Joey Johnson was the kid brother of the girl I had a crush on in high school. The Johnsons lived right across the street from my buddy Mike. Joey would often bike or skate over to talk to us as we watched Mike’s horrendous Thunderbird puke flourescent green coollant down the street. Of course, being a stupid teenager, I only saw Joey as his sister’s little brother and dumbly paid him not a lot of mind. My most vivid memory is sitting on the balcony with Joey, his father and sisters watching an extremely rare Southern California lightning storm light up the sky. We were awe struck. Joey died in his sleep on May 22, 2008. He was epileptic and just 28 years old. I’m telling you about him because 9 months before he passed, Joey Johnson and his girlfriend Rachel Kim climbed into a VW Vanagon named Günther and drove for 342 days through 35 US states and 10 countries. They went as far north as Fairbanks, as far east as Cape Cod and as far south as Panama City. They had a bicycle stolen in Vancouver and claim to have not runover any animals. As Joey prophetically but tragically said, “A man is not complete until he has repaired his own vehicle. With duct tape.”

Luckily for all of us, Joey and Rachel had the good sense to blog their adventure. For instance, their van had the following mechanical hold ups: 1 axle, 1/2 engine, 1 tire, 1 wheel bearing, 1 brake hose, 1 coolant pipe, 1 radiator fan. And Joey had some keen, wise beyond his years automotive observations, “In case your experience with Mexican mechanics is limited, allow me to enlighten you. They are the most rapid, straightforward, and creative repairmen around. Who needs the Capitalistic society of “parts” and “factory settings” when all you really need is a length of recycled hose, some spliced wires, a toggle switch, and a few second-hand clamps? Appointments, estimates, waiting? Try same-day service, 20 bucks, and jerry-rigging galore.” Amen. And really, reading through their serendipitous road trip makes me angry and forlorn at how much of my youth I’ve wasted — and not just because I never made the time to know a guy like this better. We’re all going be departing this earthbound joy ride a lot sooner than we’d like.  Get in your vans, people. Go. [Source: ...Van Down by the River]