Ellen Wilder

Ellen Wilder is a solo van traveler, practical road-life writer, and late-blooming nomad who began traveling the United States after realizing she was waiting for a “right time” that kept moving farther away. After years of steady work, family obligations, mortgage payments, and sensible decisions, Ellen converted a used cargo van into a simple home on wheels and set out to learn what solo travel after fifty really requires. Not the glossy version. The real version, with campground reservations, tire pressure checks, strange noises at night, bad weather, tight budgets, wrong turns, kind strangers, and the occasional humiliating lesson at a dump station. She has since traveled through national parks, small towns, desert highways, forest roads, coastal campgrounds, and more rest areas than she cares to count. Her writing focuses on helping women feel prepared enough to go alone, stay safe, solve ordinary problems, and enjoy the quiet pride of handling life on the road. Ellen writes for women who are curious about van life, RV travel, boondocking, downsizing, or simply taking a trip no one else is available to take. Her advice is calm, practical, and road-tested, with an emphasis on safety, self-trust, simple systems, and starting where you are. When she is not writing, Ellen can usually be found making coffee with the side door open, checking the weather twice, reorganizing something she swore was already organized, or deciding whether the next road is worth the gravel.