Becoming a ‘vanlifer’: Cori Geiger bought a cargo van and transformed it into this home and workspace for a life on the road

Last year was tough on many Americans who experienced isolation, unemployment and the fear of contracting a deadly virus all hanging over their heads.

One Massachusetts woman, Cori Geiger, is taking back her life and heading out on the road after outfitting a Ford cargo van with shelves, draws, a fold-down bed and storage for a life on the road.

Geiger has always been adventurous but the pandemic has made her realise that she no longer has to follow the traditional route that people take. Living in a city doesn’t have to be the only option anymore.

She bought the van for $36,000 secondhand and spent $20,000 on refurbishing it. Admittedly, she told MassLive, this is much more than most “vanlifers” would spend on a van.

A the van life community or vanlifers, are a rapidly growing segment of the American population that has sold or stored their belongings and moved into a van. Some vehicles are stripped-down minivans with a mattress; others have ceilings so high the owners can stand inside and include sinks, mattress platforms, storage and occasionally a small bathroom.

With the exception of her father teaching her how to use a handsaw, Geiger did all the work herself by relying on “the university of YouTube.”

“I mean, people put this stuff on YouTube for free and you could just use it,” Geiger said.

Geiger highlighted a couple of helpful videos for people who also want to become “vanlifers.” She said that to start with, “Linnea & Akela” have easy to digest content and explain the build process as a beginner.

The interior has a light and airy look with the wood that Geiger installed on the sides of the van painted white and a window that Geiger cut out and installed herself.

As the rolling door on the side of the van opens you enter the kitchen that is stocked with a gas cooker, draws for cutlery and other utensils as well as additional storage space for provisions.

Geiger pulled out a draw at the bottom to show where the portable toilet will eventually go.

“People always ask me about that,” Geiger said, amused by the frequency of the question.

When the weather is warm, Geiger plans to invest in a portable shower that can be attached outside the van. Otherwise she will take advantage of the membership she has with Planet Fitness to use its facilities in various locations on her travels.

With 90% of the van completed, she plans to set off in September after all the work has been done. At first, she is looking to explore New England but has her sights on traveling to Canada and Mexico in the future.

The International Labour Organization stated that the pandemic and resulting lockdown saw 114 million people worldwide losing their jobs in 2020. During the 15 weeks from mid-March to the end of June, Americans filed nearly 49 million new claims for unemployment benefits.

Geiger faced the same heartbreaking reality when she was let go from her job as an event planner in Seattle, Washington last year. At roughly the same time she and her boyfriend broke up and she moved back to her parents’ home in Agawam, Massachusetts.

She told MassLive that moving back home at 30 was distressing for her. She had made a life in Seattle and, at least before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, was successful in what she did.

After moving home to Agawam, she was able to start working for a marketing organization for AMP Agency as a senior project manager. The company headquarters is in Boston.

The agency has five offices across the U.S. and its clients include Microsoft, Sony, Puma and a litany of other multimillion-dollar corporations.

For Geiger, a huge benefit of working for the AMP Agency is that it is 100% remote.

“So, I was looking at apartments. I was like, maybe I’ll buy a house. I don’t really know,” Geiger told MassLive. “But because we were all remote, there was no reason to move out to Boston.”

Home prices across the U.S. have shot up over 11% in just the past year, according to the CoreLogic Home Price Insights report. Boston saw a 7.9% rise from the year before.

The same report also stated that 64% of millennials that are looking to buy a new home are doing so because they want more space. That is exactly what Geiger has in mind, but not in the sense of brick and mortar.

“Most of my friends work in the corporate world and they’ve all started moving outside the city, moving to places like Western Massachusetts, Western Connecticut, where they can still have those incomes, those city incomes, but afford a house and have a yard and, you know, have more space and a lot more disposable income because they’re not paying city prices,” Geiger said.

At the end of 2020, the U.S. had a shortage of 3.8 million homes and many of those are starter homes, according to Sam Khater, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac.

According to data from the National Association of Home Builders, over the past year, new home construction in small cities and suburban areas rose 15%, compared with less than 10% in big cities. Would-be homeowners are flocking to the new farthest exurbs, where homebuilders can meet demand.

Geiger said that she loves Boston and would be happy to live there but the need isn’t there anymore and why wouldn’t she travel and work simultaneously.

“At first you feel like a little bit of a failure,” Geiger told MassLive. “I’m 30 years old and I’m living with my family. But then you think about the pandemic and how many people have lost their jobs. And it actually felt more like a reset in my life where I could be like, OK, I’m not paying a ton of money in rent. I’m not living in a city. I don’t have this go, go, go attitude. I can just take a beat and think about what I really want out of life.”

Her dog Ellie will be her only companion on her adventure in the Ford van.

One of Geiger’s neighbors, Nancy Lunden was out with her friend Laurie McCaslin in Richardson National Park when they saw Geiger parked on the side of the road.

Lunden asked a question Geiger is becoming well versed in answering and, according to Geiger, would probably not be asked if she were the opposite gender.

“Aren’t you worried about traveling alone?”

Geiger explained that the query comes from a good place and that it is something that she is conscious of.

“All these TV shows, movies that show all these terrible things happen to women who travel alone. But that’s a TV show,” said Geiger. “There’s the rational fear where you get a really weird vibe from someone, maybe you notice someone following you or talking to you or taking an interest over the fact you’re traveling alone. Those are things you need to be aware of and you need to have your guard up.”

Geiger is not the only adventurous woman to take this journey. She told MassLive that she has been listening to, and been inspired by “My Solo Road.” A podcast that speaks on the adventures and lifestyle of a solo female “vanlifer.”

Ellie is not only her companion, she is also her additional protection. Geiger told MassLive that they share a bond and she is protective of her owner.

“I have Ellie,” Geiger added. “She’s a bunch of different types of guard dogs. She’s loud. She’s looks mean if she gets a weird vibe.”

Her parents have expressed anxiousness over her plans but support their daughter in her adventures and are proud of her independence, Geiger told MassLive. It was, in fact, her mom that told her she should follow her aspirations of living from a van if that’s what she wanted to do.

“They’re scared that I am traveling by myself and they might not always know where I am. I might not always have cell service, but they trust me and they’ve always instilled confidence in me. And I don’t think I would do this if I didn’t have the parents I have.”

She outlined that she plans to follow the warmer weather. Even with all the work put into the van so far, no one wants to be out in the cold.

For more on her adventures, she has an Instagram account that she posts regularly to.