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VIDEO: Area couple just can't wait to get on the road again

'Vanwives' have been chronicling their van adventures and sharing them with thousands of YouTube followers

Jazmyn Canning and Crystal Drinkwalter have van, will travel.

In fact, the Barrie couple has been doing nothing but for the past 18 months, even when the world health pandemic forced them to abandon their original destination of Argentina. 

Having made it all the way to Guatemala in March, they suddenly found themselves taking advantage of kind strangers, who allowed the women to park on their farm and kindly replenished their supplies as they isolated in their van, trying to figure out their next move.

After receiving permissions to leave a country that had implemented a curfew and strict pandemic rules, Canning, 26, and Drinkwalter, 25, were able to cross international borders and they booted the 5,300 kilometres home to Barrie in seven days.

“That was a very positive experience that brought us a lot of peace because at that time there was so much going on and we had all of our belongings and our house and our dogs and our whole life packed into a van in Guatemala during COVID. It just got really nerving at the time, we really didn’t know what the right decision was to make,” said Drinkwalter, who, with Canning and their dogs Bella and Izzy, have been safely parked in Barrie since the end of March, exploring the wonders of home.

“Our lifestyles have changed a little bit” being back in Barrie, she said.

“We’re doing a lot of provincial parks, a lot of back country; Crown land is our favourite and making the best of the situation that we have right now,” added Canning.

Although, the wanderlust has been resurfacing and the open road beckons.

But first back to how it all began.

Canning and Drinkwalter were both working at Pie Wood Fired Pizza Joint on Lakeshore Drive when they met.

“We always had a love for travelling before we were together,” said Canning. “When we found each other, we found our love for adventure, travelling. It all started with backpacking trips.” 

“We wanted to create longevity in our travels and we wanted to travel far and we wanted to travel longer and travel off the beaten paths with our dogs,” added Drinkwalter.

Their goal was to live simply, reduce their footprint and cut overhead bills while on the move.

They first set out in search of their ideal vehicle and after five months decided upon a 2006 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter diesel van with 300,000 kms on the odometer and drove it home from Calgary. 

Then, for the next eight months they converted the metal shell into a winterized home, under the tutelage of YouTube videos.

They also boned up on car maintenance and mechanics basics, equipping themselves with all the necessary tools, including a code scanner which allows them to do some diagnostics.

And finally, in the fall of 2018, they hit the road.

“We started going west and by the time we hit the United States we started documenting our travels…” sharing stories on Instagram, said Drinkwalter. “That’s where our YouTube adventure began.”

During the early days of their travels, they built a social-media following with the handle 'Vanwives' and quickly learned how to make videos of their escapades, even using a drone and background music, which they post on YouTube every Sunday.

At about the same time, they decided upon Argentina as a final destination.

With a current following in excess of 38,000 viewers, they are able to draw an income as well as sponsorships allowing them to sustain their nomadic lifestyle.

“It’s a newfound skill that we both found on the road,” marvelled Canning, adding that each video involves about three days of shooting and 18-plus hours of editing.

And even though they are unabashedly Canadians from Ontario, their audience is largely centred in the United States.

With Bella and Izzy, they drove down the coast, to Baja, Mexico. From there, they took a 16-hour ferry to mainland Mexico.

While there, they happily hosted Canning’s brother and partner who also slept in the van for their two-week sojourn, as they looped through Mexico together.

“It was so worth it to have company, though,” after more than a year on the road with no familiar faces, said Drinkwalter.

Finally, Canning and Drinkwalter made their way into Guatemala.

Back at home they’ve been exploring local areas, continuing with their weekly videos. And now they’re getting ready to go farther afield. They’re eyeing the Maritimes, hoping to eventually cross those provincial borders, and maybe do some cross-Canada driving.

And whenever the international borders reopen, they’ll point their van south again.

“I feel like I can live like this forever,” said Canning.

“We’ve been in the van for a year and a half and now that we’ve been living this way, I just can’t imagine not living tiny anyway. The van, however, does get you places,” adds Drinkwalter.


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About the Author: Marg. Bruineman, Local Journalism Initiative

Marg. Buineman is an award-winning journalist covering justice issues and human interest stories for BarrieToday.
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