Tour My Van :: Lucy In The Sky

My dream came true when my favorite alternative living spaces youtube channel "Florb " contacted me to shoot me and my van Lucy! I’ve watched Florb ever since Lucy was just a twinkle in my eye. I used to wake up at 4am with so much energy just STOKED to get started on planning my van build. I’d think to myself “man it would be SO cool to shoot a video with Florb someday!” That day actually came recently when one of their videographers drove down from Vancouver to the Bay Area to make it happen! Lo and behold.. my vanlife dreams coming full circle 6 years later.

Check out my featured video!

Polar Bottle // Reduce x Reuse x Recycle

EVERYDAY = EARTH DAY <3

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Last week I traveled to Utah for a family event and vacation. Packing light has become easier for me thanks to #vanlife and the need to keep only the essentials with me at all times. This minimalism lifestyle began when I first moved into my van Lucy last summer, but has continued to evolve with every mile on the road. 

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One item I’ve taken everywhere I’ve gone with me throughout this past year has been my reusable water bottle by Polar Bottle. It’s saved me countless dollars and more importantly, it’s saved our planet from a bunch more plastic waste. 

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Our trips through the state and national parks of Utah have been stunning to say the least, but my favorite part about them was how clean everything was. It truly did appear that many of these lands have been preserved in their best states possible. Considering how much waste I am aware of on this planet, I was truly pleased to see that these parks ask their visitors to PACK IT OUT!! This means that anything you bring in, you are expected to bring out with you. There are very few trash cans in Canyon Lands and I didn’t see a single trash can in Arches. The lack of trash cans means there is no designated place to leave waste behind.. at every highly visited place I have ever been to in my life I have seen garbage cans overflowing with debris. Usually people end up placing extra trash just near the cans, naively assuming it will be taken care of by the people in charge of trash removal. 

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Don Miguel Ruiz, author of the popular spiritual book “The Four Agreements,” reminds us to never assume. We can not continue to treat our home, our only home, with this amount of disrespect and assume that our children and our children’s children will be able to marvel at these same beautiful wonders of nature that we have now to enjoy. 

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I bet with the high winds of these canyons of Utah, a lot of debris and plastic has been carried away with the wind, ending up who knows where. So I again, can not assume that the lack of visible trash means that it doesn’t still exist somewhere in these parks. A lesson in keeping things in perspective and checking myself on my assumptions.

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Nearly 6 million lbs of plastic are thrown away.. not recycled.. thrown away like garbage in the US EVERY HOUR.

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An estimated 3 million lbs of plastic enter our oceans EVERY HOUR. 

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There is so much plastic waste in our oceans that it has broken down from the salt, currents, and sun rays into what is called "microplastic." There are more than 3 trillion pieces of micro plastic in the ocean today. The particles are being eaten by our sea life and sea birds, causing rapid populations of various species to alarmingly decrease. Not to mention the harm it does long term to the animals that reproduce with the plastic toxins stored in their fat and muscles, only later to be consumed by us at the top of the food chain. 

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With all of these statistics, I remain optimistic because of brands like Polar Bottle, that the problem can be treated. 

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Last year I visited Colorado and saw the head waters of the Colorado River. It appeared to be just a trickle of water that drop by drop fed into a stream that led into the river. The same river that sources some of our California drinking water, and eventually leads into the Golf of California. As I stood there marveling at this wonder, I began to think... “if a drop of water off a mountain miles and miles away can create a flow so stead it becomes an ocean... then I can make a difference in this world. I just know it.”

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On this family trip like every other, I brought my Polar Bottle sports cap water bottle with me and my Polar Bottle insulated thermos in an effort to continue cutting back on plastic usage. I’m so proud of my family for participating in this plastic reduction movement.

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I caught my Dad saying “no thank you” to multiple plastic bag offers when he purchased togo sandwiches for us. He even decided he didn’t need to purchase an 18-pack of single use water bottles from the store like he normally would, and instead I offered to let him use my Polar Bottle insulated thermos as a water container for the weekend, on our trips to Arches and Canyon Lands. He was impressed that there was still ice in the thermos after sitting for over 24 hours too! Winningggg!! ️

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Polar Bottle has contributed to so much positivity for our planet, because of their products  convenience and reusability. In just one weekend, my family and I helped save planet Earth from dozens more plastic single use water bottles that could have potentially ended up in the big deep blue heart and soul of our home. 

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I write this blog to inspire effort from each and every human who finds these words. Start where you are. Make changes to your unnecessary habits. Help to heal this world we've wounded by consciously spending your money on reusable products from Polar Bottle. Their company even has tips and tricks for extending the lifetime of the products you purchase from them, in an effort to produce even less plastic! 

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The number one thing we can do to better our planet's health is to USE LESS PLASTIC. I've put together a list of ways to go about doing that... 

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:: TEN WAYS TO CUT BACK ON PLASTIC USAGE ::

1. Bring a reusable water bottle and thermos with you.. everywhere. 

2. Bring reusable utensils with you.. everywhere.

3. Bring a reusable food container with you.. everywhere.

4. Bring a reusable straw with you.. everywhere.

5. Bring a reusable bag with you.. everywhere.

6. YES EVERYWHERE

7. Check the bulk section of the grocery store to see if any items you need can be purchased there to avoid buying them from another aisle where they would be packaged (most likely in plastic).. ps you will probably want to bring small reusable bags for this section.. I just went to Whole Foods today and found that they only offer plastic bags in their bulk section. Heartbreaking because an estimated 2 million plastic bags are used every MINUTE and each one only has a lifespan on average of 12 min. Those poor sea turtles eat them thinking they are jellyfish!!

8. Make sure to fill up your reusable water bottle before a long flight so that you don't have to resort to using the plane's tiny wasteful water bottles. (see.. take it EVERYWHERE!!)

9. When you go out to drink.. make sure you specify when you order "NO STRAWS." Be patient, as it can be an especially hard habit for servers and bartenders to break. Every effort counts and you will be opening their eyes too even if it takes them a few tries before they get it right. 

10. Just be conscious of your plastic usage in general. Think before you purchase, and whenever possible... reduce reuse and recycle!!

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Thank you Polar Bottle for doing your part to better our planet.

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If anyone reading this would like to purchase a Polar Bottle product, you can use my discount code at checkout to receive 50% off your entire purchase!!

COUPON CODE :: " FTRDAWN "

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And if you would like to purchase a custom Future Dawn polar bottle, simply email :: addie@polarbottle.com to request the bottle I designed. 

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Thank you for your attention to this subject. It matters very greatly to me, and I hope after reading this, you feel the same. 

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Peace and Love to mama ocean.. 

xo, Future Dawn

NOTE:: All facts on plastic ocean waste were quoted from the Netflix documentary "Plastic Ocean"

Y E L L O W S T O N E // traveling alone

It's been almost two months since I began my road trippin' van-lifestyle. I've been all over California, traveled through Nevada to get to Utah, all the way to Colorado into the Rocky Mountains, and now just recently, went beyond that to upper Wyoming aka the infamous Yellowstone National Park. Much of this trip has consisted of me and Lucy the van visiting friends and family along the way. So I gotta say, aside from my drive through Zion on the way to see family in Utah for the 4th of July, I haven't really been alone at all! So going into this I knew it would be a new experience for me and all sorts of feelings about it were coming to the surface.

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On the day I passed through the park, I knew it would be a long-shot for me to find camping there. Seeing as it is still summer, and that in just a short time there will be a solar eclipse affecting more than the usual amount of traffic to touristy places alongside the band of visibility, I went ahead anyway past the Grand Tetons and into Yellowstone. 

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A sign on the park ranger's window said "ALL CAMPING FULL." I had to inquire if this meant walk up camping as well.. of course it did. That's ok, I thought to myself...I'll just drive through and enjoy the day and let future Emily worry about where she's going to sleep. You see when it's just you traveling, you have to designate jobs for your current and future selves. Current me knew she had to just drive and relax, while future me was a bit anxious about the uncertainty of the night to come. 

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All throughout the park it was grey skies and hail storms. I'm talking miniature snow balls // chunks of rock solid ice cascading from the sky. I was half concerned about my solar panels handling this weather, and how the recent crack Lucy got on her windshield from a truck and a flying rock on the highway, would hold up. 

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We all made it through to see Old Faithful. 

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As I waited for the geyser to blow, I started to make small conversation with the older gentleman next to me. I told him I was traveling in my van across the US and he told me about him and his wife's traveling this summer. Our small talk was over-heard by a younger dude standing near by. This dude, lets just call him Mitch, was ever so excited to meet someone else doing the #vanlife thing. Mitch and I started to chat and I became a little relieved as well to find someone around my age wandering the states in search of natural beauty and mystery. 

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After Old Faithful had erupted, we walked back to our vans in the parking lot and decided to have a cold one together. Mitch got the grand tour of Lucy and was needless to say impressed by her design. Mitch was traveling in a mini van with seats removed, and wooden pallets for a bed in the back. He didn't seem like someone I would normally gravitate towards talking to, but given the circumstances, I was happy to share a beer and a moment in time with someone I could relate to in some small ways. But things got weird.. and fast.

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I mentioned that I had to leave soon before it started to get dark, so I could get out of Yellowstone and find a place to camp for the night, seeing as there was no availability in Yellowstone. Mitch said he had to do the same, but his under-concering nature of the matter of where to park and sleep was a bit over-concerning to me. I gave him a few of my maps of places I had already driven through since we were going opposite directions. He was coming from Oregon, and I was going to it. 

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Anyways the weird part was when he suggested to follow me towards my next destination, which contradicted his entire plan and route we had just discussed. Mitch then went on to explain to me a "fun fact" that it's technically legal to kill someone in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest, right on the western boarder of Yellowstone. "Isn't that crazy?! My friend told me about that!" A sharp shooting "LEAVE NOW" sensation washed over me and deep into my belly. You know the part that makes you queasy with no no no no noooo. 

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He left for a minute to try to get wifi inside, so he could "find me on Facebook." As humans, and especially women I think, we have this need to be liked and this burden of being polite all the time. I knew in this case I should be somewhat careful, incase I did have to have the unfortunate situation of meeting this character again down the road.. coincidence or not. 

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I closed Lucy up, got my keys and made my way to the driver's seat, all while Mitch was inside trying to locate me on social media. Before he had creeped me out, we had exchanged real names, but seeing as I have the most common American girl name, paired with the most common American last name, I knew this could take him quite a while. Sometimes when I get hit on and I don't want anything to do with the person, I give them my name and tell them to go ahead and look me up on Facebook, knowing they will probably never find me and if they do, my account is set to private and I can block them as soon as they request my "friendship."

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I was almost home free as he comes walking out of the building towards me and Lucy again. I just waved and said.. "ok gotta go, good luck!" 

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He looked like he half expected that to be my reaction but also disappointed and lonely as hell. Thinking back on it as I drove down the road.. he really could have been harmless and just a young dude who said the wrong thing at the wrong time. Either way I wasn't looking for someone to spend the night next to or trying to adopt someone to take on the road with me.

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I can't tell you how many places I've been in and out of this country where awkward situations like this have occurred to me and my girlfriends I've traveled with. Rule #1 is, if your brain is saying "no this might be ok I dunno what do you think body?" and your body is saying "oh fuck no. BYE!!" .. listen to your body 100%. Even if it turned out to be wrong about your safety with said weirdo, better safe than sorry is always the way to go when your traveling.. especially alone as a female human. 

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I made it out of Yellowstone that evening before dusk, and overpaid for a KOA on the boarder of Montana and Wyoming for that night. After that whole encounter, there was no way I was staying in a National Forest alone... or what I feared.. not alone at all. 

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I guess my point and lesson to all of this is to continue to follow my intuition and let it guide me to ultimate peace comfort and safety. Worrying about hurting some stranger weirdo's feelings is not at the top of my priority list. It's not about being liked anymore. Regardless of if this Mitch dude had ill intentions or not, he still should never have said something so intimidating to a woman traveling solo. It's disrespectful and misogynistic in my opinion. Hopefully he is a harmless awkward little dude that just said something off base, and hopefully he reflects and learns from our encounter as I know I certainly have. 

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To all the solo female travelers out there.. be smart. Be safe. And listen to that gut girl!!

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To all the solo male travelers.. don't be intimidating.. this lifestyle is hard enough for us as it is with all the scary movies and news reports out there adding to the list of doubts. Just be helpful when you can and otherwise let us do our own things.. we decided to travel solo for a reason.. lets keep it that way unless we say otherwise. k thanks. 

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Peaceful SAFE travels out there people. 

xo, Future Dawn

#VANLIFE // Lucy In The Sky :: Before & After

It's official! I've stopped tip toeing around the thought of living a life I find authentic and started claiming it to the max. It all started in January 2017. I looked around the little world I had created for myself and realized that I wasn't as happy as I had pictured myself becoming.. but what could I change to make that so?!

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For as long as I can remember I've loved three things more than most other aspects of life.. designing, writing, and traveling. I realized that in order to be happy, truly happy, I had to be doing those things more often. But with the high cost of rent in the San Francisco Bay Area, I spent the majority of my time bartending just to pay my rent and gas.. just to commute to work and continue doing the same thing. Continue with the "not as happy" cycle. I was tired of that loop. I needed a way out. I looked around my apartment, which was filled with objects. Furniture and spaces I barely used even when I was home. I started to picture myself free of everything. Everything around me. The people, the places, the things, the thoughts, and most importantly the energy of it all. I was overwhelmed but that drove me in my search for what was to come. 

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Lucy In The Sky is my pride and joy. My dad, being a professional woodworker, designed and built the entire van from start to finish. When I first told him I was planning to buy a van and that I wanted him to help me fix it up into a tiny home so I could travel, he just put his hand to his forehead and said "Oh Emily (*shakes head)." This is a typical response of a loving dad who gets the butterflies everything she flaps her wings.. but he's seen me take off before to Thailand, Israel, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala.. what could be the harm in our own country!? Lot's I'm sure, but I assured my family and friends that I would be careful and use my intuition to stay in flow. He was on board before I knew it, sending me pictures of other people's van designs to get inspiration, and promising vans of interest online for sale. 

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I've probably always been obsessed with the adorably designed tiny homes I saw on TV, Instagram and Pinterest... but in January, 2017, with this new thought of starting completely fresh in every aspect of my life, I started to seriously picture myself living differently. Living tiny, mobile, and happy. I read dozens of articles and blogs and watched hundreds.. (yes, hundreds) of YouTube vlogs about the subjects of minimalism, tiny living, traveling in a van, and even learned what it meant to have a capsule wardrobe (though I also learned that I am NOT a capsule wardrobe kind of woman!) Craigslist became a full time job for me as I viciously perused the internet for buses, vans, sprinters, campers and the like. My goal in mind was to find something for $5,000 or less that would be reliable enough to take me anywhere in the US I wanted to go.

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On February 28th, 2017 I purchased a 1998 Dodge Ram Van 1500, with 86,000 original miles on the speedometer. I found this particular van in Los Angeles, where my parents reside, so I sent my Mom and Dad (aka:: the best parents and friends a girl could ask for in the world,) to check this one out for me down there. They had looked at quite a few already and we were all starting to get discouraged by my budget and perimeters, but when they went to see this one on my behalf, it felt like a great fit for me and just like that.. I became a van girl. <3 

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It only took my dad 11 half-days of working on Lucy, nights and weekends, over the course of 3 months to finish the build. When I ended my lease in June and came to my parent's home to prepare for my adventure, I was finally able to do what I had wanted to do from day one on this van journey.. DECORATE!!! I saved all of my favorite things from my apartment and sold // donated everything else. So Lucy is blessed with the energy of housing only my favorite possessions. It's freeing, to say the least. 

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#1 question I had going into this minimalist lifestyle - "Will I miss my things after I get rid of them?" .. A: Nope! Not a bit. 

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B E F O R E //

 

A F T E R //

// Van designed & built by my Dad :: Lowell Johnson ( message me and I can refer you to him )

// Professional closet organization by my soul sister :: Caitlin Foster ( contact - @rehabrefab )

// Custom curtains handmade by my Mom :: Kelly Johnson <3

// Interior design :: Me :) Emily Dawn 

ROAD TRIPPIN 2017 :: Zion

MONDAY, JULY 3RD, 2017

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The day was magic. Pure magic. 

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So far this adventure has been everything I have been searching for and infinitely beyond. 

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Exhaustion from traveling has hit however, and I am now visiting with family to celebrate our country's freedom. So thankful for that. <3

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I decided to record my thoughts of the day while they were still fresh on my drive from Zion to my cousin's house. This is my first audio blog I have ever recorded, even for just my own listening pleasures. I'm sharing it with you all so you can feel the energy of my words as if I am telling you directly about my experience. There are so many people I wanted to call and share this with, so I felt like this was a great way to share the story of the best day of my life so far.. which also happened to be my first truly solo day on the road. (I'll get into that later.. )

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I hope you enjoy. Whoever you are, wherever you are listening from. I hope my story ignites a fire inside of you that makes you travel too. Even if you can't physically travel now, or even for a while, don't forget to travel in you dreams. In your thoughts and in your soul. Have a traveling spirit. It will set you free. 

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P.S. If you listened and are wondering who "Joan" is and what my "magic whistle" is all about, here's a short story. 

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My great Aunt Joan on my mom's side was like a grandmother to me. She transcended her human form about a little over two years ago, and when she did, she gave me a solid gold whistle necklace, with a note that said "If you ever need me...just blow." I'm blessed to have not had to use it for dire times but I'll admit it has become one of my favorite pieces of jewelry and has come in handy for parking spots (especially when I lived in San Francisco!) Parking Lucy in The Sky is no easy task, and on a national holiday weekend of all times! ...well, let's just say I know she was with me when I got that perfect parking spot to take a quick swim! Thank's Joan, love and miss you always xo, <3

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P.S.S. If you listened and are wondering who this "Annelise" character is.. she's my best friend forever and eternity. We met when we were in pre-school and even got to work with each other this past year in SF. Good times, sad times, we've been through it all together. I can't wait for her to visit me along this journey so we can dress cute and take pics and frolic, haha <3

The Future is Dawning

As I marched along my twenties I began to feel a desire for more. The appeal of freedom seemed more and more dream like and less and less realistic with each passing wave. Yet I asked myself a question, and that question was simply complex: "What can I do to be happy." It implied, as I knew it would, as the words formed from my thoughts gathered over years of trial and lessons.. that I was not, at that specific time in space, truly living my happiness. But how could that be so?! Didn't past me do her best? Wasn't she only trying to make sense of it all and to set herself up for a blissful future?! She was indeed. But she didn't know me. Didn't know what I would like, or who she would become after the choices she was deciding for us. I had no say in my life, for it was designed by a girl who wanted so badly to be seen as a woman. That's when I realized something. We are always doing our best to impress our future selves. But once we get there.. once we become our futures.. we are all but impressed and more accurately slightly underwhelmed and complacent. The feeling of living a life that was just going through the motions of what my past self had designed for me was stifling. Almost like a cruel joke. But I couldn't be upset with her. How could I? She thought she would know me just as she thought she knew us then. All I could do in that moment was breathe in forgiveness and acceptance of where we had come to in life together. That place looked pretty great from an outside perspective, as she had intended it to very deliberately. But inside it felt like she was lying to me. And it wasn't her fault! She was only reciting the programming she had learned on her journey thus far. I realized then that it was my job to begin the deprogramming so we could step into the next realm. I knew in that moment that this would be my most difficult life challenge yet. But I also had a churning in my stomach, that said to me "go forth anyways.. future you will thank you." 

I've never been so sure of something. I've jumped on planes, traveled to foreign lands, taken buses, and trains and boats and scooters up windy mountains filled with mysteries and across vast waters with melting suns. I've searched high and low for the feeling of connection, hoping to answer my deepest questions about the universe and why we came here to experience it. But I've never trusted that I already have these answers inside me. Why must I look to a person or a destination to satisfy my desire for fullness? What do I feel I can gain from said person or place or people or places that I don't already have inside my blood and bones? The answer was shocking when it finally dawned on me.. I am it. I am everything I have been searching for throughout my entire existence as Emily Dawn. I am good enough, I am brave enough, I am smart enough, I am strong enough. The limitations I have felt in the past were not put there by me, but they were accepted by me. It was current me's responsibility to remove them. To one by one take down the brick wall and reveal my own true nature that had been hiding inside me just behind this barrier for all this time. 

When we are young, probably as soon as we are born or even sooner, while we are still being brought into creation, we begin to see. We see a world around our bodies, filled with objects and people. Humans. These humans come in all shapes and sizes and hold vastly different functions and roles in our lives, as do the objects. Their intentions, in their purest forms, are to help us live a beautiful abundant life on planet earth. This is their promise. Naturally, and without a doubt, we trust this promise. We trust these humans and their objects to help us navigate our time on this planet, just as an explorer trusts their compass and ship to guide them to the great unknown. But as we age, and begin to question: "why this?" and "why that?" we are told answers. Answers that were told to the human answering us. And that were told to the human who answered the human telling us when they began to question. And we accept those answers. We say "hmm that doesn't reallllly make sense to me deep down inside, I can feel that.. but it seems to provoke an uncomfortable feeling in the human answering me when I continue to probe, so I will drop it and accept that they must be right." Then we go on to grow up, and when we encounter other tiny humans on this planet, who again ask us the same who what why questions, we recite the same answers someone once gave us to the test. "Oh! I know that one! That's easy.. were are here because_____." Or, "Things are just that way." Accept it. Don't question it. This is the programming. This is what we are all taught, and give little thought to why or how because it is all but encouraged. 

So on my 26th year around mother Sun, I asked myself "Why." "Why are you unhappy?" "Isn't the whole POINT of this madness to find a sliver or happiness and hold on to it?!" "Or is there enough to go around and we can all actually enjoy a whole pizza of happy and share it with anyone who is hangry for it too?" These questions shook me. But they also brought me comfort. I began to peel away the layers of questions I had asked throughout my journey, and the answers I had been given to the great test of human life. I began to find that I was living my entire life based on what I thought other people would think looked like a "successful" and "happy" 20-something human woman life. But I didn't feel "successful." And I didn't feel "happy."

Inward I went, to dig deeper. Dig myself out of the exceptions of other humans that I had accepted. One after another. "I don't need this," "I'm not this way or that way," "I don't actually enjoy this, I just thought it was something I was supposed to be doing or purchasing or feeling." This process has continued into the now.

I am 27, beginning my return of Saturn. I am the universe expressing itself as "Emily Dawn, designer or Future Dawn Designs." Beyond that I am love, art, magic, music, mystery, questions, answers, the known, the unknown, the void, and the filling of the void. And I am setting out on a new journey, one that I accept now fully, knowing that I truly don't know how future me will feel about it. I don't know if she will think I'm crazy or if she will look back and admire the hard work and good intention I have put into her life. All I know now is that I am living my truth for the first time since becoming this expression. And in the best way possible, I don't care in the least bit what any other human has to say about it. And even more importantly, I don't care what future me has to say about it. Because I'm not her and I never will be. The future is dawning all right.. dawning on the present. And the present is the only time we ever have. The mirror I look into every day has one face. Tomorrow she will have one face too. And the next day and the next, the same could be said as true for them. But if you take all of these mirrors, and you freeze them with a magic wand, and you look at them side by side, she is standing there next to herself forwards and backwards in time, for infinity. You will see that she has always been young and she will always be old. She has always existed and she has not even yet been conceived. Everything that has ever happened to her and that will ever take place in her life, every mountain, every journey, every lover, is caught up in the entangled web of all eternity right here and now, and our beautiful, good intentioned, containers called bodies and minds are only programmed to take it all in one at a time. It would be too overwhelming otherwise.

Find water, and then you can drink. See the horizon, only from the top of the mountain. Look inward, and you will feel everything. Fear nothing, for fear is only love wearing a mask to confuse you. 

I am Future Dawn for this reason. Because the future is me just as it is you. And this future is now.