LOCAL

Grand Ledge grad transformed van into home on wheels. Now she's sharing her adventures on TikTok

Lansing State Journal

GRAND LEDGE - Van life was a dream in the back of Maddie Burman's mind, far-removed from her everyday life as a flight attendant for United Airlines, right up until she was furloughed last summer.

Grand Ledge native Maddie Burman with Daisy, her Siberian Husky, has been traveling the country and living in a renovated van since January.

Burman, 28, was staying with her mom in Grand Ledge, when she got an email from the airline about an extended unpaid leave amid the pandemic.

This is my opportunity, she thought.

"I'd, for the last three years, watched people do van life from afar on social media and always thought to myself how much I thought that I would love it," Burman said.

She spent five months renovating a 2012 Nissan cargo van she bought from a used vehicle lot in Flint into a home on wheels, complete with a bed, mini-refrigerator and stovetop.

Daisy, Maddie Burman's Siberian Husky, in their renovated van in Mount Pleasant, Texas in late January. They have been traveling the country and living in a renovated van since January.

In January, the 2010 Grand Ledge High School graduate, who earned a degree in biology from Central Michigan University, set off with Daisy, her Siberian Husky, to see the country.

Most nights have been spent sleeping in the studio apartment she created in the van. Burman and Daisy have spent their days traveling, hiking and exploring.

The pair have driven more than 20,000 miles, visiting 33 states and 12 state parks. Burman has documented the van's transformation and her travels on TikTok, posting short videos to her account on the platform, where over 740,000 people follow her.

Grand Ledge native Maddie Burman with Daisy, her Siberian Husky, at White Sands National Park in New Mexico in February. They have been traveling the country and living in a renovated van since January.

"We kind of just have created this little home and both feel safe in here," Burman said from a stop in Colorado last week. "If you would have told me two years ago what I'd be doing now, I would have never believed you. But I think a lot of us are doing things a whole lot different than we were before the pandemic."

A unique way to travel

When Burman was younger, her family would travel up north through Michigan or to the shores of one of the Great Lakes. After she graduated from high school, she took trips with friends. Later, as a flight attendant, Burman spent her time during layovers in different cities and countries seeing as much as she could.

The living space inside Grand Ledge native Maddie Burman's renovated van.

But traveling in a renovated van with a living space is completely different.

"It's a lot more spur of the moment," she said. "I don't have to plan ahead and book hotels or anything like that. If I'm driving and I'm tired, I can pull off in a park or in a Walmart parking lot and I have all my belongings with me."

The van's 9-foot-by-6-foot interior holds all of Burman's belongings. There's a full-size bed where she and Daisy sleep, room for their food, bowls, utensils, a sink with running water and a camping stovetop for cooking. She even carries with her a portable toilet and solar shower.

Grand Ledge native Maddie Burman's renovated van outside of Joshua Tree National Park in California in mid-February.

Burman spent just under $9,000 to buy the van. She then built it out from her mother's driveway in the summer and fall of last year. That cost an additional $3,500.

Burman's uncle, who works as an electrical engineer, helped her install solar panels on the van's roof. She did the majority of the other renovations herself.

"She'd never even picked up a power tool before this," said Marsha Moore, Burman's mother. "She did a ton of research and figured it out on her own."

Grand Ledge native Maddie Burman spent five months renovating a van to create a living space for her travels across the country.

"I did it kind of just piece by piece," Burman said. "I watched YouTube and taught myself every step of the way. There was one day that I spent four hours putting up my ceiling panels and then ripping them all down because I knew that they weren't going to hold up over time."

She set off in the van with Daisy in mid-January, heading for Texas and warmer weather.

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Traveling with the weather

Burman and Daisy spent the winter months in the southwest before visiting a friend in California.

Grand Ledge native Maddie Burman with Daisy, her Siberian Husky, at Turquoise Lake in Colorado in July. They have been traveling the country and living in a renovated van since January.

The van's air conditioning and heat only run when it's on, so "you have to kind of move with the weather," she said. "I do have a little camping heater but it only does so much."

Burman spends between $300 and $500 a month in gas, and shops for groceries every few weeks.

She also takes full advantage of a membership to Planet Fitness, which has over 2,000 gyms across the country, and utilizes their showers and exercise equipment as she travels.

Burman has an annual pass to the country's national parks, where she'll often park for several days while she and Daisy explore, and she uses an app on her phone to find public land where anyone can camp.

"For the most part I'm camping for free," Burman said.

She keeps track of the route they travel with a map displayed inside the van.

Gaining TikTok followers

Burman started her TikTok account, @maddie_burman, during the van renovation, never expecting to gain a large following.

Her videos offer a glimpse of different places she and Daisy visit, as well as walk-throughs of what life is like when you live in a van. Find her here.

"So I started posting in September of 2020 and by the end of November I had like my very first, I'd say, viral video. I hit half a million followers in January."

A map inside Maddie Burman's renovated van chronicles her travels.

When most people hear about her travels, they often ask about safety, she said.

"You know, there's a certain way to do it," Burman said.

That includes trusting her gut whenever she feels at all apprehensive about where she's parked, staying in regular contact with her family and friends, and not sharing her location on social media until after she's left it.

"Safety is always in the back of my head," Burman said. "It's one of the most important things. But, for the most part, I do feel safe."

There have been a few dicey moments, she said, like driving from Utah to Colorado in March during a blizzard on bad brakes.

But the rewards far outweigh those rare moments, Burman said.

"It's given me like a whole new sense of independence," she said. "I can take the day, day by day, just make my own decisions on what I want to do and where I want to go."

Her travels could end this November, she said, when she expects to be called back to work for United Airlines. She'll be living in Colorado, Burman said, and plans to keep the van.

"Out here within a couple of hours you can be camping in the mountains," she said. "So even for weekend trips or if I have a week off, I can still plan on using the van. I don't think I could part with it now."

Contact Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @GrecoatLSJ .