Our Story

Hi! I’m Michelle, and this is Blaze—my adventure buddy, camping companion, hiking partner, and frequent supervisor of whatever project I’ve gotten myself into.

For years, I’ve been trying to answer a seemingly simple question:

What does freedom actually look like?

For me, it has always involved travel, nature, exploration, and the ability to pack up and go when adventure calls.

Figuring out how to do that has been a little more complicated.

It Started With an Airstream

My fascination with tiny living and life on the road started years ago. I loved the simplicity of it. I loved the idea of waking up surrounded by nature, spending more time exploring, owning less, and having the freedom to go wherever I wanted.

In 2020, I decided to give it a try.

I put my belongings into storage, bought a used 2018 Airstream Basecamp, hooked it up to my Honda Pilot and learned how to tow.

In the spring of 2021, I spent several months traveling with my cat, Carmey.

It was one of the greatest adventures of my life.

I also learned something very important:

I hated towing.

The hitching. The unhitching. The setup. The teardown. The tanks. The constant worry that I’d forgotten something.

It wasn’t the kind of freedom I was looking for.

So I sold the Airstream and tried something else.

Then Came the Rooftop Tent

Next, I bought a Subaru Forester and a rooftop tent.

It seemed perfect: a smaller vehicle, fewer complicated systems, and the ability to set up camp almost anywhere.

There was just one problem.

I couldn’t close the damn tent by myself.

My parents and I tried. We recruited a neighbor. Four adults later, it became pretty obvious that this wasn’t going to work for a solo traveler.

And by then, Blaze had entered my life.

There was also absolutely no way I was hauling a 55-pound dog up and down a ladder every time we went camping.

The rooftop tent was sold without ever spending a single night at a campsite.

Back to the drawing board.

In 2023, Blaze and I drove and camped our way to Acadia National Park in Maine.

When it was time to come home, I didn’t want to.

I wanted to keep exploring. I wanted to drive into Canada. I wanted to see what was around the next corner.

Instead, I drove home.

That’s when I finally decided to do the thing I’d been thinking about for years.

I bought a van.

Over the next eight-and-a-half months, my dad, my mom, friends and I transformed a 2021 Ford Transit 350 cargo van into a tiny home on wheels.

We built cabinets. Installed electrical and solar systems. Added plumbing. Built a shower, kitchen, bed, storage and everything else I thought I’d need to live on the road.

Then Blaze and I moved in.

And we went.

We explored incredible places. Woke up beside mountains, beaches and forests. Spent quiet mornings together in the middle of nowhere. Hiked beautiful trails. Met wonderful people. And had experiences I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

Van life gave me many of the things I’d been searching for.

But it also taught me something I wasn’t expecting.

I didn’t actually want to live on the road full-time.

I loved the adventure.

I didn’t love the constant logistics.

I loved waking up somewhere beautiful.

I didn’t love wondering where we’d sleep every night.

I loved exploring.

I didn’t love making every ordinary part of life—working, showering, laundry, weather, heat, cold, bugs, finding water—more complicated than it needed to be.

Eventually I realized I wasn’t looking for a life with no home.

I wanted a home and adventure.

So in 2025, I sold the van.

Our Next Chapter

Today, Blaze and I have a home base in North Carolina and a 2025 Toyota 4Runner that I’m slowly turning into our adventure rig.

It’s smaller.

It’s simpler.

And I’m still figuring it out.

I’ve built a drawer system, added rooftop solar, installed a roof rack, removed seats, experimented with sleeping platforms and made plenty of mistakes along the way.

But that’s part of the fun.

The 4Runner gives us the ability to pack up and disappear into the mountains for a weekend, take a long road trip, sleep somewhere beautiful, explore a new trail—and then come home again.

Turns out, that’s a version of freedom that fits us pretty well.

So What Is Michelle & Blaze About?

This isn’t really a van-life channel.

And it isn’t just a 4Runner channel.

It’s about building an adventurous life that actually works for you.

Around here you’ll find road trips, car camping, DIY projects, 4Runner builds and modifications, hiking, solo female travel, lessons from van life, beautiful places, things that don’t go according to plan, and one very opinionated dog who is usually somewhere nearby.

I’m still figuring out what freedom looks like.

I’m just not convinced anymore that there’s only one way to find it.

So if you’re figuring that out too—or you just want to come along for the adventure—Blaze and I would love to have you.

We’ll see you on the road.

— Michelle & Blaze