What is “The Van Project?”

We are two adventurers who just finished renovating our vintage RV, Tezarae.

 We ditched the 9-5 norm and a San Francisco apartment, for a self-directed pursuit of passion & creativity on the road.

We’ve dubbed our endeavor ‘The Van Project’.

Thanks for following along on our journey!

Who is Matt?

A portrait of Matt taken in Canebrake Canyon.

A NOLS semester program lead to rock & ice climbing guiding work while Matt attended the University of Maine. He graduated with a B.S. in Parks, Recreation & Tourism and shortly thereafter moved to Colorado. During his 5 years in the Rockies, Matt learned to grow vegetables above 8000 feet, worked as an Interpretive Guide on Mt.Evans, battled blazes as a Wildland Firefighter, and he even ran a commercial Medical Marijuana growing facility. After moving to Los Angeles in 2013, he changed gears and began working in broadcast production and advertising. An internship at a digital design studio in Venice rekindled Matt’s love of photography and he focused his career development on shooting and retouching images for commercial advertising.

“My love of nature started when I was young thanks to my Grandfather (Stephen), a PhD Ecologist. We’d build forts, catch snakes, and collect insects whenever I visited him. I also developed my interest in shooting because of my Grandfather, he was a prolific photographer. He was a contributor to National Geographic, and Time among other notable publications. I guess you could say photography runs in my genes.”

Matt is an avid outdoor enthusiast: a backpacker and traditional climber. His partnership with Amanda has bolstered both of their outdoor recreation ambitions as they support and encourage each other to pursue hiking and climbing objectives. Matt currently bounces between LA and San Francisco, making a living as a freelance Photographer and Photo Retoucher.

Who is Amanda?

Amanda’s love for travel and adventure started from a young age, thanks to her mom’s particular rare brand of planning adventures to less traveled destinations. In addition, she’s always found particular pleasure in a turn of phrase, and tinkering in the world of philosophy and ideas. This led Amanda to study Government, History, and Spanish, enrolling in a Language Study Abroad Program to Spain. Understanding and connecting with people and cultures powers Amanda. She’s kind-hearted but firm; during Amanda and Matt’s travels in South America, Amanda did most of the talking and negotiations, something which Matt appreciated.  

Amanda climbing Cathedral Peak in Yosemite National Park.

“I feel lucky to have landed at Dartmouth for college, with its easy access to New Hampshire’s fine granite, and small but beautiful mountains (east coast love, but west coast wins here). During those four years in New Hampshire, I grew to love spending extended periods of time in the outdoors. Between studying, I spent time running trails, kayaking on, and hanging out by the Connecticut River, skiing at Dartmouth’s small, private ski mountain, and rock climbing at Rumney. In Matt, I found a partner who shares and stokes my passion for adventure. If I say let’s go to Yosemite next weekend, Matt asks what should we climb”

Amanda’s skills have led her to diverse work experiences across Marketing, Sales and Operations, in both the non-profit and for-profit worlds Most recently, Amanda worked full-time at Google/YouTube, creating and executing on marketing strategies. She now works for startups and small businesses as a marketing automation and digital strategy consultant, freelance copywriter, content creator, and editor.