When I first spoke with Deborah, I knew she was the kind of person who was authentically all-in when it came to her business. That business, Go Camp, creates the ability for camper van owners to rent their vans for those that want a weekend/week/month long adventure beyond what they know… to create a full experience. Deeper than that, Deborah wanted people to immerse themselves in nature and life outside of their day-to-day. To sit outside and watch a beautiful, stunning sunset; then wait a few hours to see the incredible star show, all while camping in the vehicle that got you there. It’s the ability to drive out to BLM land without a person in sight for days, and to just be out there. It’s something worth capturing in my opinion.
I’ve shot for Deborah for some time now and my first ever collaboration with Go Camp was on the west coast. Back then, Go Camp was only setup out of Portland, Oregon (now it’s in almost every major city in the west and the Rockies). I picked up the van from some sweet couple and headed out to Cannon Beach to mark it off my bucket list. I was hooked from then on out dreaming of owning my own van someday.
And now, I had the chance to come back to the west coast to capture photos for Go Camp once again, but this time in northern California. Genius Vans, a company based out of the Bay area, had put together a whole fleet of vans and were renting them out via Go Camp. This van was their OG baby. Upon meeting their owner, Max, and picking up the van, Tanner and I could not be more excited to drive up the coast. We had eloped in the Redwoods a little under a year from that point and didn’t get the chance to actually drive and explore those stunning, rocky cliffs and wavy roads lined with pampas grass.
As we drove up the 1, it felt all surreal. The waves crashing at the edge of the earth that we were driving over. The beautiful sunset that seemed to last for hours. The smell of the fresh ocean breeze. Max had told us about this amazing camp site that was perched on a cliff and wasn’t widely known. It was the beginning to an incredible week long journey. One where every turn proved to be more stunning than the one before. We made it up the coast, through the Redwoods, back down through wine country, and solidified our hope for one day living van life.
