What to write on
The other day, I wrote about journaling, about treating your journal as an extension of your brain, not only as storage but as a part of the processing of your thoughts. But I left out the answer to the most…
Darin
Comparing traction boards
There’s something about traction boards that calls out to the inner man. Before Overlanding was a “thing,” before #vanlife filled our Instagram feeds, Sprinter owners fetishized their traction boards. There they were, right there on the van, the oranger the…
We begin again
I have two daughters. When the second one left for college, I started keeping a journal. My journals (plural, as it would turn out) were small, bright orange, “Expedition” notebooks made by Field Notes. They are made of some sort…
Seriously, what’s the best camera?
As a photographer, I’m often asked the question, What’s the best camera? My answer almost always disappoints: Your cell phone! And I’m serious. If you have a late-model iPhone Pro (or one of the other brands), you have an incredible…
The Quikrstuff bike rack falls down
When a company brags about how well-made and how well-engineered their product is, you want to believe them, you want it to be true that their product is well-made and well-engineered. And for the most part, the Quikrstuff bike rack…
2026 Noovo ProMaster window sticker
Noovo, as I’ve said before, does a great job of detailing what they add to the ProMaster, but not as good of a job in detailing what options are on the ProMaster chassis that they are building upon. They buy…
Barstow’s little secret
I used to call Barstow the armpit of California. All I saw and all most people see is the grungy pass-through road heading out into the desert, next stop Las Vegas. But I’ve come to learn that Barstow has its…
Scouting the Valley of Fire
Forty-five minutes northeast of the van manufacturer Noovo, which is to say forty-five minutes northeast of Las Vegas, is the primordial Valley of Fire. It’s a state park, and a small one, but–my god–if you haven’t been here, I can…
GPS Photos of the Grand Canyon
One thing my big camera lacks is a GPS. My wife and I drove down from California to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the opening of an exhibition of my work (See American Nukes: Photographs and Texts by Darin Boville) at…
This is our van (build photos)
Five months after putting down a deposit, our van has entered production. It will take about two weeks to build and then two more weeks to quality-check. Pick up will be in early April. This is really happening! All photos…