Her Phenomenal DIY Sprinter Van Conversion Was Made for Epic Journeys!

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Let's talk about goals. I set some pretty major goals for myself this year – things I wanted to accomplish in my business, international trips I wanted to take, new skills I wanted to learn. I started the year making 3-6 month goals in hopes of achieving them early in the year and allowing myself time to re-adjust them if need be. – As the months rolled by, I barely made progress. Before I knew it, it was July. My halfway point. I started to feel extremely discouraged that I had been coasting, allowing myself to be lazy and lacking motivation to challenge myself. I let myself feel defeat for a while and chose to just step away from my to-do list. I allowed myself relief from the guilt I had been feeling at the end of each day that passed without crossing a task off that list. And then, to my surprise, I felt a fire inside myself that I hadn't felt all year. Motivation made its way back into my life and I slowly, very slowly began crossing things off my list. Instead of feeling stress and pressure throughout each chunk of work, I actually enjoyed the projects I was diving into. – Currently, my list still has over 30 items on it. That may seem like a lot but it's way better than the 60-some I had at the beginning of the year. Who knows – my list may even be completed by the end of the year. So, just a daily reminder to be gentle with yourself. Give yourself time to listen to what life is saying to you, and if you don't accomplish your goals, you can still try again tomorrow. – 📸: @karolinakk

A post shared by Katie Larsen (@soweboughtavan) on

Before she ended up living the ultimate tiny house vanlife, Katie’s existence was a lot more run-of-the-mill. After graduating from college, she had returned home to Portland, Oregon. Being fresh from a full-time student existence, she had no savings and decided to move in with her parents.

Katie felt like what she was supposed to do at this stage in her life was to find a full-time “desk job”. She soon landed a position at an Association Management company, which may sound a little dull but which Katie insists she enjoyed. What she didn’t relish was the long, inflexible hours, the two-hour commute and the “professional” dress code (wearing heels every day was a particular drag).

I felt like my life revolved around work and I didn’t have the free time for many other hobbies/activities or to even spend the money I was making.

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