Nightmarish Alaska Trip Shows Van Life Adventure Isn't Always Fun And Games

Imagine driving hundreds of miles through rural Alaska in a blizzard with wind chills dropping as low as -60 degrees Fahrenheit.

By: Chris Bruce

Jan 6, 2024 at 12:00pm ET

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We see a lot of videos glorifying van life as an idyllic adventure, but living on the road isn't always a fun time. Imagine driving hundreds of miles through rural Alaska in a blizzard with wind chills dropping as low as -60 degrees Fahrenheit when you suddenly hit a caribou on the road. That's reality for Tim Johnson of the Truck House Life YouTube channel.

Johnson's rig is a ninth-generation Ford F-350 with a 7.3-liter Power Stroke turbodiesel V8 from the 1990s equipped with a small wood cabin in place of the cargo bed. It has everything you'd need to live on the road, including a bed and an oven.

In a video published to his channel on Tuesday, Johnson aims to reach Deadhorse, a small town near the Arctic Ocean. It's primarily a stopping point for folks working in the Prudhoe Bay oil fields on the northern tip of Alaska. There's also some tourism for experiencing things like polar night in the winter, the midnight sun in the summer, and seeing the northern lights.

The road and weather conditions make the drive look like a nightmare. High winds and a blizzard give him limited visibility of the road ahead. Snow drifts on the road in places, forcing Johnson to follow the path cut by other trucks. This is far from the idealized van life world we usually see.

After getting through the awful weather, Johnson reaches a Department of Transportation station and finds out that the pass is closed because five wrecked trucks are blocking the road. He has to turn back. However, a nice guy from the DOT offers to show Johnson how bad things are up ahead, giving him a closer look at the impassable carnage.

The way back isn't easy, though. At 44 minutes into the video, Johnson is cruising along normally when he suddenly encounters a herd of caribou walking across the road. The asphalt is so icey he can't slow down in time and hits one. The good news is that the animal runs off, and the truck's bull bar absorbs the impact without taking damage.

What do you think?

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The blizzard and frigid wind chill make this drive look like a hazardous journey rather than an exciting adventure. Plus, driving hundreds of miles in these conditions only for the road to be impassable so close to the destination would devastate us. Although, Johnson doesn't seem to mind, which is a good attitude to have.

This is the final installment of a three-part series about Johnson's journey. The other two sections total roughly an hour and a half. If you're thinking about traveling the world in your rolling living space, we recommend giving all three videos a watch to get your expectations in order.