#Vanlife: an Indian couple and their ‘Dodge’y lifestyle

Smriti Bhadauria and Kartik Vasan are living their best lives, travelling across Canada and the Americas, breaking brown stereotypes, and funding their #IndianVanLife from their own pockets

A gun-toting priest stopping you outside a church can be daunting. But for Smriti Bhadauria and Kartik Vasan, ambassadors of Indian van life, it’s just one of the many memorable experiences they’ve been making since they sold their condo in downtown Toronto last year and hit the road in a vintage, brown campervan, their dog Everest in tow. “When we entered the US, in the state of Oregon, in January, we were trying to take a picture of Mt Hood while driving through Portland,” recalls Kartik. “As we pulled into the parking lot of a church, a man waved us down. He seemed friendly, but when he got closer we realised he was holding a big gun in his hand. We remained calm and soon found out that he was the pastor of the church and was only cleaning his gun,” he laughs.