Woman breaks up with boyfriend and quits job to travel in a van across America with her dog
A young woman decided to completely change the course of her life.
Not only she dumped her boyfriend, but she started traveling across America in a van with her dog.
One day, the 24-year-old Sydney Ferbrache saw an interesting picture of a girl in a van. Then, she came up with this adventurous idea. The girl from Indianapolis, Indiana, knew that the 9-5 work-life wasn’t for her. So, she decided to do something much more exciting.
After breaking up with her boyfriend, Sydney bought a nice van and now she’s traveling the U.S. with her beloved dog.
When the young woman saw the picture, she loved the idea of being on the road. Without hesitating, she asked her boyfriend to join her on this new adventure.
At first, Sydney’s boyfriend loved the courageous plan. By that time, the couple was working too many hours for too little money. As Sydney told INSIDER, they were “totally miserable”, so they could spend only $18,000 on a van, and $10,000 more for renovating it, and making it suitable for traveling.
The young traveler shares:
“I saw this picture and it took me down this black tunnel hole of van life. I was scrolling for hours a day on my laptop and in between homework and everything else, just looking at vans. We bought one, had it shipped to Indianapolis, and that was the start of how I discovered van life.”
In September 2017, Sydney and her boyfriend started their journey. They had been together for a little over a year by then.
They seemed to have a “great relationship in the van”. Unfortunately, Sydney eventually realized that her man wasn’t her true soulmate.
“I felt I couldn’t be doing everything I wanted, or shooting for the stars the way I wanted because he had very different dreams.”
The young woman also shares that she felt like the van-life was much more to her than it was for her boyfriend.
“He loved the van life stuff, but he thought of it as a temporary, ‘I’m gonna let Sydney do what she wants and get it out of her system and then we’ll get married and have kids and have a house,’ and I didn’t like that at all.”
This brave and adventurous journey wasn’t a short-term thing for Sydney Ferbrache. That’s why when she found out that her man wasn’t taking it so seriously, she decided to go on her own.
She broke up with him in March 2018, and she even let her ex keep the van they purchased together. He ended up selling the van, and he never traveled with it again. Not long after the breakup, Sydney started looking for a new van.
Although it wasn’t easy for the young adult to start this new journey on her own, she knew she was strong enough to do it.
Sydney worked three jobs and worked on a lot of side projects. She was determined to do whatever it takes to save up for the van and make her dream come true.
The brave traveler bought ner new van in May 2018, and she immediately started renovating it. By September the same year, she was ready to enter upon her adventure. But not without one last purchase – her beloved golden retriever Ella.
The first couple of weeks, after Sydney hit the road with her sweet puppy Ella, were the best ones in her life. She couldn’t believe she was finally living the life she had always been dreaming of.
“It was the most freeing. I truly felt like such a badass. I made this happen, I cannot believe I actually made this happen.”
So far, the young traveler has been to 20 different states. What’s more, she has also visited the mesmerizing lakes of Montana, Utah, Arizona, California, Oregon, and Quebec in Canada.
Besides, at least two times a year, Sydney visits her hometown to spend some time with her family. That makes a total of 300 days on the rod for the adventurous woman.
Ferbrache shares that she earns her money from advertising and affiliate marketing on her website. She also advises and helps people design their personal blogs. Moreover, Sydney recently started her own podcast named ‘My Solo Road’.
People often ask the brave woman how she could feel so comfortable traveling alone. She responds she’s not afraid of being on the road. In fact, she shares that she doesn’t feel lonely, and she truly enjoys her own company.
“Honestly, to this day, I have never felt like I was in danger. I have a very Midwestern family, I was around a really protective father, and I have that sense of safety and security and mindfulness. It’s been instilled in me.”
Sydney has no intention to quit her van life anytime soon.
Her plan for the first half of 2020 is to make it to Alaska and to visit Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia along the way. Her next steps are yet to be planned. For now, she stays true to her journey.
“I’ve never woken up once in the last year and not felt like this isn’t exactly what I should be doing. I don’t foresee anywhere in the near future where I want to stop, but I also don’t want to hold myself to this idea that I have to be on the road.”
For the solo traveler, one of the most important messages she gives by being alone on the road is to inspire other women to become solo adventurers.
“I’ve grown this audience on social media, and the number of women who message me saying ‘I never heard of van life before you,’ or ‘I never thought I could do it without a partner,’ the number of people on the road who say it’s specifically because of me, that’s so powerful.”
