About

Hi, everyone. I’m Lenny Flank, the Electronic Nomad, currently wandering around the country fulltime in a converted camper van.

Why live and travel in a van? Because I can.  🙂 I’ve always wanted to travel the country, and this is the best and most flexible way to do it. Since I’m 60+ years old and not getting any younger, I wanted to do the traveling while I’m still young enough. And since I make my living online and can do my job anywhere that I can get a wifi signal, this is the perfect opportunity to live the hippie vagabond life I always wanted to live.

You can follow along with me here. I’ll be posting stories about the people I meet, the places I go, and the logistics of van living on the road. And if you have any questions or comments, I’d love to hear from everyone.  🙂

All posts to this blog are copyright (c) 2015-2023 by the author. All rights reserved.

UPDATE: I’ve been asked for a “bullet list” of some of my favorite places that I have visited. It’s a reaalllyyy long list, and I’ll try to keep it updated as I go along … (A few of these are places I visited before I started van-traveling.)

Alabama

BIRMINGHAM: Civil Rights Institute, Botanical Gardens, Southern Air Museum, Sloss Furnaces

HUNTSVILLE: Nasa Marshall Space Center

MOBILE: USS Alabama, Fort Gaines, GulfQuest Museum, Estuarium, Alligator Alley, Audubon Wildlife Refuge, Fort Blakeley

MONTGOMERY:  Legacy Museum, Rosa Parks Museum

TUSCALOOSA: Moundville Archaeological Park

Arizona

PHOENIX: Musical Instrument Museum, Commemorative Air Force Museum, Phoenix Zoo

TOMBSTONE: OK Corral

TUCSON: Pima Air and Space Museum, Titan II Missile Silo Museum, Sonora Desert Museum

WINSLOW: Meteor Crater

Petrified Forest/Painted Desert

California

LOS ANGELES: Walk of Fame/Graumann’s Chinese Theater, LaBrea Tar Pits, LA County Natural History Museum, Disneyland, Warner Bros Studio Tour, Aquarium of the Pacific, California Science Center, Petersen Auto Museum

Connecticut

GROTON: US Navy Submarine Museum

HARTFORD: Dinosaur State Park, Mark Twain House, New England Air Museum

MYSTIC: Mystic Aquarium, Mystic Seaport Museum, Harkness State Park

DC

Smithsonian Museums (all of them), Monuments and Memorials on the Mall (lots of them), Fords Theater, International Spy Museum

Delaware

REHOBOTH: Rehoboth Beach, Fort Miles/Henlopen State Park, Dogfish Head Brewery

WILMINGTON: Hagley Museum, Delaware Natural History Museum, Delaware History Museum, Fort Christina Park, Brandywine State Park

Florida

BOCA RATON: Morikami Museum, Gumbo Limbo Nature Park

BRADENTON: South Florida Museum, Leffis Key Park, Mixon Fruit Farm

CLEARWATER: Clearwater Beach, Clearwater Marine Aquarium

DESTIN/FORT WALTON BEACH: Gulfarium, Indian Mound and History Museum

FORT MYERS: Edison and Ford Winter Estates, IMAG Science Center, Big Cypress Preserve, Six Mile Cypress Slough, Manatee Park, Sanibel Island

GAINESVILLE:  Florida Museum of Natural History, Kanapaha Botanical Gardens, Payne’s Prairie Preserve

JACKSONVILLE: Osceola National Forest, Olustee Battlefield, Kingsley Plantation, Museum of Science and History, Fort Caroline, Catty Shack Big Cat Rescue

KEY LARGO AND MARATHON: History of Diving Museum, The African Queen, Turtle Hospital, Theater of the Sea, Aquarium Encounters

KEY WEST: Aquarium, Hemingway House, Mallory Square (be sure to see the Cat Man), Fort Taylor, Butterfly Conservatory

MIAMI: Everglades, Seaquarium, Vizcaya Museum, Coral Castle, Wings Over Miami Air Museum

NAPLES: Naples Zoo, Delnore-Wiggins State Park, Freedom Park, Southwest Florida Conservancy

NEW SMYRNA BEACH: Old Fort Park, Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse

OCALA: Big Daddy Don Garlits Drag Racing Museum, Silver Springs State Park

ORLANDO: Disney, Sea World, Universal, Skeletons Museum, Gatorland, Titanic Museum, Orlando Science Center, Audubon Birds of Prey Center, Reptile World Serpentarium

PANAMA CITY: Zoo World, Gulf World, Man in the Sea Museum

PALM BEACH: Flagler Museum, Peanut Island

PENSACOLA: US Naval Aviation Museum, Fort Pickens, Historic Pensacola Village

SARASOTA: Mote Marine Aquarium, Jungle Gardens, Classic Car Museum, Ringling Museum

ST AUGUSTINE: Marineland, Alligator Farm, Castillo de San Marcos, Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park

TALLAHASSEE: Mission San Luis, Mag Lab, Lake Jackson Mounds, St Marks Wildlife Refuge, Museum of Florida History

TAMPA/ST PETE: Florida Aquarium, Museum of Science and Industry, Dali Museum, Busch Gardens, Sunken Gardens, Fort DeSoto, Weedon Island Preserve, Boyd Hill Preserve, Weeki Watchee Springs

TITUSVILLE: NASA Kennedy Space Center, Warbirds Museum

Georgia

ALBANY: Riverquarium

ATLANTA: Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca Cola, Fernbank Natural History Museum, Zoo Atlanta

AUGUSTA: Phinizy Swamp Nature Park, Augusta Canal, Woodrow Wilson home, Reed Creek Interpretive Nature Center, Fish Pedicure at the Mall

COLUMBUS: National Civil War Naval Museum

CORDELE: Titan nuclear missile

SAVANNAH: Tybee Island, Fort Pulaski, Museum of the Eighth Air Force, Georgia State Railroad Museum, Oatland Island Wildlife Center, Wormsloe Historical Site

WARM SPRINGS: FDR Little White House

Idaho

IDAHO FALLS: Hell’s Half Acre Lava Field

Illinois

CHICAGO: Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium, Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago History Museum, Navy Pier, Willis Tower (Sears Tower), Millennium Park, Lincoln Park Zoo, Boat Tours

SPRINGFIELD: Lincoln Home, Lincoln Museum, Lincoln Tomb, State Museum

Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS: Speedway Museum, Indiana State Museum, Indiana Historical Society, Tippecanoe Battlefield, Childrens Museum

Iowa

DES MOINES: Effigy Mounds National Monument, Living Farms Museum, Iowa State Fair, Botanical Gardens, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library

Kansas

TOPEKA: Combat Air Museum, Brown v Board of Ed Historical Site, National Guard Museum, Museum of History

Kentucky

LEXINGTON: Fort Boonesborough, Raven Run Nature Park, Ashland Henry Clay house, Aviation Museum of Kentucky

LOUISVILLE: Slugger Factory Museum, Falls of the Ohio State Park, Kentucky Derby Museum Churchill Downs, Mega-Cavern, Muhammad Ali Center

Louisiana

NEW ORLEANS: Bourbon Street/French Quarter, Chalmette Battlefield, National World War Two Museum, Aquarium of the Americas, NASA Stennis Space Center

BATON ROUGE: Capitol Park Museum, USS Kidd, Magnolia Mound Plantation

SHREVEPORT: Water Works Museum, Barksdale AFB Museum, Gators and Friends

Maine

PORTLAND: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow House, Fore River Wildlife Sanctuary, Fort Williams Park, Duck Tour

Maryland

BALTIMORE: Ft McHenry, Inner Harbor, Historic Ships, Aquarium, Science Museum, Edgar Allen Poe House and Gravesite, B&O Railroad Museum, National Cryptologic Museum Ft Meade

FREDERICK: Antietam Battlefield, Harpers Ferry

Massachusetts

BOSTON: Lexington/Concord, Freedom Trail, Bunker Hill, New England Aquarium, Old Ironside Navy Yard

Michigan

DETROIT/DEARBORN: Henry Ford Museum, Yankee Air Museum, Bell Isle

Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL: Mall of America, Minnehaha Park, Fort Snelling, Science Museum

Mississippi

BILOXI: Biloxi Beach, Jefferson Davis House, Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum

JACKSON: Mississippi Petrified Forest, Museum of Natural Science

TUPELO: Shiloh Battlefield, Elvis Presley Birthplace, Automobile Museum

VICKSBURG: Vicksburg Battlefield, Coca Cola Bottling Museum, Lower Mississippi River Museum

Missouri

KANSAS CITY: World War One Museum, Steamship Arabia Museum, Union Station, Lakeside Nature Center

ST LOUIS: Budweiser Brewery, St Louis Zoo, Science Museum, Cahokia Mounds, The Arch

Montana

BILLINGS: Little Bighorn Battlefield, Pictograph Cave State Park, Pompey’s Pillar

BOZEMAN: Museum of the Rockies, Museum of Computers and Robotics, Grizzly Encounter Rescue Center

Nebraska

OMAHA: Strategic Air Command Aerospace Museum, Henry Doorly Zoo, Fort Atkinson, Freedom Park

Nevada

LAS VEGAS: Neon Museum, Atomic Testing Museum, Mob Museum, Nevada State Museum, Springs Preserve

New Hampshire

PORTSMOUTH: USS Albacore Museum, Strawbery Banke Museum, Great Bay Wildlife Refuge

New Jersey

TRENTON: Old Barracks Museum, Monmouth Battlefield

New Mexico

ALAMOGORDO: White Sands, Space History Museum, Trinity Nuclear Test Site

ALBUQUERQUE: BioPark Zoo Aquarium Garden, Nuclear History Museum, Petroglyph National Monument, Unser Racing Museum, International Balloon Museum

CARLSBAD: Carlsbad Caverns, Living Desert State Park

ROSWELL: UFO Museum

SOCORRO: Very Large Array Radiotelescope

New York

ALBANY: Saratoga Battlefield, USS Slater, Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome

BUFFALO: Niagara Falls, Aquarium of the Niagara, Fort Niagara, Erie Canal Discovery Center

PLATTSBURGH: Lake Champlain, Fort Ticonderoga

NEW YORK CITY: Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island, Central Park, American Museum of Natural History, USS Intrepid, Times Square, Coney Island

UPSTATE: Lake George, Sackets Harbor, Oswego

North Carolina

ASHEVILLE: Biltmore Estate, North Carolina Arboretum, North Carolina Nature Center, Katmandu Restaurant

CHARLOTTE: Carolina Aviation Museum, Kings Mountain Battlefield, Cowpens Battlefield, Guilford Courthouse Battlefield, Schiele Science Museum, Reed Gold Mine

FAYETTEVILLE, RALEIGH, DURHAM: NC Museum of Science and Life, US Army Special Operations Museum, Duke University Lemur Center, Museum of Natural Science

KITTY HAWK: Wright Brothers Memorial

WILMINGTON: Moores Creek Battlefield, USS North Carolina, Fort Fisher, Fort Fisher Aquarium

Ohio

CINCINNATI: Museum Center, Cincinnati Zoo, Newport Aquarium, American Sign Museum, Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Krohn Conservatory, Cincinnati Observatory

COLUMBUS: Columbus Zoo, Franklin Park Conservatory, Historical Society Museum

DAYTON: US Air Force Museum, Wright Brothers Bicycle Shop, Carillon Historical Park, Sunwatch Archeological Park

TOLEDO: Museum of the Great Lakes, River Raisin Battlefield, Fallen Timbers Battlefield, Fort Meigs, Imagination Station Science Museum, Swan Creek Park

Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY: Murrah Building Bombing Memorial, Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma History Center, Osteology Museum, 45th Infantry Division Museum, Sam Noble Natural History Museum

Pennsylvania

ERIE: Maritime Museum, USS Niagara, Presque Isle State Park

HARRISBURG: Gettysburg Battlefield, Boyd Big Tree Preserve, Civil War Museum, PA State Museum, Army Heritage Center, Wildwood Nature Center, Fort Necessity, Fort Ligonier

LEHIGH VALLEY: Liberty Bell Shrine, Stacks Bethlehem Steel Museum, Lost River Caverns, Historic Bethlehem Park, Washington’s Crossing, Martin Guitar

PHILADELPHIA: Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Valley Forge, Independence Seaport Museum, Franklin Institute, Academy of Science Museum

PITTSBURGH: Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh National Aviary, Heinz History Museum, Phipps Conservatory, Frick House, Science Museum, Fort Pitt Museum

POCONOS: Steamtown, Gray Towers

Rhode Island

Roger Williams Park, Fort Adams, Easton Beach, Save Our Bay Aquarium, Slater’s Mill Historic Site

South Carolina

CHARLESTON: Fort Sumter, Submarine Hunley, SC Aquarium, USS Yorktown, Charleston Museum, Magnolia Plantation, Dorchester State Historic Park

COLUMBIA: Camden Battlefield, Eutaw Springs Battlefield, SC State Museum, Congaree National Park

MYRTLE BEACH: Ripley Aquarium, Alligator Adventures, Waccamaw Wildlife Refuge, Wheels of Yesteryear

South Dakota

SIOUX FALLS: Falls Park, Battleship “South Dakota” Memorial, Butterfly House and Aquarium

WALL: Wall Drug, Minuteman Missile Silo Historical Site, Badlands National Park

Tennessee

CHATTANOOGA: Ruby Falls, Chickamauga Battlefield, Tennessee Aquarium, Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, Lookout Mountain

GATLINBURG/PIGEON FORGE: Aquarium of the Smokies, Tennessee Aviation Museum, Titanic Museum

MEMPHIS: Graceland, Mississippi River Museum, Fort Pillow, Civil Rights Museum, Botanical Garden, Lichterman Nature Center

NASHVILLE: Country Music Hall of Fame, Grand Ole Opry, Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage House, Fort Negley, Lane Motor Museum

OAK RIDGE/KNOXVILLE: American Museum of Science and Energy, K-25 History Center, Fort Dickerson, World’s Fair Park, Ijams Nature Center

Texas

AUSTIN: Museum of the Weird, LBJ Presidential Library, Bullock History Museum, Texas Memorial Museum, Zilker Botanical Garden, Austin Aquarium, O Henry House

BROWNSVILLE: Palo Alto Battlefield, Space X Spaceport, Sabal Palm Sanctuary, Gladys Porter Zoo, Boca Chica Beach. Day trip into Matamoros.

CORPUS CHRISTI: USS Lexington, Texas State Aquarium, Museum of Science and History, South Texas Botanical Gardens, Oso Bay Wetlands Preserve

DALLAS: Sixth Floor Museum, World Aquarium, Perot Museum, Cavanaugh Air Museum, Frontiers of Flight Museum

EL PASO: Franklin Mountains State Park, El Paso Archaeological Museum, Chamizal National Memorial

FORT WORTH: Stockyards, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Fort Worth Aviation Museum, Vintage Flying Museum, Fort Worth Botanical Garden

HOUSTON: Nasa Johnson Space Center, Hermann Park, USS Texas, San Jacinto Battlefield, Natural History Museum, National Museum of Funeral History

SAN ANTONIO: Alamo, Riverwalk, Buckhorn Museum, Witte Museum, San Antonio Zoo, Botanical Garden

Utah

PROVO: Thanksgiving Point Museums and Garden, BYU Museum of Peoples and Cultures, Bridal Veil Falls

Vermont

BURLINGTON: Lake Champlain, Echo Aquarium, Maritime Museum

Virginia

ALEXANDRIA: Manassas Battlefield, Fort Ward, Mt Vernon

LYNCHBURG: James Madison home, James Monroe home, Thomas Jefferson home

NORFOLK: Military Aviation Museum, Virginia Beach, Virginia Aquarium, USS Wisconsin, MacArthur Memorial Museum. Also take the Navy base cruise from the maritime museum.

RICHMOND: Civil War battlefields, Three Lakes Nature Center, Museum of History and Culture, Museum of Science, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

WILLIAMSBURG: Jamestown, Yorktown, Busch Gardens, Colonial Williamsburg, Mariner’s Museum, York River State Park, Fort Monroe

West Virginia

Greenbrier Nuclear Bunker

Wisconsin

APPLETON: Outagamie County History Museum

OSHKOSH: EAA Museum and Airshow, Menominee Park and Zoo

MILWAUKEE: Discovery World Science Center, Milwaukee Public Museum, Harley-Davidson Museum, Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory