Living as nomads: Monroe native, boyfriend live and travel in converted box truck

Marina Aguilera is living a nomadic life.

Aguilera graduated in 2012 from Monroe High School, where she ran cross country and track.

“They called me ‘the runner,’” said Aguilera, the daughter of Marsha Aguilera of Monroe and Ruben Aguilera of Texas.

After attending Monroe County Community College for two years, Aguilera moved to Texas, where she met her boyfriend, Mark Dexter of Wisconsin. He’s a filmmaker who has been living nomadically in a converted vehicle since 2017.

“He was into it before it was a huge craze on social media,” Aguilera said. “He introduced the lifestyle to me. It was very new to me. I grew up camping every summer with my family. It was my favorite thing to do. We started building our first vehicle together during COVID. We built every single day, all hours of the day. It took 45 days. Mark is very handy. He had built and figured things out (with previous vehicles)."

Then, they hit the road.

“That was right in the midst of COVID, so it was really a good time to travel. It was a ghost town anywhere we would go,” Aguilera said.

So far, Dexter, Aguilera and their dog have visited about 35 states.

“In the past we moved around a lot. Every night was somewhere new. Further in, we appreciated staying places for a longer period of time. We really love being surrounded by community, with nomad family and friends. We’ve been staying in Wisconsin for a couple months,” Aguilera said.

She and Dexter both work as filmmakers and recently released a documentary on nomadic living that they will show Nov. 4 at the River Raisin Centre for the Arts.

“We film weddings on the road and promotional work. We filmed a music festival during Labor Day. We film ‘Tiny House, Giant Journey’ for YouTube. That’s a really great resource for learning more about this lifestyle. There are 3 million subscribers,” Aguilera said.

In their 2 1/2 years on the road, she and Dexter have had three homes/vehicles.

“All three had a closet, full-size shower. They feel exactly like a house,” Aguilera said.

For each home, the couple, with help from friends, began by sketching.

“Everything is exact measurements. What fits into what area? For us, entertaining and having people around was important. We wanted to have large sitting areas,” Aguilera said.

She also wanted as large of a kitchen as possible.

“I love to cook. Cooking has really blossomed on the road. I’m into healthy, clean, intentional eating. I’ve been able to just lean into that creative side of my cooking,” she said.

Their first vehicle was a van. The second, a box truck. Square walls allowed more creativity.

“We had a platform area in the kitchen and storage under the raised floor and an L-shaped kitchen. It gave it a more spacious floor. We closed different areas so it didn’t feel like just one box,” Aguilera said.

Their current box truck is similar to the previous one, but improved. The couple added features like curved edges to avoid sharp corners. It’s 8 feet high, 8 feet wide and 12 feet long.

“It’s smaller than a lot of people’s kitchens,” Aguilera said.

Still it has four rooms: living room, bathroom, bedroom and a kitchen with a gas stove and a couple of small appliances. There’s even a deck on the back wall. Aguilera said it’s surprisingly spacious.

“You’d be pretty surprised what I am capable to have in the box truck. We love to dress up and go to music festivals in fun, crazy outfits,” she said. “I had 36 pairs of shoes in the first van. I have nowhere near that now.”

The truck has a compostable toilet. The couple washes clothes at laundromats. They store water in a 60-gallon, fresh-water tank.

“We fill up where we can find water, from friends or family or a gas station. We have a water filtration system in the truck. I always know the quality of our water. All our faucets are low-water usage,” Aguilera said.

Electricity comes from solar panels on the roof.

“The roof has 1,000 watts of solar, and we have a sun-powered battery bank,” Aguilera said. “We have a gas stove, gas oven, gas hot water heater.”

Aguilera said she’s learned much from nomadic life.

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“We really can survive on so much less than what we think. This lifestyle has really shown us that,” she said. “Also, how to be more resourceful. My worldly skills have evolved. This life has definitely given me the courage to figure things out on my own. It’s showing me I can do a lot more than I thought I could.”

Someday, though, Aguilera wants a permanent home.

“I really want to one day have a home and a garden. But I want to be self-sufficient. I do want to always have the option to have some sort of adventure. That option is so important. We never know what’s going to happen in the world. If you have some sort of vehicle, you can pack up and totally rely on yourself. We can be self-sufficient on our own,” she said. “I never expected my life to turn out the way it has. It has been some of the most challenging and the most beautiful times.”

RRCA hosting film, panel discussion on nomadic living

“All Who Wander,” a film about nomadic living featuring Monroe native Marina Aguilera, will be shown Nov. 4 at River Raisin Centre for the Arts, 114 S. Monroe St. Tickets are $25 with a value added tax of $1.38. For tickets, visit allwhowandermovie.com.

The 1½-hour film will be shown at 6 p.m.

“It’s our life on the road, what we go through, the highs and the lows of 2 1/2 years and all the people we get to meet. It’s for people who know nothing about this lifestyle,” Aguilera said.

Aguilera and her boyfriend, Mark Dexter, produced the film. At 5 p.m., they will show their home, a converted box truck.

“Come in and talk to us, get a sneak peak,” Aguilera said. “We’re really excited.”

A panel discussion with Aguilera, Dexter and their two filmmaker business partners, Joshua Murphy and Madeline Anteau, will follow the film.

Aguilera said 4 million people are currently living a nomadic lifestyle.

“It’s always been around since our ancestors. It’s the natural way of living. We all do have a natural, nomadic wandering spirit within us. With COVID, it started booming. More are still getting into this lifestyle. It’s a community on the road," she said.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Monroe native, boyfriend live and travel in converted box truck