I purchased the van from a couple who had driven it up to Vancouver and back. They named it Nimmel, an Aboriginal word meaning “conspicuous mountain”. The name is infused with layers of irony because the mountain in question is actually very small in comparison to the surrounding mountains in its native Queensland, and the van itself is rather inconspicuous: from the outside, it is any van—plain, indistinct, ubiquitous. Few would realize that it is the same van they saw yesterday, or imagine the world it contains.
I like that this type of van is most often associated with work and utility, because its value for me lies in its being useful for my work. The fact that my work also involves comfort, sleep, and a feeling of home is its secret. It is thus a hybrid thing, a marrier of opposing forces, a vehicle for work and rest, motion and stability, adventure and safety, wanderlust and homesickness.
