The Algae Biodiesel Westfalia Camper Van

David Levine's road trip from the high school where he teaches to Chicago's landmark Sears Tower was a short drive for man - about 20 miles round trip - but perhaps a giant step for mankind.

It's also a cool account of biofuels being used to fill the tank of a VW van, and so resonated with me.

As the story goes, Levine's students at the Al Raby School for Community and Environment in Garfield Park, Illinois started culturing algae in their chemistry class at the beginning of their junior year.

The appeal of algae fuel over other more conventional sources of biodiesel is obvious: algae's not a food crop like, say, corn and soybeans.  continue reading... »

Jeff Johnson's "Bend to Baja" Proves Popular

The bad news? The entire first print run of Jeff Johnson's intriguing road trip tale, Bend to Baja, has sold out

The good news? Johnson advised me that he is in the midst of doing a second run and it should be ready in summer 2009.

I am keen to get my hands on the book because, according to the promotional blurb:

"Bend to Baja documents a surf-inspired road trip along the West Coast of North America. In February 2005, Jeff Johnson, the Malloy brothers and their friends left Ventura, California for Bend, Oregon. From Oregon, the crew went south to the tip of Baja, looking for waves and rock climbing in a pickup truck converted to run on alternative fuel sources: veggie oil and bio-diesel."  continue reading... »

Pamela Anderson's Airstream On The Auction Block Again

In a piece back in August we noted that Pamela Anderson's Lovestream Airstream trailer was being auctioned at the “World’s Largest Collector Car Auction and Show".

That auction was held in Auburn, Indiana and ran from August 28 to September 2, 2008.

Well, it seems that the trailer didn't sell last time around as, according to this ad, Kruse International has put the silver missile on the block again this weekend.

But this time, the auctioneer is clearly much more serious about moving the Lovestream.  continue reading... »

"Hey Cupcake!" Calls Airstream Home

A shiny 1965 Tradewind Airstream trailer put Wes Hurt's "Hey Cupcake!" bakery on the map.

Located in Austin, Texas, the dessert stand specializes in, you guessed it, cupcakes.

The 30-year old Hurt told me that he has always been attracted to the classic/sleek look of Airstream trailers and that when it came time to putting the icing on his bakery concept, he knew that an Airstream - with its funky, retro vibe - would be the perfect fit.

Hurt, a self described entrepreneur, also figured the overhead would be substantially less than a storefront and that the Airstream would generate an extra buzz around the new business.

If the results of my Google search is a barometer, he definitely achieved the latter.  continue reading... »

Home on the Road: The Van Dwelling Phenomenon

After spending the better part of a year living in our 1987 VW Vanagon while we traveled to Mexico and Central America followed by the Yukon and Alaska, I was thrilled to get back home to the comforts of our condo.

Kitchens, bathrooms, fireplaces – I like them all.

But for a growing number of individuals, permanent “van dwelling” has replaced apartments and houses as the accommodation of choice.

The glue that holds this sub-culture together appears to be the aptly named “Van-Dwellers” Yahoo chat group.

Canada’s national magazine – MacLeans – carried a story on van dwellers in September 2008 and noted that in a recent seven-day period, a whopping 49 new members had joined the Yahoo Group, exchanging 583 new messages.  continue reading... »

Media Spotlight Shines on Driven to Sustain Road Trip

The Driven to Sustain road trip pulled into Toronto this week and the Big Smoke media clearly liked their eco-friendly story.

As we noted in a a story last month, Canadians Tyson Jerry and Cloe Whittaker are roadtrippin across North America in a Mitsubishi Delica diesel van that has been converted to run on Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO).

They are relying on free WVO from local restaurants to fill their tank and are aiming to break the current world record for "Longest Journey by Car on Alternative Fuel", which is 38,137 kilometres.  continue reading... »

The Volkswagen Van Wave

I learned about the VW van wave in my early 20s, shortly after buying my first VW van.

Years later, I still have difficulty articulating to non-VW van drivers when and when not to wave. "It's more of an art than a science", fits in this case.

But if push came to shove and I had to try and distill VW van waving habits down to their core, they would be this:

1) It's really more of a nod with the hand, than a full fledged wave;

2) VW van drivers don’t wave to each other when they are in their cities/neighbourhoods going about their everyday lives;

3) Call Vanagon and Bus owners prickly, but they seldom wave to Eurovan drivers;  continue reading... »

Airstream Trailer Penthouses Top Hotel in South Africa

A new trailer park is opening in Cape-Town, South Africa.

Starting in mid December, guests at the Grand Daddy Hotel will have the option of staying in one of seven Airstream trailers that are parked on the building’s roof.

But if déclassé RV parks aren't for you, no need to worry. The owners of the boutique hotel are deeming the experiment to be “more trailer park flash than trailer park trash”.

This is because the lavish interior of each of the vintage silver bullets has been uniquely designed by a local artist. The decor in one of the suites, for example, was inspired by John Lennon and Yoko Ono's famous 1969 "Bed-Ins For Peace" in Amsterdam and Montreal.  continue reading... »

Westfalia VERDIER Solar Power Vans Soon on the Road

In an article in June we reported on the Westfalia VERDIER Solar Power van than had been prototyped by Montreal industrial design company, VERDIER Light Caravaning.

In an story on green RV-ing in the NY Times on Friday, Alexandre Verdier, the van's designer, said that he is currently negotiating with a manufacturer and that the vans should be available in summer 2009.

According to the company's website, they will be making only 250 vans in the first production run.  continue reading... »

Famous Foodies Take to the Road

Celebrity chefs Bob Blumer and Jamie Oliver both have roadtrippin credentials.

Blumer (a.k.a. The Surreal Gourmet) is a a cookbook author, artist and professional bon vivant.

He has been described as "one of today’s most imaginative food personalities" and can be seen on the Food Network.

He also, apparently, enjoys long road trips.

In order to promote his critically acclaimed third cookbook, Off The Eaten Path: Inspired Recipes for Adventurous Cooks, Blumer embarked on an ambitious 30-city, three-month odyssey in the early 2000s in his customized Airstream trailer.

Nicknamed the Toastermobile, the trailer was equipped with a $50,000 stainless steel industrial kitchen, and crowned, naturally enough, with two eight-foot slices of toast.  continue reading... »