How things got started?

Dear Faithful,

This is a blog we are setting up for our up coming journey of the Oregon/California Coast and Central America. Pending our access to the internet, the three of us hope to keep this blog up to date throughout our travels just to keep you in the loop. Scouts Honor.

The Roster

Lisa Travis
Hey, i'm 22 years old. Grew up in Langley. I attended UBC-O in Kelowna last year where I studied history and met Taylor and Jason. I am taking this year off after working for BC Ferries for the summer to travel. I plan to head back to school next summer to finish off my degree.








Taylor Quinn

Hello fan club, I am 22 years old and grew up in Terrace. I was in Kelowna last year for school but have decided to take this year off and do some traveling. I have spent the last 4 summers tree planting and plan on going back to school next year to finish off my degree in Political Science and UBC Okanagan.

Jason Adam

Hi, I'm 23 years old, grew up in Terrace (how I know Taylor). I moved to Kelowna 4 years ago to attend university at UBC-O (where I met Lisa). I graduated last April with a Bachelor degree in Business Management. I spent the summer living in Terrace working at Alcan. I also spent a healthy portion of September in Victoria staying with my brother and his girlfriend, studying for and sitting my LSAT's... attempting to get into law school. And now I'm ready to go traveling.

The Trip


Part 1
Oct 12th - Nov 8th Drive Kelowna - Los Angles (2000km's) in a camper van

Part 2
Nov 8th - Dec 17th Fly to Costa Rica, back pack Central America and fly from Costa Rica back to Los Angles

Part 3
Dec 17th - Dec 22nd Attempt to drive Los Angles - Kelowna *pending van condition

Part 1 Transportation

I honestly couldn't tell you exactly how this whole trip got started and I can't tell you how it will end. The idea started with a combination of occurrences.

Under the left window

The Van: As I was going to school, I spent the summers working at Alcan. Every overtime shift you work, you get $50 in meal vouchers which I saved. Nearing the end of last summer, instead of doing the smart thing and cashing in these vouchers, I bought a $500 1982 Chevy G20 camper-ized van.

The Bet: Buying the van in Terrace, I decided to drive the van to Kelowna to get maximum enjoyment out of it. After a couple of beers and a whole host of BS the hot topic was whether or not I'd make it. I don't remember the details which is killing me know, but Kim Haworth (my dad's friend) decided to one up the bet and say that I couldn't make it Kelowna - Phoenix, Arizona (his holiday home). He was so certain of this that he said if we made it, he'd pay for the gas 1927km's (1200 miles). When googled, the van gets 8-16mpg

The name: It has to be explained to make any sense. The van's name is "Free Andy" because for some reason there was a mostly used package of averagely sized 'alphabet letter' stickers. A bunch of us, using all of our creativity to make up for the limited selection of letters, put the words 'Free Candy' on the back of the van as a joke. Being funny at the time and completly forgetting about it, I went camping the same day with my parents and grandparents. It was late at night when we arrived, so the slogan went unnoticed. But the next morning while I was asleep in free andy my dad realized a congragation of by standers behind the van. Knowing it couldn't be anything good my dad went over, saw the stickers and then peeled the "C" off so it didn't look so bad. Now the van says Free Andy and has since adopted the name.

Status Update: The van got some good use at the start of the 2009/2010 school year but sat idol from Oct 2009- Sept 2010. With a little TLC and accessorizing (thanks to pick-a-part) the van is running like a top.