Warrior’s Story

This one is my vintage 1990 Winnebago Warrior, built on a Chevy Van 30 chassis.

In this post, we will explore one year of van life from Canada to Mexico through the United States. I’ll focus on the principal subject: Van Life in an affordable (and vintage!) Winnebago that I bought in Québec, Canada. For once, no border gymnastics, no creative paperwork, no “trust me, bro” moments. Just taxes. Expensive plates. And somehow, the cheapest insurance I’ve ever had: 158 CAD for an entire year. I still don’t understand it. I stopped asking questions.

I named it Warrior. Again. Because it was written on it. And it really looked like a warrior! Big. Solid. Unapologetically old-school RV ready for discovering North America.

This vintage motorhome took us across Canada, the United States, and Mexico. All the way down to Baja and back up through the American West. I lived in it full-time. I shook in it. I loved it. And then, like all good things on the road, I let it go.

Sometimes, the dream is heavy.
Sometimes, it’s worth every litre of gas.

Why a Vintage 1990 Winnebago Warrior for Van Life

In Canada, if you’re looking for a van, you live on Facebook Marketplace.
There’s also Kijiji and LesPAC, but honestly, everything ends up centralized on Facebook.

My budget was around 10,000 CAD, which meant one thing: older models.
And my road trip partner had one non-negotiable request.

He wanted to stand up.
He’s 6’1”. Fair enough.

So I started looking at older motorhomes. Mostly Fords were on the market. Some Toyotas too, which everyone knows are basically immortal. I contacted four vans across the province, all within a 200 km radius.

Then I planned a ridiculous day.
One visit after another. Over an hour of driving between each one. Rust. Smells. Sketchy stories. Sellers, who felt like professional liars. Vans that looked fine in photos and sad in real life.

And then… Warrior showed up. A vintage Winnebago from 1990.

The seller was waiting for me outside, sitting on a camping chair. The awning was open. Every gadget was ready to try. No pressure. No rush. Just pride.

I fell in love immediately.
Still, I told myself I’d wait. Then I waited another day.
The next morning, I texted him and made a deal.

The Route Down: From Canada to Mexico through the United States

We left from Montréal, headed to Niagara Falls, and crossed into the U.S. via the Rainbow Bridge.

New York: Indian reservations for cheap gas, cigarettes, and weed.
We drove rather fast through Pennsylvania. Ohio. Still, we spent a day in Bowling Green, Kentucky. We visited Nashville, Tennessee. We camped by the Mississippi River. Drove through Alabama. In Louisiana, we spent a night in New Orleans and took a ride in an airboat through the bayou. Texas stretched forever. Still got lucky enough to watch a rocket launch on South Padre Island.

Then we crossed into Mexico at Reynosa, a place everyone seems scared of, for reasons I still don’t understand. Mexicans were relaxed, welcoming, and curious. Knowing a little Spanish changes everything. They didn’t even ask for anything about the dog or its papers. Make sure you have the vaccination card ready. And don’t forget to get your TIP (Temporary Import Permit) for your vehicle. It takes around half an hour and costs about 1,000 pesos.

We drove through Nuevo León and stopped in Monterrey to visit friends I’d met years earlier while travelling with Kerouac. Full circle moments like that are why I keep moving.

Then we aimed for the West Coast.
Coahuila. Durango. And finally Isla Piedra, south of Mazatlán.

We chose the “easy” route.
Highways. Tolls. So many tolls.
300. 400. 500. Sometimes 800 pesos at once.

We also chose the ferry to Baja.

Mistakes were made.

Because Warrior was just over 7 metres, we paid 1,400 CAD instead of the 500–600 we expected. We took the cheaper trucker ferry, TMC, because it allowed us to sleep in the van.

It was terrible.
The movement. The noise. Walking between vehicles felt like being drunk in an earthquake.

Still… an experience.

Then Baja happened.

From Pichilingue to Cabo, then back up through California. Baja is, without exaggeration, a Van Life paradise, no matter the size of your rig.

I’ll write a full post about Baja. It deserves its own altar.

Life Inside Warrior

Every morning, you wake up with a view. Even the Walmart ones.

Sleeping

Two beds.

A real queen-size bed over the cab, thanks to the classic Winnebago design.
And a fixed double bed in the back.

The back bed was unbelievably comfortable.
The cab bed was harder, but for a 1990 cushion, I won’t complain.

I remember revisiting the first novel that made me fall in love with books and literature back in this childhood dream van. Aliss by Patrick Senécal.

Cooking & Water

Four-burner gas stove.
An actual oven.
A real fridge, working on gas or electricity.

Wood cabinets. Storage everywhere.
A full shower.
100+ litre water tank.

This wasn’t a van.
It was a rolling apartment.

Power

We had:

• A generator
• An EcoFlow River 2
• Two massive house batteries for lights and water pump

Every couple of weeks, we needed a campground to empty and recharge everything. Empty the grey and black water tanks. Refilling the fresh water tank and the two batteries.

In Mexico, we filtered water or bought 5-gallon bottles. No hero moves.

Sometimes we even had AC when plugged in. You can wild camp anywhere in Baja and in other places in Mexico is under 100 pesos a night. Very cheap. A good setup allows you to be off-grid and save a lot on camping costs.

Luxury hits are different after years of minimalism.

The Route Up: Baja California to Montréal

A thing I haven’t mentioned before is that the heater died in Canada before we left. That decision shaped everything. It’s why we avoided New Mexico and Arizona in December and headed directly south. It’s why we took the ferry instead.

It didn’t stop us from hitting the famous National Parks of the USA when we went up after the winter. But we had to fix it for the cold that was expected there. We found a garage in southern California and miraculously he had one in stock. Old one. Cheaper. Still $800 (USD). You never know when I garage really had it in stock or what they are up to, do you? But anyway, it was finally fixed, and the Grand Canyon would not be skipped!

So we bought the National Park pass ”American the Beautiful” at Joshua Tree National Park. You can buy it online too. I highly suggest opting for the America the Beautiful Pass. It grants you access to ALL National Parks of the USA for an entire year. Up to one vehicle and up to 4 people in it. We paid $80 for it. I think they raised the price for non-residents in 2026, which is a bummer. Still worth it, whatever the cost!

We did all of those:

• Joshua Tree
• Grand Canyon
• Bryce Canyon
• Zion
• Badlands

We skipped Yellowstone and Grand Teton, even in April. Still too cold and too far. Full of bears blocking the road. We couldn’t ask that of Warrior. But I’ll be back, let me tell ya!

We saw other awesome places, which were not National Parks:

• Valley of Fire
• Antelope Island
• Slab City
• Endless canyons I can’t even name

The U.S. is absurdly vast and generous if you let it be. Its BLM (Bureau of Land Management) is also great. You can park on those lands for up to two weeks! Amazing views… and FREE!

What My Chevy Van 30 Taught Me

I don’t really have “what am I doing” moments anymore.

Comfort changes everything, though. This one was DELUXE. So does fuel consumption.

28L / 100 km. A thirsty one.
Texas was the only place where it made sense.

Parking was sometimes a nightmare. In Québec, it didn’t even fit in friends’ driveways. I parked it on the street all summer, learned local bylaws the hard way, and moved it constantly.

Still worth it.

We sold Warrior for 12,000 CAD after adding 20,000 km.

Not bad for a dream.

I also don’t know how I always resell with a gain. Don’t ask me.

So Long, My Friend

In late 2025, I went back to Europe.

I’m writing this from another European van, near Alicante, Spain.
Plans change. Portugal was shorter than planned. Purchasing land can wait.

Buying a van in Europe made more sense, especially since my partner is German. Importing Warrior across the ocean would’ve been emotional… and financially stupid.

American-built cars like Chevrolet are rare. So the parts. Shipping is insane. Some dreams stay where they lived.

Letting Warrior go was hard. It was my favourite of them all. Sorry Wild Rose. Sorry Kerouac. And sorry Nemo. Each of them served a different purpose for a different Lydia. Maybe I liked myself better that year? Who knows? It’s definitely the coolest look, let’s be honest!

Even if I had it for only a year, I gave it a proper life. And it mirrored it.

This chapter closes the Van Life in North America.
Not forever. Just for now.

If I had to say one thing to Warrior:

“Thanks, dude. You made some of my dreams come true. I hope you enjoyed the miles I added to you as much as I did.”

I’d be happy to answer questions on that amazing road trip through those three fantastic, HUMONGOUS countries!

Drop me a comment with your question and I’ll reply for sure.