and drove to Key West. And on the third day the world started shutting down. Her friend, the owner of the land we were staying on, insisted we stay. The uncertainty kept us put and for 2 months we experienced Key Largo like most people never will. It was like a ghost town, except not spooky just incredibly peaceful. I woke up everyday, walked out to the edge of the dock and felt immense gratitude for life. We ate stone crab, went out fishing and snorkeling with the boat captain neighbor, paddled around the mangroves, and rode the used electric bikes we were gifted 2 miles every single day to CVS so we could poop. Ahh, life before we had a composting toilet haha.
Conclusion
After speaking with Kalen, it’s clear that full-time truck camping is more than just a way to travel—it’s a lifestyle that redefines freedom, simplicity, and adventure. Their journey demonstrates how living on the road, while challenging, can offer profound rewards and personal growth. Whether it’s learning to adapt to changing environments or discovering the beauty of off-the-beaten-path destinations, Kalen shows us that home can truly be wherever you park it. For anyone dreaming of life on the open road, their story is both inspiring and insightful.
Don't know where to start? Get your gear on at Sackett Ranch! For those wanting to adventure, feeling prepared and having a set up will give you the comfort and confidence to adventure further. Come check out our collection of overloading gear, tents, storage solutions, and everything you need to get out there!
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SOCP Tactical Fanny Pack
SOCP Tactical Fanny Pack
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Everyday Fanny Pack 2.0
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Sackett Ranch Tee
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