Surfing, Stranded, and Our Wild Ride to Panama
Van Down!
A brutally honest van life adventure memoir.
Part surf trip. Part breakdown spiral.
Dreams.Don’t stay quiet.
They start slow.Then they gnaw at youuntil stillness feels impossible.
Van Down! pulls you down the Pacific coast,intoxicated by waves and the unknown.The deeper you go, the more everything shifts:the culture, the risk, the illusion of control.
Because the van has its own plans—disaster and bliss, tangled together.When does adventure consume you,strip you bare against the sand?
This isn’t a guidebook.It’s a warning—and an invitation.
Turn the key.Let’s go.
Van Build
“I want the mullet version of a van:
business on the outside,
party on the inside.”
“Two separate trips—
a van trip for me,”
“a motorcycle adventure for Ben—merge into one.”
Baja
“Baja is as harsh as it is magical.”
“Yep. I kicked a cactus. Not just any cactus—a jumping cholla, the Velcro of the desert.”
La Paz to Mazatlán Ferry
Mainland Mexico to Honduras
Mainland Mexico
Guatemala
El Salvador
Nicaragua
“Waves? Waves?! Waves!”
Millionaire Sunrise, Dirtbag Dreams
Rich on Twenty Bucks
Panama
“The road doesn’t end exactly where we are—
but it’s close enough to feel it.”
About the Author
Kate Lukacs
Writer, engineer, and serial adventurer whose unconventional life has taken her across oceans, continents, and down wild rivers around the world. After years of building vans and living off-grid, she turned one ill-fated road trip into Van Down!, her debut memoir.
Limited Edition
100 copies signed aboard Koda. Delivered July 2026.
$20
One signed, personalized, numbered copy + sticker
$35
Two Signed-at-Sea copies for you, one to share
$75
Five Signed-at-Sea copies for your whole crew
Coming June 15
Signed-at-Sea orders open soon.
Bookplate signed at sea aboard Koda · numbered 1–100 · US shipping included
Contact: lukacskm@gmail.com