5 People I want to buy a cup of coffee

In 2019 there are 5 people I want to buy a cup of coffee. Here’s my list:

5. Redman - Rapper/Record Producer/Actor @therealredman

He’s a Jersey guy. His music is dope. Best MTV Cribs of all time.

I honestly think we’d become best friends and he’d even be ok with me calling him Regi. Redman would probably order a Caramel Frappuccino, extra caramel.

4. Tig Notaro - Stand-up Comic/Writer/Actress @TigNotaro

She has a great approach and delivery to her comedy. Who doesn’t like stand-up with life threatening scenarios & sock puppets? Tig probably would order a Chai Latte.

3. John Turturro - Actor/Writer/Filmmaker @JohnMTurturro

Okay, John is basically that friend you never personally invite anywhere but he’s always at the group meetup. He’s in every random movie you select on Netflix. He has great range as an actor and I expect he’ll order an Espresso.

2. Daniel Norris - MLB Pitcher @DanielNorris18

This one is a bit obvious.. He’s a sports figure who lived in a van. I’m a Fantasy Sports Radio Producer who lived in a van. Umm.. Yeah, we are basically related. No matter what he orders I’d probably gift him with the GSI Java Drip Portable Coffee System. It’s great for off the grid livin’.

1. Matt Pinfield - TV/Radio Personality @mattpinfield

Also a Jersey native. He’s a wealth of knowledge when it comes to everything music. When I rode my bicycle from NJ to San Fran, I reached out to Matt about meeting up. Some scheduling conflicts on both ends prevented the meet up, but in 2019 I’m hoping we finally make this happen. I’d probably just offer him some SiriusXM community coffee at work, and pick his brain about the 80’s East Brunswick music scene. I imagine he likes his sugar with coffee and cream.

Who’s on your Top 5 list?

Honorable Mentions:

Drew Brees-NFL Quarterback, Les Claypool-Musician, Missy Elliott-Musician, Larry David-Comedian  

Coast 2 Coast Bicycle Adventure 2016

Day 295..

July 1st marks one year living rent free… On April 29th I’ll be downsizing from the van to a bicycle for about two months. Van Morissette will be missed. I find it a bit funny that the final weeks leading up to my one year anniversary of #VanLife, and I might be thousands of mile away from the van. No need to worry, the Dude In Van will still be posting even though I technically won’t be in a van. I have some plans for the future of this website, and I’ll be testing them out while I’m on the road. If it makes you feel better you can type www.onlysandro.com into your search engine, instead of www.dudeinvan.com.

Most of you know I don’t really talk to my parents that often. In fact, they don’t know I live in the van. I did tell my father about the bicycle trip, last week, because he emailed me inquiring about vacation time in April or May. His reaction was the same as Phil and Nick’s parents. Our parents in general are not pleased, to say the least.

I understand my father’s concern. I am his son, he reminds every time he emails me. (He starts off all his email with “Hi Son”) I just don’t agree with him implying that I’m ruining the rest of my life and career by taking a two month break to ride a bicycle across America. That’s a tad bit dramatic. Regardless, I’m excited for this trip, as you know. Quitting my job hasn’t really set in yet because I gave them a 6 week notice.  I’ll give you an update in two weeks before I leave. Maybe by then I’ll be freaking out.

If you want to follow along with me and my friends, Nick and Phil, you can do so by clicking “Like” on our Facebook group Coast 2 Coast Bicycle Adventure 2016. We are planning on posting pictures and videos as we roll across the country.

Also, we have self-funded the trip. We bought touring bicycles, tents, all sorts of gear for the biking/camping, cameras, maps, and more. We are planning to camp and not using any hotels to keep our costs down. If you’d like to support the trip with more than just kind words, you can do so by visiting out GoFund Me page! www.gofundme.com/NJ2CA2016 Our plan is to use this money for food and bicycle maintenance.

Thanks for following along and all the support!

#NJ2CA2016

Day 226

Day 226...

I used a slow cooker today to cook my dinner tonight. I made some chicken dish. Sorry I don’t have any pictures. I'm also considering to sell my solar driven generator. I haven't used it much this winter and I'm thinking of downsizing for the summer. I'll keep you posted on that.

Yes, this is a blog post.. So you know what that means. No podcast this week. It’s funny the week I get two podcast cancelations is the same week I kind of missed out on a great opportunity because I haven’t booked any “BIG NAME” guests in my career. I’m sure the old me would get real mopey and start dwelling on where I went wrong, but honestly I’m okay with it. Now I can focus on my two month bike trip. 

Living in a van is easy. The hard part is being creative and adventures enough to follow through with actually doing it. My life hasn’t changed much in the last 226 days, and the things that have changed are mostly a change for the better. I’m not talking about the morning I woke up and my brakes weren’t working.(Click on the Social Media portion of my page and scroll down my twitter feed to catch up on that) That change wasn’t fun. I’m talking about my life socially and personally.  

I’ll keep this short. We are all busy and I don’t want to pull you away from your life too long. I’ll leave you with this.. Remember to think outside the box from time to time. I know what I’m doing doesn’t seem normal at first but if you take a moment to really think about me living in a van you’ll see it’s really not that crazy.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the picture above! (I know it's messy.. I'm messy!)

sandro@dudeinvan.com if you have any questions or interest to be on the podcast.

Ju-lie Babbo Natale

This past weekend I ran into someone I haven't spoken to in a very long time. It was a very brief encounter; we exchanged a few words, shook hands and went on our merry (separate) way. It's funny how people change over the years. I remember spending hours as a child trying to figure out ways to hang out with him and I even wrote him a few letters, too. I would ask my parents to invite him to dinner, or at least let me go visit him. They would always explain to me that he lived very far away. 

My friend and I never planned to meet up but he always seemed to be around in December, right around my birthday. The times we did meet up usually happened at the mall or he would come visit me at school. No matter how long we spent apart, it would be as if we were never seperated. I went back to telling him everything I wanted to tell him and his face would light up like a Christmas tree with excitement. As the years went on the conversations got shorter and shorter and our interactions would happen less and less, till they stopped taking place all together. I would still see him at the same places but neither of us would make an effort to start up a conversation. 

Back then I didn't think anything of it but sadly, after this weekend, I realized we both lost that twinkle that used to shine in our eyes when we used to see each other. Don't get me wrong, it was great seeing him after all these years. It was just different and it got me thinking how over the years I've met so many people and some of those relationships have faded away, as well. 

I've always thought of contacting someone randomly, via social media, to hang out, catch up, grab a bite to eat, maybe a drink or two.. something along those lines. But then a little voice in my head has always stopped me. 

"oh, that's just creepy"

"don't be that guy"

"hmm.. let's do this another time"

(This is usually when I delete the text message I already typed into my mobile phone and proof read 5 times)

Today I realized I shouldn't let that little voice control my original intentions. 

WOW.. I got off topic a bit. I just wanted to share with you that I saw an old friend the other day and we had good time catching up. I'm hoping I run into other old friends, in the near future, and get a chance to catch up with them too. 

Thanks for stopping by.

PS. Here's a picture of my friend and I.

I was always under the assumption he lived at the North Pole.. He told me he lives in Toms River. Must be a summer home while he's on vacation. IDK. What is Christmas in July?

Day 28