Newlyweds Wes Brown and Maritza Wiedel never tire of the view from their bedroom window. They live in Steamboat Springs, where the summits glow pink at sunset and the night sky shows off the Milky Way. And for Brown and Wiedel, nature’s slideshow is always changing: The couple sleep in a van they relocate every couple of days.
They’ve divvied up their white Ford Transit 350 van to approximate rooms in a house. There’s the “garage” in back, where they store their climbing gear and mountain bikes, and the “bedroom” above it, where they’ve positioned a mattress across an elevated platform. The “closet” consists of one van-width wooden rod on which the couple hang clothes, and the “kitchen” includes a threeburner stove, oven, and sink.
At a glance, Brown, 24, and Wiedel, 23, look just like the #vanlife vagabonds whom wistful desk jockeys can’t stop ogling on Instagram. Indeed, when the couple road-trip to Moab, they easily infiltrate the flock of modern-day nomads that commonly roosts at parking lots with public restrooms. But Brown and Wiedel, who got married in September, have to show up to their jobs in person, every day. Brown is a paraprofessional who supports children with learning disabilities at Soda Creek Elementary School. Wiedel works part time as an emergency medical technician and volunteers
