Manatee

Manatee was the van Jen and Ash used to make a mobile life of seasonal work and travel workable. After they discovered that a Subaru Impreza was too cramped to live in, the van became their home at Amazon CamperForce in Fernley and a means of joining the traveling community around the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous.

From Subaru to Van

Jen and Ash first planned to alternate work and adventure while living in a hand-me-down Subaru. They tested that plan on the Colorado Trail, hiking more than 480 miles from Denver to Durango over fifty-two days. But the Subaru’s limited space made it an impractical home: even with the rear seats folded, lying down required packing belongings into the foot wells behind the front seats. Before starting CamperForce, they found Manatee instead. Buying the van left them nearly broke, but it gave them a more viable base for work and travel.

Work in Fernley

After settling at Sage Valley RV Park, the couple biked to the warehouse for their first full-length shift, hoping to enjoy the mostly flat route and save on fuel. A slow leak in one of Jen’s tires forced them to stop every fifteen minutes to pump it up. The ride took three hours, but they arrived in time for a ten-hour shift. At 5 a.m., after work, they biked back through the cold and dark, stopping at Walmart for extra layers before continuing into the rush-hour traffic and a blinding sunrise. The effort earned them a lasting reputation as the women who rode their bikes to work.

The commute changed their routine. To save gas during the workweek, they parked Manatee at Walmart or a gas station near the warehouse and returned to Sage Valley RV Park on their days off. As warehouse stowers, they found their recent hiking experience useful; the repeated bending was difficult at first, but, as Jen observed, workers developed the necessary muscles after a couple of weeks.

Travel and Community

After finishing at Amazon, Jen and Ash visited family in Colorado, hiked the Grand Canyon’s southern rim, and toured Earthships in New Mexico. In mid-January they reached the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous and parked Manatee directly behind Linda May’s RV. Linda had already made many new friends during their time away, and the van’s arrival placed the couple within the gathering’s developing social circle.

When the rendezvous ended, Jen and Ash hugged Linda goodbye. They planned to travel around the Southwest until their next jobs: volunteering at Rocking 7 Ranch through World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, then camp hosting in Sequoia National Forest. Manatee thus served not only as their shelter between shifts but as the vehicle linking paid work, travel, and the relationships they formed on the road.