THIS IS OUR STORY

From Van Life to Truck Life

We’re Cody and Christina, and from 2020 - 2023 we were living on the road in our self converted sprinter van, The Desert Cruiser. Thanks to sheer determination, with no prior building experience we DIY built The Desert Cruiser and lived life to the fullest out of him, traveling from the deserts of Arizona to the lust rainforest of Washington! Along the way searching for the best campsites, mountain biking in some of the most stunning locations and living life how we dreamt of for so long!

But in June of 2022 a new dream formed, buying and building out a 2022 Ford F550 into our own DIY Earthroamer! Even before the van Cody had wanted to build out a 4x4 truck, and with hopes and dreams of one day traveling with kids of our own we knew a van was not enough space for us! So, after weeks of searching Christina found our dream truck in Texas, and the rest is history.

Our Goal

Before living on the road, Cody became passionate taking pictures thanks to inspiration from his Grandfather, and even finding ways to make a small living shooting weddings, real estate photos and portraits! But, once we hit the road he was able to turn this passion of taking photos and videos into a business! A few years later we have worked with some incredible companies in the outdoor industry and off-road industry!

WORK WITH US

18:07

SPRINTER VAN CONVERSION PART 1 | Floor, Insulation, Wall Paneling, Cedar Ceiling, Bike Slider & More

With no prior build experience of any kind, we catch you guys up to speed on what it took for us to get to where The Desert Cruiser is now! Who are we? We’re Cody and Christina, born and raised in Southern California and living full time out of our nearly finished self converted 2018 Mercedes Sprinter Van! A once distant dream of traveling North America by van is nearly here, we have just a few things to finish up on the Desert Cruiser! Stay tuned, because once he is done we can’t wait to take you all along on the journey! If you don’t want to miss our future build videos or when we officially depart, subscribe so that you won’t miss a beat! Make sure to like our video and please leave any questions or comments that you may have below! Video Breakdown: Wheel Base & 4x4: 0:56 Windows: 1:35 Insulation: 2:13 MaxxFan: 3:23 Floor: 4:41 Ceiling: 7:17 Walls: 9:35 Bike Slider: 11:23 Bed Platform: 12:26 Bed Face: 13:16 Couches: 13:54 Cabinets: 14:56 Back Doors: 16:32 Want to stay up to date with us and our travels between videos? Codys Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/codyjutovsky/?hl=en Christinas Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrissylynngabbard/?hl=en VanLife Merchandise Store: https://teespring.com/stores/cody-christina# Our Photography Website: https://www.dakotajutovsky.com

13:24

SPRINTER VAN CONVERSION PART 2 | Charging Ports - Natures Head Compost Toilet - Start of Electrical

Part 2 of our build series shows you how we installed a light dimmer for our 8 LED overhead lights, the multiple USB ports and wall plugs that will be charging our electronics, and finally completing the daunting install of our Natures Head Composting Toilet. We also get started on our electrical panel in hopes of soon having power in The Desert Cruiser! Unfortunately, it was time for us to leave our best friends ranch in Arizona to finish up the van in California, we will see you there next week! Who are we? We’re Cody and Christina, born and raised in Southern California and living full time out of our nearly finished self converted 2018 Mercedes Sprinter Van! A once distant dream of traveling North America by van is nearly here, we have just a few things to finish up on the Desert Cruiser! Stay tuned, because once he is done we can’t wait to take you all along on the journey! If you don’t want to miss our future build videos or when we officially depart, subscribe so that you won’t miss a beat! Make sure to like our video and please leave any questions or comments that you may have below! We would love to talk about anything you may have missed or picked up during the video :) Want to stay up to date with us and our travels between videos? Codys Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/codyjutovsky/?hl=en Christinas Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrissylynngabbard/?hl=en VanLife Merchandise Store: https://teespring.com/stores/cody-christina#. Our Photography Website: https://www.dakotajutovsky.com

30:20

SPRINTER VAN CONVERSION PART 4 | Installing ESPAR S2 D2 Diesel Heater In Our Van

We are not professionals by any means, but over the past 2 days we took on the daunting task of installing an Espar S2 D2 heater in our van… A necessity if you are traveling to any cold areas! In this video we break down the install step by step to hopefully ease the overwhelming feelings you may have (that we definitely had)! 📲Our Website & Blog📲: https://www.thedesertcruisers.com Separate Parts Required White StepDown Adapter For Fuel Line: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CO7AOS/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=sevenosavag07-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B000CO7AOS&linkId=8eef7fcef160c0d672786f24340f2998 Fuel Connector to Sprinter Aux Fuel Tap: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CJLL3N6/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&psc=1&linkCode=sl1&tag=mrandmrsadv-20&linkId=6cdd6538cceb830208a192e89f3697c2&language=en_US AUTOZONE: 3/16” Black Fuel Line Permatex ACE HARDWARE: Rubber Clamps: I used a single 1” Rubber Clamp to attach the exhaust hose to the frame of the van and four 1/4” Rubber Clamps to attach the fuel hose underneath the van #8 3/4” Self Tapping Screws Rustoleum rust preventative paint Who are we? We’re Cody and Christina, born and raised in Southern California and living full time out of our nearly finished self converted 2018 Mercedes Sprinter Van! A once distant dream of traveling North America by van is nearly here, we have just a few things to finish up on the Desert Cruiser! Stay tuned, because once he is done we can’t wait to take you all along on the journey! VanLife Merchandise Store: https://teespring.com/stores/cody-christina If you don’t want to miss when we officially depart, subscribe so that you won’t miss a beat! Make sure to like our video and please leave any questions or comments that you may have below! Want to stay up to date with us and our travels between videos? The Desert Cruiser Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedesertcruiser/ Cody's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/codyjutovsky/ Christina's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrissylynngabbard/

13:47

SPRINTER VAN CONVERSION PART 5 | Wiring our BattleBorn Batteries & Finishing our Electrical System

Well, The Desert Cruiser is done! In our last build video, we take you guys on the emotional journey of turning on the power in the van! Seeing all of our appliances work is just unreal, especially considering we did have to troubleshoot a few simple problems which we figured out! Now that the build is all done, we have officially taken off to travel and live full time out of The Desert Cruiser! Stay tuned for our first Vlog detailing the beginning week of our travels. We hope you enjoyed this Sprinter Van Build series and stay tuned for a van tour in the near future, as well as some product overview videos detailing things we used in the van. Who are we? We’re Cody and Christina, born and raised in Southern California and living full time out of our self converted 2018 Mercedes Sprinter Van! A once distant dream of traveling North America by van is here, so make sure to keep up to date with us and our travels every week! Make sure to like our video and please leave any questions or comments that you may have below! VanLife Merchandise Store: https://teespring.com/stores/cody-christina Want to stay up to date with us and our travels between videos? The Desert Cruiser Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedesertcruiser/ Cody's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/codyjutovsky/ Christina's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrissylynngabbard/ Photography Website: https://www.dakotajutovsky.com

Why We Live This Nomadic Lifestyle?

We chose to live in a van for the freedom it gives us! We didn't like the idea of working full-time, being tired at the end of the day and never having the opportunity to explore this beautiful world we live in. Before we left, Christina landed a remote job in November of 2020 with a local Church doing social media for them! Little did we know this part-time job at the church would be her main job even after all of these years!

Cody was still figuring things out once we hit the road, but not long after moving into the van he was offered a job to film van tours for Nate Murphy!

This was how we were primarily making income, but as of recently we are creating content and producing commercial lifestyle photo and video for companies along our travels! We are super grateful for this lifestyle and the opportunities it has presented to us along the way, it hasn’t all been easy but nothing in life worth living for usually is.