Is anyone else stuck in the winter blues and getting the Road Trip Itch? Scratch that itch by taking a look at the blog, Drive Nacho Drive. Nacho is a 1984 2.1 liter Volkswagen Vanagon being driven around the world by Brad and Sheena. They quit their jobs at the end of 2011 and have been living out of Nacho as they discover adventure, food, culture and emergency roadside Volkswagen maintenance.
What popped out of this blog was the great step-by-step breakdown as to how the couple adapted Nacho for around-the-world travel. They cover everything from how they added in a hot and cold water infrastructure for drinking and showering, a solar electric system, custom cabinets, custom bumpers, locking storage boxes and the little details to turn Nacho into a plush tiny house on wheels.
Brad and Sheena are currently in South America, but plan on driving Nacho (with the help of shipping freighters) to Indonesia, Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, Europe and Canada.
They are accepting donations for beer.
Photos from Drive Nacho Drive
By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]
Nacho is very deceptively posh, isn’t he? Cool idea and Tory, guys. 🙂
What a great adventure! Happy for the couple to get out and experience the world in a way many of us only dream of.
Nacho is like Downtown Abbey on wheels compared to my Vanagon.
Sooooo sweet! Thinking of doing this to my minivan or hope to pick up a cargo van. Gotta follow their blog now.
Great post! What clever tricks in the van as well.
I would love to have some descriptions of what we are looking at, to go with the pictures. What are all of those tubes? and what is going on at the back of the van? Is that white curtain a shower? what is the black box next to it?
I have pretty much everything described in detail here: http://www.drivenachodrive.com/about-nacho/
-Brad, Driver Extraordinaire, Drive Nacho Drive
Wow, you guys have a really nice looking van. So did you take your van to South America? Your last photo is in Peru isn’t it? I speak Portuguese fluently and wanted to travel around Brazil and then muck up my language and explore the rest of South America one day. I should do it sooner than later I know.
Stan: That photo is definitely Machu Pichu in Peru. I’ve been there, but travelled by train and foot and chicken bus. They must be driving a Vanagon synchro that is similar to a 4WD and sits higher for better clearance. I had a 1987 for several years. Mine was pretty nice, but this one is tricked out much better. Wish I still had mine, but would have wanted a bigger engine because all VW Vans are underpowered. Nice little home on wheels.
Marti aka spudboater
Marti, actually Nacho is a 2WD Vanagon. We put a heavy duty spring system in, which raised the ride height.
We got to Machu Picchu in quite a different (and scarier) way than most do it. I documented it in a blog here:
http://www.drivenachodrive.com/2013/01/death-road-to-machu-picchu/
Amazing in what you have done to make your VW into (nearly) a space shuttle!
One question: with all of the water piping throughout, are you having problems with freezing (and breaking)pipes or fittings?
Hey everyone, thanks for the nice comments about our Nacho. We spent 2 years making cool renovations to it before hitting the road. As I type this, we’re spending our very last day in South America before flying to America, and then on to Malaysia to pick up Nacho for the onward trip around the world.
You can read all about our adventure, and what all of the tubes/etc are for at our website, which is linked in the article (drivenachodrive.com)
@Stan, yes, we drove nacho drom Arizona to the tip of Tierra del Fuego, and then up to Buenos Aires. Now we’re shipping it to Asia, where we’ll drive through SE Asia, India, Middle East, and Europe. ‘Round the world!
@Liz Goertz: The tubing is for our complex hot water and water purification systems. We are able to heat water using the engine while we drive, and then take hot showers. Many more mods, all explained in detail on our “About nacho” page.
@DoltRite: We use flexible turing for most things, so we haven’t had freezing issues. We originally installed plastic check valves in the water system, all 4 of which froze and broke before leaving the USA. We replaced them with brass ones in Mexico and they’ve been good through freezes in the Andes. In a pinch we can also drain all the water and winterize the system.
Thanks for reading!
Genius! As a Canadian with the high cost of property and taxes this
could be an answer to homelessness. I am one paycheque away from
this and you have provided me with hope. Thx!
Right on, brother! We’ve been living in Nacho for about 16 months now, and it’s been very rewarding. We get the best views in town from our home, and we can change the view any time 🙂
Simply fascinating! Journey on and safe travels.
This is fantastic! I applaud these two adventurers and pray for their continued learning and safety.
Few people are this courageous, adventurous or embracing of the world.
Namaste.
When are you coming to Canada?
It’ll be a good long time before we make it there, Alex. We just made it to Thailand, and have to drive all the way to Europe from here. From there we plan to ship to Halifax, and then drive through Canada. Shoot us an email when we get closer and we can sit down for a cold one. I’ve had a hankering for a Fin du Monde, brewed in Quebec!
Drive and fly on safely! This is an amazing concept compared to what we used to dream of in the 70’s, that’s for sure. Thank you for your spirits of adventure and discovery. It helps we desk-sitters get out of the computers for a while and into our dreams. Namaste.
Very cool. Thank you so much for the post and inspiration. : ) May many more wonderful trips come your way. Namaste
Thanks for all pf the kind words!
@Alex: it’ll be a while before we get to Canada. We have to drive through SE Asia, India/Nepal, the Middle East, Europe, and Morocco first. Save me a beer though 🙂