After fourteen years as a manager at a tech company, I made a radical decision by quitting  my job and climbing behind the wheel of a VW Eurovan camper that I initially nicknamed The Shoebox.  I turned that yearlong, transformative journey across the U.S. and parts of Canada into No Overnight Parking – A year of Vanlife Discovery, and the Open Road, a collection of short stories woven into a single, cohesive narrative.

Liberated from a day planner, the corporate routine, and a serious work-life imbalance, I start out as a vanlife greenhorn—initially relying on duct tape for quick fixes but gradually come into my own. I traverse celebrated routes like the Hi-Line, Going-to-the-Sun Road, the Cabot Trail, and the Loneliest Road in America. I hike Mt. Nebo in Utah, Wheeler Peak in Nevada, Grinnell Glacier Overlook in Montana, and Cadillac Mountain in Maine. Nights are spent at Walmarts and truck stops, in leafy neighborhoods, and beside roadside curiosities such as a sixty-five-foot lighthouse, an eighty-foot dinosaur, and a remote grain bin on the open range.

The tales in my book range from visiting one of America’s last video stores in Astoria, to confronting a cross-country walker on the Montana prairie, to saving souls at a Grand Rapids truck stop, to philosophizing about life at Hemingway’s favorite hangout in Key West. Story titles include Horse Cents, Snap Decision, Zoltar Speaks, Water Wars, Covid Chronicles, Biscuits, The Road with Kuralt, The Girl in the Moon, and Frozen in Time. But this journey isn’t all about lighthearted adventures.

I ponder the enormity of nature and man-made wonders, America’s philanthropic traditions, and the erosion of social connection. I’m never far from adventure, exploration and meaningful coincidence—nor from the occasional loneliness that comes with traveling solo. My only companions are Rand McNally, a persistent check-engine light, and tireless curiosity. And then, just as I find my rhythm on the road, I face a couple of difficult decisions… you’ll have to find out what they are.

No Overnight Parking is a candid, sometimes humorous, always heartfelt collection that will reignite your passion for the road and its endless possibilities. It’s for anyone ready to rediscover their sense of adventure—a reminder that sometimes the best destinations are the ones we never planned.