About Van Versus Dog

Welcome to Van Versus Dog. We're here to share our experience, with a focus on dogs and travel, and our desire to live adventure van life.

When we started this blog our passion for dogs (courtesy of Woodford the Sheepadoodle) and traveling the United States drove us to share what we learned with other dog lovers and vagabonds. Now we want to share our knowledge with anyone looking to travel in an RV, Overlanding vehicle, tent, or just their car. We are thrilled to share our passion with you.

We hope you enjoy the tales of our travels. If you have any questions or comments, please contact us.

Mark, the Driver

Mark is a software executive. He has traveled all over the world but seldom took the time to stop and enjoy the ride. In 2018, after meeting his road dog, Woodford he quit his job. Shortly after loaded up Woodford in his aging 2004 Ford Explorer traveling up the east coast from North Carolina. It was a revelation, and the beginning of a four-year quest to get a taste of that van life. His ambition with this blog is to share his love of travel, RVs, and dogs with more people.

Since he stopped working for the man Mark co-founded a software company, TriggerMesh, where he is the CEO. They make cloud software for integrating all sorts of software and cloud services. His dream is to be able to run the company from a van overlooking America's amazing wilderness.

Mark R Hinkle

Mark practices Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at Verity BJJ. He also loves to play chess and you can find him on chess.com. His favorite place to travel to is his family's cabin in Potter County, Pennsylvania, a place he visited as a kid. He and Woodford enjoy time with his father, brother, and two bratty nephews hunt, fish, and go snowmobiling.

Mark is a published author and accomplished technical speaker. He started Van Versus Dog to keep his writing and web skills sharp and to have a creative outlet. His first book was extremely technical and boring. Someday he hopes to write another book that's got a less technical and more interesting topic. If you need a sleep aid, it comes highly recommend (affiliate link).

Woodford, the Dog

Woodford was born on February 7th, 2018. He obviously believes he's a human but he's actually a Sheepadoodle (but don't tell him that). In the summer of 2018, Mark quit his job, and Woodford and Mark hit the road for the first of many road trips. The big bougie fluff ball has since become a connoisseur of hotels (he's partial to Marriott and particularly the Westin chain). He loves to go on hikes in the National Parks and run on the beaches.

Woodford the Lucky Dog

Woodford is a little*lot* spoiled. He's also a minor celebrity in their hometown of Cary, NC where he's a regular at Doherty's Irish Pub and Verity BJJ. He's without a doubt one of the funniest and sweetest dogs you'll ever meet. His goal is to be able to visit all the National Parks in the U.S. that are possible and to smell all the smells and water all the trees he can.

Woodford loves other dogs but has a weird aversion to Golden Retrievers otherwise, he loves playing with his furry friends and is a great pal. He's an expert hiker and loves his daily walks on the greenways around his town. He is still on a mission to befriend a squirrel or a bunny, though his big fluffy presence seems to always scare them away.

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