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Snackin' & Yakkin'
Some people talk about blowing up their life and starting over. Vickie Griffin did it. She went from working as a paramedic and paying $2,000 a month for a place she barely saw to building out a 2017 Nissan NV200 and pointing it west.
On Snackin’ & Yakkin’ with BIG Ben Kennedy, she told the story with the funny stuff, the rough stuff, and the parts that make you stop and stare. It started with one hard loss and one stubborn thought: if your life doesn’t fit anymore, shrink it and go.
How Stella started rolling
Vickie had been thinking about van life for a while, but losing a close friend pushed the idea out of the back of her mind and into the driver’s seat. She started paring down everything, sold off other vehicles, got a storage unit, and bought the little van that would become Stella.
The build wasn’t some one-and-done reveal. It changed over and over, which feels a lot more honest anyway. A fellow traveler she met through Facebook helped her start planning it, and later a handy coworker helped improve the setup.
A lot of the move came down to three plain things:
- stop paying for space she wasn’t using
- compress life into something she could carry
- leave room for the build to keep changing
The road west had its own stories
Before Alaska, there was the long way there. Vickie headed to Ohio to see family, picked up Interstate 90, and later started planning a return trip for Route 66’s 100th anniversary.
Near Chicago, she found a lighthouse and woke up to frost settling over footprints in the sand. Then came Mount Rushmore, still impressive, but smaller than TV makes it feel. Crazy Horse hit harder. For her, that one felt spiritual.
The Badlands gave her campground showers that ran on quarters, snow outside the van, and one perfect road-breakfast moment: coffee, peanut butter, a waffle maker, heat blasting, side door open, and that view right in front of her. Prairie dogs stole the scene, popping up like tiny comedians and scuffling in the middle before heading back to their corners.
Yellowstone in winter was a different animal. One open road. Snow coming down. No guardrails. Bison crossing when they felt like it. She even spotted Yellowstone’s own ambulance service, which felt right for a medic. Along the way, she also picked up one odd fact: if you find an eagle feather, you can’t keep it.
Juneau was bigger, stranger, and wilder than expected
Then came a three-day ferry from Bellingham to Juneau. One lesson landed fast: don’t leave your alarm on unless you want your name called over the loudspeaker.
She’d gone north after landing a seasonal job on a whale boat, building on her work as a historical tour guide on the water in Charleston. That put her in the middle of what she’d come for: whales, glaciers, eagles, bears, and sea lions.
Juneau also gave her a closer look at Tlingit life, including Raven and Eagle clans. In smaller villages farther out, one whale a year can still be part of survival, with every part used.
Curious about the everyday side of a trip like this? This roundup of van life essentials fills in some of the less glamorous details.
The whales were the reason, and they delivered
The whale rules were strict: stay 100 yards back and move on after 30 minutes. Even with that, the encounters were huge. Orcas were fast, sharp, and a little menacing. Humpbacks were her favorite, massive baleen whales gulping water and trapping krill, shrimp, and small fish.
Some days they periscoped, popping their heads up to look around. Other days they breached, tail-slapped, or rolled close enough to send a boat full of people into chaos. The rarest sight was bubble feeding, when humpbacks circle under fish, drive them tight with bubbles, and then explode upward with mouths open while birds dive for leftovers.
A humpback’s throat is only about 13 inches wide, which is why the answer to “what if it swallows me?” is still “not for long.”
Then there was everything else. Sea lions fought for buoy space like regulars fighting over the last stool. Bald eagles weren’t born with that postcard look either. Most don’t get the white head and yellow beak until around age five. Glaciers cracked like gunshots, black bears wandered near Mendenhall, and the forest around Juneau is so tied to salmon that researchers have found salmon DNA in the trees.
The Northern Lights gave her one last gift on the way out. At first they barely showed. Hold up a phone camera, stay still, and suddenly the sky turns on.
What stays with you after a trip like that
Vickie Griffin’s story works because it doesn’t sound cleaned up for a brochure. It’s a medic downsizing her life, building a tiny van named Stella, chasing work and weather, and coming back with whale facts, ferry stories, glacier ice, and a head full of places most people only ever scroll past.
She’s turning her journals into a book and sharing parts of the ride through Stella and Her Little Girl. The strongest takeaway is simple: adventure doesn’t always begin with a perfect plan. Sometimes it starts when you get rid of what no longer fits, turn the key, and see what’s waiting over the next ridge.
About this episode’s presenting sponsor: MDM Travel specializes in turning dream vacations into unforgettable experiences. Whether you’re planning a relaxing cruise, an all-inclusive resort getaway, a family adventure, or a custom vacation package, MDM Travel provides personalized service and expert guidance every step of the way. With a focus on making travel simple, stress-free, and tailored to your needs, MDM Travel helps clients explore the world with confidence while creating memories that last a lifetime. Visit mdmtravel.com to plan your dream trip today!
