The Real Van Life: Daniel Norris of the Milwaukee Brewers Talks About His Off-Seasons Filled with Remote Breakdowns & Plenty of Surfing

Today we are lucky to have an amazing and unusual guest on the show! Daniel Norris is a professional baseball player, recently traded to the Milwaukee Brewers from the Detroit Tigers, and through this long and successful career as a player has managed to fit in some one-of-a-kind travel adventures in an old van with his surfboard! It was this exciting side to his life that made us eager to have Daniel on the show. We get to hear all about his trips, his minimalist philosophy, and how he has balanced the different parts of his life. Daniel started out on this path before it was as popular as it is today, buying a van with his first professional paycheck, and dedicating himself to learning surfing and staying as self-sufficient as possible. We get some great insight from Daniel about his favorite destinations, priorities on the road, and what he sees in his future, once he has retired from professional baseball. So for a unique and inspiring story, that is bound to make you consider taking surfing lessons, be sure to listen in!
 

Today on On Arrival: 

•    The story about Daniel's van and his bare-bones attitude to life and travel. 

•    Maintenance on the road; how Daniel has kept his Westfalia running. 

•    The worst breakdown that Daniel and a friend went through on the road to Oregon. 

•    The few things Daniel can't live without in his van. 

•    How Daniel's off-seasons have evolved over the years and his attitude to progress and improvement. 

•    Daniel's love for old things and the possibility of upgrading his van in the future.  

•    The lessons Daniel learned about packing for a road trip. 

•    Advice for getting started with surfing and his favorite places to catch a wave. 

•    Daniel's plans for his life after his baseball career and his hopes to continue traveling.

Keep up with Daniel Norris and his travels on Instagram and Twitter.

Check out our all-time favorite dinner boat cruise in Budapest.

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. If you know someone who you think would enjoy this episode, please share it with them!

Follow @onarrivaltravel on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter

Do you have a burning travel question? Visit www.onarrival.com to submit your question for KT & Jordan to answer on the next show!

Transcript

Episode 17 - The Real Van Life: Daniel Norris of the Milwaukee Brewers Talks About His Off-Seasons Filled with Remote Breakdowns & Plenty of Surfing

[INTRODUCTION]

[00:00:07] JM: Welcome to On Arrival, The Traveler’s Podcast. 

[00:00:10] KTMM: We're your hosts, Katie and Jordan. Throughout our 20s, we've lived and traveled all around the world, and fell in love with exploring new cultures.

[00:00:20] JM: Here at On Arrival, we interview some of the world's most eccentric travelers to hear their original and authentic stories.

[00:00:26] KTMM: We hope this show inspires you to take your next trip. 

[00:00:30] JM: And then when you land, you have a game plan. 

[00:00:32] KTMM: On Arrival. 

[INTERVIEW]

[00:00:38] KTMM: Alright, so you guys know how we start the show, by answering some traveler questions. So, if you have any questions for us, feel free to reach out, onarrival.com, submit your questions, and we just might answer them on the show.

So, starting today with McKenna's question, she said, “What is the most adventurous tour you've ever taken and who was the most excited?”

[00:01:05] JM: What was the tour?

[00:01:06] KTMM: Okay, so the tour was like a half day ATV adventure tour through Tulum, we did. It was ATVs. We jumped in a cenote.

[00:01:17] JM: Yeah, we zip lined into a cenote. We got to swim through the cave with the – were there bats or no? What was in there?

[00:01:26] KTMM: I don't think there were bats.

[00:01:26] JM: Well, we got to swim to the cave. And yeah, the ATVs, I was definitely the most excited. You're not a fan of ATVs.

[00:01:34] KTMM: I just heard on the back. It was really fun. I enjoyed the day and it was like, you pay for half a day and they pick you up from your hotel. And it's an entire – we had some Mexican food. It was really good.

[00:01:46] JM: Yeah, it was a fun day. It was definitely fun.

[00:01:48] KTMM: Kind of a cookie cutter adventure. A lot of people can have done that. But hey, it's fun.

[00:01:55] JM: We went though, it was 2015. So, it wasn't Tulum like you see now. No one ever heard of Tulum at that point. So, it wasn't the Instagram Tulum.

[00:02:07] KTMM: Yeah, it's grown over the years. I still think it was popular then.

[00:02:10] JM: It was definitely popular, but it's not popular like it is now.

[00:02:14] KTMM: Right, true. Okay, so our second question comes from Zach. This might be my cousin. I don't know. Who knows? “Where should I take the love of my life for the most romantic night?” Ooh.

[00:02:26] JM: So, you got a lot of options here. Let me step in –

[00:02:30] KTMM: The love doctor.

[00:02:33] JM: As the you know, the romance professional on the show. I would say there's a lot of options. First of all, like, we've been to Paris, the deck on the bungalow and Modi's was amazing. But I know my wife and we're going to Italy. We're going to go to a mom and pop restaurant in the basement, off of the cobblestone street, low light, Italian music going, and get her some cheesy pasta.

[00:03:02] KTMM: Yeah, that sounds like heaven to me. Heaven on Earth. That sounds amazing.

[00:03:06] JM: Yeah, that's what I'm doing. I can't tell you exactly what you should do. But well, that one's probably up there.

[00:03:13] KTMM: I would say another really romantic adventure, we've kind of taken together was the boat tour when we are in Budapest. So, it was highly rated online and we were like, “Oh, this looks fun.”

[00:03:27] JM: Well, first of all boats was always great. We did it in Naught. We did it in Paris. We did it in Budapest and they were always great.

[00:03:36] KTMM: Yeah, any boat cruise is fun.

[00:03:37] JM: The one in Budapest was crazy.

[00:03:39] KTMM: The one in Paris was great, too. But the one in Budapest was cool, because there's only like four couples on the whole boat and it was like a small boat. The water was super calm that day.

[00:03:48] JM: The boat was from like restored. It was like a 1920s like steamboat restored. You would it really felt like he went back in time almost.

[00:03:54] KTMM: Amazing. Amazing. If you want the trip, maybe we can find the company we booked it through.

[00:04:01] JM: We'll share some videos about these experiences for sure on our socials. And we'll share definitely the companies we can in the show notes. So, keep an eye out for those.

[00:04:11] KTMM: Cool. All right, let's talk about this week in travel.

[00:04:13] JM: Let’s talk travel.

[00:04:15] KTMM: I'm sorry, but I just have to bring up the vaccines to get us going. It's my MO. But many companies in the US are now requiring employees to get vaccinated.

[00:04:26] JM: The VA was the first. So, the VA, I know like this last week was the first federal organization to do that. But I've been reading about that, too. It's going to be interesting, because there's going to definitely be some legal cases to play out.

[00:04:39] KTMM: Yes, but some other countries have mandated the vaccine as well, including Turkmenistan and Indonesia and Russia actually. So, if you want to clock in, you need a jab in.

[00:04:54] JM: Oh, okay. Was that the translation?

[00:04:59] KTMM: I don’t know. And Greece is –

[00:04:59] JM: Can you say it in Russian?

[00:05:00] KTMM: No. Greece is doing the same for nursing home staff and healthcare workers and France is too.

[00:05:09] JM: France and Italy actually, are both taking a major step in the coming months to require to mandate that vaccine.

[00:05:20] KTMM: So, you get like a health pass, right?

[00:05:21] JM: Yeah, you get a health pass. In both countries is pretty similar. But they will be requiring a health pass to do anything.

[00:05:30] KTMM: To go to a restaurant, to travel.

[00:05:32] JM: Yeah, everything. You would need a health pass. And what that says is, either you have at least one dose of the vaccine, you have recently recovered from the virus, or you have a negative COVID result in the last like 48 hours. So, you're basically going to have to continuously get tested, if you want to do anything. You won't be able to do anything in these places.

[00:05:52] KTMM: Right. So, you would be the bummer on the trip, like everyone would be waiting for you, and you would just feel, “I got to go get tested. Bye. Got to leave the Eiffel Tower, see you in an hour.”

[00:06:03] JM: Well, they do have the testing underneath Eiffel Tower, which is nice. But there's also of note, they have not yet said how they're going to handle visitors when it comes to those things.

[00:06:13] KTMM: So, we'll keep you updated on that with the health pass. I just want to take a second to mention Italy. Our guests from last week, Steven Otto, from Walk suggested visiting Italy right now. Why you ask? Because all the tourists and the crowds have not made their way back to Italy. So, you can actually see things, you can actually experience things without walking with a group of 50 when your party's only like two. So, that would be nice.

[00:06:43] JM: Right. You avoid the massive crowds go see some really beautiful sights now. It's an opportune time. Just be mindful. Again, we talked about this on other episodes, keep an eye out for the rapidly changing landscape of COVID restrictions and requirements because you don't want your trip to something to happen ahead of time or we know people that have been stuck in countries, things like that.

[00:07:06] KTMM: Yeah. Or like, you don't have the right proof of vaccination or your COVID test didn't come in on time, and they're requiring it in paper form versus digital form. Just make sure you know what's going on. Okay, let's move on.

[00:07:22] JM: So, IHG is joining the wave of trying to entice travelers, and they have introduced a new pet program in which –

[00:07:32] KTMM: Cute.

[00:07:34] JM: Yeah, in which they're giving discounts to pet fees, a $10 discount towards pet fees on your stay and 3,000 IHG points. So, it's a small incentive. But obviously, you want to get every opportunity you can, every discount you can. And it's a way to kind of make things a little bit easier on people that want to travel right now and don't know what to do with their pet.

[00:07:55] KTMM: Yeah, so we just had dinner with a couple a few weeks ago, and they did a road trip all the way from California to Michigan and they came with their two dogs. And I asked Hillary, was it difficult to travel with your animals? And she was like, “No, like a lot of hotels are accepting and stuff.” So now you can even get rewarded. So hey, love it.

[00:08:19] JM: They did mention that it's becoming a lot easier to travel with pets. So, if you're at home and you're wondering if you can go on that trip because your pets, there's a lot of opportunities out there to bring your pets right along with you.

[00:08:31] KTMM: Especially if you're driving. If you're flying, I think it's gotten more difficult to travel with a pet. I don't know if people are that accepting. I know every time I took my dog on a plane when we were going overseas to see Jordan, if someone, there was like a lady that was sitting next to me that saw that I had a dog and was like super bummed out. People aren't very accepting on the flights. But for the hotel system –

[00:08:57] JM: There was also, everybody kind of scam the system and everything became an emotional support animal.

[00:09:03] KTMM: That's true.

[00:09:03] JM: I mean, like everything. People would bring ridiculous pets on planes.

[00:09:08] KTMM: Pigs.

[00:09:08] JM: Just ridiculous things on planes. And they kind of like, thank you guys for ruining it for everyone. 

[00:09:14] KTMM: Seriously. Now, it's really difficult to take your animal. Well not really, but it requires some work.

[00:09:19] JM: I mean, we had Boss with us, our dog. He's eight pounds. People wanted to bring all these other things on the plane and kind of ruined it for everybody. That was kind of just like skating the system a little bit. They just completely shut it down. They're like I'm bringing my – they weren't even bringing dogs though. They were bringing weird things like peacocks and stuff. People are weird man.

[00:09:37] KTMM: People are weird. Alright, so some trends that I've seen going on right now. I do want to mention two. One is there is a new travel trend for adult luxury resort vacations, which –

[00:09:51] JM: Adult only.

[00:09:51] KTMM: Adult only. So, it was an article I read where there was like 10 hotels that had a requirement of like, I think it was 10 and up or somewhere 12, some are 16 and up.

[00:10:01] JM: People have been locked up with the kids, man, they're sick of them.

[00:10:05] KTMM: Like COVID times.

[00:10:06] JM: I don’t want to see another kid, get me away.

[00:10:08] KTMM: I think that's nice though, because then you know what type of experience you're going to get at the hotel, where sometimes you just find yourself like hanging out at the adult pool the whole time because there's so many kids running around at the resort or whatever. So, I think it's nice. I think it's a good idea. Of course, those come with a price tag and more, but they also come with more like luxurious accommodations.

[00:10:32] JM: I think it's nice to encourage people to do that. I think that's something that we'll want to do when we have a family one day.

[00:10:39] KTMM: Drop the kids off at the grandparents and go?

[00:10:41] JM: Yeah, for sure.

[00:10:42] KTMM: I like it. Another location that is trending is Asheville, North Carolina. It's been gaining a lot of popularity lately. We saw on a list recently for like a weekend getaway. We were trying to do decide –

[00:10:57] JM: On multiple list. Like every list, actually, I think.

[00:11:01] KTMM: Okay, wow. So, we ended up deciding not to go to Asheville, we are going somewhere else, which we will announce soon because we're going kind of soon. But one of the main attractions is 8,000 acres of sunflowers.

[00:11:16] JM: Yeah, it’s peak sunflower the season right now.

[00:11:18] KTMM: And it's on the Biltmore Estate. And these sunflowers are beautiful. If you look at pictures –

[00:11:24] JM: If you can swing it, take a trip.

[00:11:26] KTMM: Yeah. And they're like eight feet tall. Way cool. Okay, let's wrap up just talking about the UK, another travel announcement.

[00:11:34] JM: Big news. They’re opening.

[00:11:36] KTMM: Yes, the UK is rolling back travel restrictions to England. So, if you're American and you are fully vaccinated, there's no more quarantine requirements.

[00:11:48] JM: And it started already?

[00:11:48] KTMM: Yeah. Started yesterday. August 2nd.

[00:11:51] JM: Wow. Let's get to it. Good day, mate. Let's get to the show.

Today's guest has had a long career as a professional baseball player. But it's his off-field lifestyle that put him on our shortlist of people to interview when On Arrival was still just an idea. Even as he's seen success on the diamond, he continues to epitomize minimalism, living the van life, long before it was a hashtag. It would be hard to do his story any more justice in this short intro. So, let's just get to the interview.

I'd like to welcome pitcher from our hometown, Detroit Tigers. Daniel Norris.

[00:12:27] KTMM: Welcome, Daniel.

[00:12:27] DN: Yeah, my pleasure. Thank you all for having me on.

[00:12:31] JM: Yeah, no problem, man. So, we got a lot to ask about today. But before we get into all of that, we'll ask you the question that we ask all of our guests, which is what is your most memorable travel experience?

[00:12:43] DN: Yeah, it's tough for me, because I feel like as you get older, you see different places. But I always think about, I guess, in my mind, I think about the first time I took my own trip, I guess. So, it goes back to when I was 18. I just got drafted by the Blue Jays in Toronto and I had my first offseason to where I just, like, had free time. You're used to going to school and you have summer and stuff, but I played travel ball. So, I didn't really ever have like a trip. I think we've maybe had one family vacation growing up, but I was too young to really remember it.

So, my first trip was in my offseason. I had kind of gotten like a little job at a local outdoor store where there's like hiking, rock climbing, all that kind of stuff, kayaking, and the guy worked with was telling me about Nicaragua, like he owned like a little bit of property or like a condo or something down there. He's like, “I know you're like interested in surfing. So, if you ever want to go down there, I can kind of like, tell you where to go and stuff.” That day. I was like, “Yeah, I'll book the flight now.”

[00:13:45] JM: Let’s do it, yeah.

[00:13:47] DC: So yeah, I was 18. I basically went down there by myself, and found my way. It pretty incredible. I still think about that trip a lot, just because, it was kind of my first trip ever. I went in, he set me up with a ride, like somebody could get me from the airport. And then from that point on, I was kind of on my own. And basically, I was there for two weeks. I stayed at hostels. I found this local kid that was running dirt bikes, and I gave him like 50 bucks. And he got to rent a dirt bike for two weeks and a surfboard.

So, that was kind of my first sense of adventure other than, like little day hikes and stuff I do around home and bikes and stuff. So yeah, going down there and just sort of, it's basically a third world country in the sense, just because of their way of living. I think I was there for two weeks. And you're eating breakfast, lunch or dinner for five bucks a day, which was kind of incredible. But it taught me a lot about myself, being 18 years old gun and just kind of finding my way in a place that I didn’t really thought about going to. So, I had an incredible trip, surfing all day, riding bikes and doing all that and met some incredible people too, which is really cool.

[00:15:03] KTMM: That's really adventurous for your first trip, like you really went full out. And I mean, I don't think a lot of people would have the guts to do that. 

[00:15:10] JM: Yeah, something we hear a lot too when we ask this question. It's usually like, I feel like more times than not, it's always feels like it was my first trip.

[00:15:18] KTMM: It's people that like, took a chance, and it really sticks with them.

[00:15:23] DN: Yeah, it was definitely a chance. But I’m glad I did it.

[00:15:27] KTMM: So naturally, your baseball career offers you the opportunity to travel. But we want to talk about what you do in the offseason as far as travel goes. So, what are your favorite locations to escape to in the offseason?

[00:15:41] DN: Yeah, so I do all of my training in the offseason. I live in Santa Barbara now and in California. So yeah, I still have my van up there and basically wake up every day, surf for a couple hours, go train for a few hours, and then surf some more until the day is over. But I always kind of allow myself a couple of trips in the offseason, just because, as an athlete, you really – the mental side of training is just as important as the physical side. So, I always feel guilty. If I miss a day of training. I don't let myself miss training. Even if I go on a trip. I'm always like trying to set up a place where I can work out or something that I can at least kind of check that box of getting better that day.

So yeah, I mean, every offseason, there's at least a couple trips that I get to go on. Last year is a bit different just because of COVID stuff. Obviously, traveling was kind of sketchy, but I did go up to Oregon to see one of my buddies and there's like a nice swell in town for a few days there. So, I went up there but last offseason, not last year, but the year before I went to Hawaii for a couple weeks. And I went in that year, I also at the Tofino which is this really beautiful island off the coast of Vancouver in Western Canada. That's the one I kind of battle with Nicaragua now just because of how beautiful it is. And it's a bit different because it's the waters like 38 degrees instead of 90. But it's so beautiful and when you get to that island of Tofino, it's kind of its own thing. They don't have any like chain restaurants. They're all sort of farm to table type deals and the waves are amazing. And the people are really cool.

And then a few years ago, I had the chance to actually go to Tokyo. The trip was Hawaii for four or five days and then Tokyo for about a week and then went to Hiroshima and Nagoya for a few days each and that was – I never even really envisioned going to that part of the world. It turned out to be a really special place too.

[00:17:40] JM: Wow.

[00:17:41] KTMM: What did you do there?

[00:17:44] DN: It was actually part of like a baseball thing. We did this little tour to play Japan's national team. But I mean, we had so much free time, it was really incredible to just get to explore that country and Tokyo and all that was just –

[00:17:59] JM: We're itching to get over there. We keep talking about it like every episode.

[00:18:02] KTMM: It’s just such a different cultural experience, that like you got to do it.

[00:18:06] JM: We've spent so much time like in Europe, and obviously the Americas, we're ready for something different, something new. So, we’re like, hearing about that. We've heard somebody else, who was it Koza, and also Kula said that Japan was really great.

[00:18:22] DN: Yeah, it kind of blew my mind how nice and pristine it is over there.

[00:18:28] KTMM: Yeah. I think it's funny, because as an athlete, you feel a little guilty, when you don't train. And that reminds me of we were just in Aruba. And Jordan was like, “I wonder if they have a training facility down here.” I’m like, “They don't have a training facility here Jordan.” He's trying to plan his next offseason. 

[00:18:46] JM: Well he’s doing it right. His off seasons are in Santa Barbara, like, our off seasons are here in Michigan. And I'm like, down in a room. I'm like, Man, what can I do to have this as my offseason.

[00:18:57] DN: Yeah. Totally.

[00:18:58] JM: So, tell us about your van. You mentioned that a little bit and I'm really looking forward to getting into this conversation. You might be over it, though. You've gotten so many interviews and stuff about it. But just tell us about the van. Does it have a name? And how is she holding up to these days?

[00:19:13] DN: Yeah, so that same year, I got drafted. That was the one thing I wanted. Just the way I grew up was very – we never had more than what we needed. I remember kind of being frustrated as a kid like I go to school and my buddies would have new gloves or new bat, new spikes or something like that. And my dad owned a bike shop for 35, 40 years and the way he instilled hard work into me through that was just kind of like, “Hey, if you want like a new glove or a new bat, like find a way to make money and get it.” It was hard in high school, but playing through sports as well. I never really had time.

I had football but baseball and basketball are like on my plate. And it really taught me to work hard and find a way and so I get like little odd jobs around town just to get a few bucks and add up and save up. But as soon as I got drafted, that was like, kind of my, I guess my present to myself. I just wanted that van. I'd always like to, just from music I listened to and stuff. And so, then me and my dad, like went on the search and we found perfect one. That once I bought it, I guess I never really had the idea of buying it and then tricking it out to make it livable. I think but what the [inaudible 00:20:26] were made for. I didn't do much to it other than rebuilding the engine a couple times. It was all original.

[00:20:34] KTMM: A couple times.

[00:20:36] DN: So yeah, once I got it, I just – when I was 18, that's when I started teaching myself how to surf. So, I would get my work in and then I'd go to South Carolina and camp and surf. And so that was like a very, I guess, learning time in my life too, just getting that in. It's an old rig too. It’s 1978. So yeah, there were so many things that would go wrong just on a day trip somewhere. But it teaches you a lot about like, fixing things on the go and stuff.

[00:21:04] JM: Being resourceful.

[00:21:08] DN: Yeah, countless times, I’ll quick fix that engine with duct tape or zip ties. It's kind of magical when that happens, because you're like, “Oh, this hose should go here.” And I think it should and then you just tape it in there and then it works. Literally, it fires right back up, and you get on the road and it's a cool feeling. So yeah, just doing that, after I got drafted, and I kind of fell in love with it. And I just kind of kept doing it and I still do it. But it's running okay, now.

[00:21:34] JM: It's terrifying to think about being an 18-year-old kid and try to be on the road and fixing like a whole van by myself.

[00:21:41] KTMM: But you learn as you go.

[00:21:42] DN: Yeah, you do learn as you go. But I look back on it now and I feel really bad for my parents. Like I'd be on this trip, and I'm calling at 12 midnight, and call my dad, and he’s like, “What? Is everything okay?” I'm like, “I think so. The van won't start, but I think it's all good.” I just let go lay down in the back at some rest, stop, and then wake up and try and fix it the next morning. So, I'm sure they were quite a bit about me.

[00:22:11] JM: Katie, and I often say like, because of how much we've traveled and had to go new places, and find our way like, we feel like you could put us anywhere and we figured out. I'm sure you like even more so, your sense of freedom and you feel very empowered, when you can do all these things for yourself.

[00:22:30] DN: That's a really good point. Yeah, I haven't really thought about that, I guess. But when you mentioned that when I go on trips, I kind of hate the idea of planning. I hate an itinerary and that's what's tough about the season. This week that's all about it, itineraries. Whatever. But it's all good. But in the offseason, I just like kind of cruising, I don't really want to have time. So, we got to do this and then that and then we got to be here by then, and that's just kind of like stressful to me. I kind of like the idea of just kind of going and figuring it out, like you said.

[00:23:01] KTMM: Yeah, it's great. For sure.

[00:23:03] JM: Yeah. So, do you have a count at this point on like, how many times you've had fix the van on the road?

[00:23:11] DN: I would say I haven't kept track. But I would say it's definitely over 10, whether it's a quick fix, or like taking it to shop for two weeks and having fund it. There was one time it broke down and it had to be in the shop, I think for like probably four days. But I was like, I don't want to get a hotel like you guys can work on it during the day and then just roll it back out to your lot and I'll sleep in it.

[00:23:40] KTMM: You would. That’s fun.

[00:23:40] DN: They were like, “That's crazy.” I mean, I'll just mess around all day, like I have my skateboard at the beach, or I go surf all day, and then they'd work on it.

[00:23:50] KTMM: Like in preparation for this interview. I did a lot of research on you and I love how I say you would. Because I feel like I know you now and it just sounds like something you would do.

[00:24:00] DN: Yeah. I’m a weirdo.

[00:24:03] KTMM: I have a question about you look like you traveled to some remote places. What about if you break down somewhere like there and you don't have cell service? What do you do? What are you going to do?

[00:24:14] DN: That's happening kind of often, actually. It's never a place where you think you wouldn't have cell – it's like the random places where it's like, “Wait, how do I not have cell service right now?” I think that one of the gnarliest breakdowns I've ever had was, man, a friend of mine, we’re doing like a little short film for Yeti coolers. And so, he met me in Tennessee and we went from my hometown and our plan was to get to Oregon where he lived, which is a beautiful scenery for like the ocean and surfing and then we're going to go down to Ventura, Santa Barbara area to hang with a bunch of people.

So, the trip was going great and we’d make big pushes through the day and then stop and camp and then at one point, I forget where we left from that day, but we were making a big push through the night. And it was probably like 1 AM. He was laying down in the bed sleeping, and I was driving. I just had my headphones and like listening to a podcast. And this was probably six, seven years ago now. I was like, listening, that was one thing with Dan, it’s like, I had a really good relationship, especially listening to it. Like, you could start it up, and I'm like, okay, it's going to be a good day or so it’s not going to be a good day.

So, when I heard that, I like kind of put my head to the dash listening to it after the headphones out. And I immediately knew like this isn’t good. So, I kind of hollered at my buddy, I was like, “Man, we’re going down.” I pulled off on exit and luckily, there's like a Walmart right there. So, Walmart, you can stay 24 hours, obviously. So, I just pulled an icon in the back spot. And he's like, “What do you think? Are you going to try and fix it down?” I was like, “Dude, it's literally 14 degrees outside and it's 1 AM. I just want to go to bed.” And we're all like, I think we're in Stratton, Kansas, which is the middle of absolutely nowhere. That was when I realized I didn't have cell phone service. I downloaded a bunch of podcasts –

[00:26:15] JM: At a Walmart.

[00:26:17] DN: Yeah, at a Walmart. I just downloaded a bunch of podcasts and that was all I had. So yeah, not only was really frustrating without cell phone service, but it was also one of the coldest nights of my life. There's no heat in the van. We’re pummeled up and all in our 800 filled down jackets and subzero sleeping bags, but you're still like freezing.

So, when we wake up the next day, I'm like, I'm just going to try and start it. And started it but there's hardly any compression. We finally got to cell phone service and he was like calling all these places like “Hey, can you guys take a look at this?” “No, it’s blah, blah, blah.” Our only option really was to make it all the way to Denver. Normal ride would be like eight hours from there, I think. But I couldn't get past third gear because of the cylinder. So, I drove 12 hours in third gear going 35 miles per hour in the right lane that whole day just to get to Denver, so a guy could work on it. But that was –

[00:27:11] JM: Oh, my gosh.

[00:27:11] DN: Yeah, that was one of the best experiences.

[00:27:13] JM: I just want to point out the contrast. We have a van life and we talked about this before. 

[00:27:18] KTMM: Like the Instagramable life.

[00:27:21] JM: This is real life like relationship with the van. We're going to make this work no matter what. It’s fascinating, honestly.

[00:27:30] KTMM: Yeah. And I challenge everyone listening to just look Daniel Norris up and get a sneak peek of his van. It's very cool.

[00:27:39] DN: I appreciate that. But Instagram, I mean, kudos to those people. Those vans are rad, but I never envisioned my van looking like that. I remember there's a – not to get off track but I got a new van a couple years ago. It’s a 1973 Ford Econoline. It was an old motorcycle shop van and I bought it off a buddy for like 1,500 bucks for it or 2,000 bucks for it. It's pretty bare bones. But I was like, I have a friend in Ventura that builds out vans, like the Big Sprinter vans and stuff. I was like, “Hey, I just got this super old van. All I need is wood flooring for like when I'm surfing. I just want to be able to sweep the sand out and maybe like a bed frame and some storage.” Because a friend of mine has this bed roll company that it's pretty cool. Like you can take it camping. It's just a bed roll and you can sleep on the dirt like it's perfect.

So, I built that van out in Ventura. It was basically just a bunch of wood that he turned into some flooring into a bed frame and storage. And after he was done, he handed me the invoice before I drove off. And I looked down and it said like $98,000 and I was like timeout. I was like, “Well, I think he gave me the wrong invoice.” He's like, “No.” And he looked and he goes, “Oh yeah, my bad.” I think my invoice was like $900. And he was like, “Oh, my bad.” And I was like, “Dude out of curiosity, like people pay that much for what?” He's like, “Yeah, like, some guy dropped off a Sprinter van and we did a full build out and like costs like 100 grand in there.” He's like, “Well, we're doing like a full-on shower, water heater, all the bells and whistles.” And I'm just like, “That's insane.” I don't know, like, I think the idea of living advantage to save money, but that's nearly a house where I'm from. It’s crazy.

[00:29:24] JM: You can get a house in Detroit for that, for sure.

[00:29:28] DN: It's kind of nuts.

[00:29:29] JM: The commitment to be like, hey, you've worked on my van in a day and put it outside at night and I'll just stay in it. So, you're ready to start working to get into work, not like you have the time commitment to van life. I think 99% of people.

[00:29:44] KTMM: So, like anything, it's been glamorized and it's like a whole industry. There's like a million Instagram pages for it and whatnot. So, I think it's the new thing. People just want luxury in a van which I don’t think that's really – they don’t go together.

[00:30:00] JM: Right. To this point, it’s not what it’s for.

[00:30:03] KTMM: So, I love that I spotted a French press in your van. Do you have other items? 

[00:30:09] JM: She’s a coffee lover.

[00:30:10] KTMM: Yeah, a coffee girl. So, do you have any other items in the van that might surprise people or something you can't be without?

[00:30:18] DN: Let’s see. I mean, coffee is like always number one for me and French press is great. Same with like pour over, because truthfully, like in a van, you want to save electricity. Nowadays, I have like a portable like gold zero jackery type thing where to do solar. But back in the day when I was doing it, like those didn't really exist. So, I was like, I don't want to use any electricity. I had one little solar panel this big that would charge up an alternate battery that you had like a cigarette lighter plug for. And now I have to alter – like I would have no chance of charging a computer or something. But maybe my phone, maybe like something like that.

So, like French press and pour over is perfect for like camping style just because you don't need electricity. So, that was definitely my go to.

[00:31:08] KTMM: Those are like my two favorites too.

[00:31:09] JM: They both make great coffee too.

[00:31:11] DN: Yeah, that's the thing. It's like, it's easier in my opinion, but it's also better coffee. Gosh, something else, probably not surprising, but at least a surfboard.

[00:31:21] KTMM: I knew you were going to say that.

[00:31:24] DN: Maybe a skateboard.

[00:31:26] JM: I think it's most impressive that you said you taught yourself how to surf. I mean, like talk about independent, from the van at 18, teaching us how to surf. I mean, the clarity –

[00:31:34] KTMM: You got to teach Jordan how to surf. We went on our honeymoon, we're in Hawaii, and he was trying to – he's too tall. He could not stand up on that board.

[00:31:44] DN: That's one thing. Like when I was teaching myself when I was 18, it was one of the most frustrating things I've ever done. Just because it's like I grew up like watching surf films, just because a lot of music I listen to is in them. I just love it. That’s why I wanted to surf as I'm watching this film and seeing just the grace and how beautiful it was. And then yeah, going through and teaching myself for the first like couple of years. You'd stand up and it'd be fun. But I'm like, “I want to get better.” I don't know, fast forward to now and it's it's a huge part of my life. After baseball, my dreams are always been to surf the rest of my life and figure out. But yeah, it's a special thing. I don't know. I tell a lot of my friends. I'm like, wait to catch your first proper wave and then you're hooked. It’ll change something else. 

[00:32:31] JM: My issue is like getting up. I was always pushing the nose down too far. So, that was a big issue. But I think I was shocked because we did lessons in Hawaii. It was like an hour, maybe more and like she didn't like fall at one time. She would like ride the wave like then sit down on the board up. 

[00:32:46] KTMM: But I’m a dancer.

[00:32:49] JM: She got really good balance. But I was just like, “Who are you?”

[00:32:53] DN: So cool. What part of Hawaii?

[00:32:56] JM: That was in Waikiki Beach. But we also went to Kauai, and we also went to Maui too.

[00:33:03] DN: Nice. I love all those places. Waikiki has such fun waves. I surf there as well.

[00:33:07] JM: Yeah, it's really packed though. That was a hard thing. You're like, kind of like dodging people.

[00:33:13] DN: Nearly a thousand people.

[00:33:14] KTMM: Yeah, it really was.

[00:33:16] JM: Yeah. So, I'm interested. The question we had was, how has your offseason transformed over the years, but it seems like it's been pretty consistent, like you stick to what you love. I know you have the van. You've gotten a couple other cars along the way, the FJ Cruiser. I mean, how have you seen your off seasons kind of change over your years?

[00:33:35] DN: Yeah, I think if anything, just because I've gotten older, I live in a way of like, realizing that you'll never have it figured out, anything. But I try to figure new things out every year. I mean, as an athlete, it's like, baseball is my priority. I want to be as good as I can possibly be in play for as long as I possibly can. The van stuff, the surfing stuff, like that's all secondary to me. And it's enjoyable, but not my driving force right now. So, I think five or six years ago, because I'd spent most of my off seasons at home in Tennessee, and then I would travel from there. For five or six years ago, I had a really gnarly injury that I had surgery, had groin surgery. And the rehab from that was like really tough on me. As a pitcher, I went from throwing hard to not throwing hard.

So, that offseason, like I did everything I could to find somebody that could help me and that's what I found in Santa Barbara. It's called P3, Peak Performance.

[00:34:34] JM: I’m familiar. A lot of basketball guys go there.

[00:34:36] DN: Yeah, yeah. And my first year there was just incredible if anything, like that's been a big change. It's just basically like moving out there every year and just training there. It's been incredible. Those guys are amazing. Just seeing their ability to keep me healthy and I've been healthy ever since and knock on wood. So, I've been really fortunate and thankful for them and Santa Barbara and Ventura area like it's perfect for me because I can surf all day and train as well. And so, I've been really happy out there and stuff. But it was a big change kind of moving from Tennessee to to the west coast. 

[00:35:13] JM: But I mean, Santa Barbara. I mean, not a bad life, especially for a surfer.

[00:35:20] DN: Totally.

[00:35:21] KTMM: So, when people think about traveling around the US in a van, they think about the luxurious way, of course. But yours has character. Do you ever see yourself, like he said that you had different vehicles, but do you ever see yourself upgrading or no?

[00:35:37] DN: I like old stuff. So, I've definitely like added some motor vehicles to the collection, like the other van I was telling you about and then I've got another Volkswagen, but it's more of like a tracker ticket type two truck. And then this past year, I was like surfing one day in Santa Barbara and I'm like walking out to surf and I see this old Volvo station wagon with a for sale sign on it. And I was like, “Man, that thing's kind of cool. I can stack a lot of boards in there.” So, I told my buddy, I was like, if it's still there, when we get out like, I'm going to call her like text that guy because he had his number on there. And sure enough, it was still there. So, I kind of texted guys, “Okay, like, saw the Volvo. Like, where you got on it?”

So, basically, the next day, I met up with a guy and I was like, “Hey, like, let's go surf for a bit like, and then we'll come back and I'll drive it around. And if it runs, well, I will definitely take it off your hands.” So yeah, we got a good story for them went back and I drove it around. And I was like, “What are you asking for it?” He goes, “Oh, like 1,800.” And I'm like, “Sold, for sure.” I just like old cheap stuff. So yeah.

[00:36:44] JM: It got character to it, though. It’s got soul.

[00:36:45] KTMM: So, there’s no [inaudible 00:36:48] that Sprinter is in your future is what you’re saying?

[00:36:50] DN: No. I don't think I'll ever do that. I mean, they're cool. Like, don't get me wrong, like, all my friends have them and they're incredible. It's just, I'm just different. I kind of like the dirt bike the last time.

[00:37:02] KTMM: Yeah, I've heard that term. I think it's really respectable that you can be so successful in your career –

[00:37:06] JM: And surrounded by so much popularity.

[00:37:10] KTMM: So much artificial pleasure and things like that and it's just, you stay true to yourself, and I think that's really respectable.

[00:37:21] DN: I appreciate that. But I mean, I've seen it all, as teammates, and it's like, maybe I won't ever buy things that they buy. But if that’s them being true themselves as well, then like, I respect that. I've never had – my dad loves cars. And like I grew up, like when I played with Verlander, and he had all those incredible cars that he had. I was one of the first ones out there like looking at him. I don't ever – I think those are incredible. It's just I just have different peaks of interest in what I like. I just like old stuff. That’s weird, but I do appreciate the new stuffs as well.

[00:37:53] JM: It's important to find what you value. Because a lot of people, we get so caught up in the day to day that we tend to value what people say we should value, when you can only really secure like, “No, this is what I care about and like focus on that.” That's really respectable. I feel like you can drive a hard bargain to when you pull up when a 1978 Volkswagen, you're going to get the good price. You're not going to the –

[00:38:17] KTMM: They don’t know who you are.

[00:38:19] JM: Yeah, $1,800 if you can afford it.

[00:38:24] KTMM: I love that.

[00:38:25] JM: One thing I want to ask about is, okay, like, I'm a big guy, but you're 6’2”, right? You're a big guy too. Do you ever feel like you need more space? Like do ever feel cramped in the van?

[00:38:36] DN: There's the first year I ever did it. I packed way too much stuff. I had a bicycle in there, I had all skateboard, surfboard. For first while I had like all my baseball equipment, I was like, “Okay, next year, I'm doing this way different.” So yeah, I've always had to downsize a bit. And now with the van I have in California, I stashed most my boards around at my friend's houses, but I've still got like probably five in that van and that gets pretty crowded. Yeah, sometimes it does get crowded, but it’s all good.

[00:39:07] KTMM: For listeners that are interested in maybe starting surfing, what advice do you have? And then where is your favorite location to surf?

[00:39:15] DN: Yeah, I think my biggest advice for starting to surf is, watch a lot of surf films because I think there's some really beautiful films out there that can teach you a lot just from like watching. But as far as getting in the water, just make sure you're on the right board. I think being on a bigger board to learn like a longboard, anything over eight feet, it's going to help you learn just because the paddle power – like the wave is going to really indicate how you catch it. And then yeah, I mean, it's basically from that point on, like, the whole action of riding the wave is kind of simple., I think if you have balance, you're going to be fine. But catching the wave is probably the hard part. That's the hardest thing to kind of get consistent at. So, just the timing of like, knowing – if you're on a longer board, you're going to catch the wave earlier like before it breaks. And if you're on a short board, you're going to catch it, basically, right as it breaks. You have less board, but the wave power is going to really kind of punch you into the wave. So, as far as like learning, I would definitely start on a longer board.

[00:40:16] KTMM: Jordan, are you taking notes?

[00:40:18] JM: Yeah. I got it. I’ve written it down. And then the second part is, what's your favorite place or a few favorite places to surf?

[00:40:25] DN: Hawaii is incredible. Nicaragua will always be out there for me, but I mean, I don't know. I've had some really magical days and just right at home in Ventura, Santa Barbara. When it hits, right, it's so fun. Also, we have spring training in Florida, and especially last year, when COVID hit, I stayed down there just to keep training because nobody really couldn't go anywhere. It was so weird. So, a buddy of mine, we kind of built like a garage gym that we could train in and throw. And then every day I would drive two hours to Cocoa Beach is a buddy of mine. He lives over there. And last year on COVID, the swells that we had there, it was kind of like, in my head, it was like God saying, “Hey, COVID sucks, but here's some really good waves.” It was like, I had some amazing days during COVID and Cocoa Beach that I still think about today like it. It can be good there.

So, I don't know. I guess my favorite. I'm just going to say like California. California was kind of like the dream coast.

[00:41:26] JM: Yeah. Shout out to the 11 and under AU Nationals Cocoa Beach. I've been there.

[00:41:31] KTMM: Really? So, Jordan, and I, we've been overseas and he's been playing professionally for this would be your eight. And we know how the world of professional sports can be. It's hard and it’s definitely overseas. It's pretty cutthroat, I'm sure in the US as well. Do you see yourself traveling in a similar way that you do now? Like in the offseason time, like after life in baseball is over?

[00:41:55] DN: Yeah, I definitely think so. I think I sort of alluded to it earlier. But my dream after baseball is like I kind of wanted to revolve around surfing and stuff just because through my career, and just the friends I've met like outside of baseball, that is their life. It's surfing and the outdoor world and filmmaking. I've always enjoyed short films and stuff. So, I think as far as that goes, just with the surfing lifestyle and short films of that, I think that would be like a sort of a dream for me, because therein lies your travel and your surf and the art of it. So, that's kind of been like my idea of what I'd like to do.

[00:42:37] KTMM: Yeah, all the things that make you happy. 

[00:42:41] DN: That’s the idea, right? You just want to be happy.

[00:42:43] JM: That's funny, because I was going to say you should produce a surf film. He's like, “I'm already on it.”

[00:42:50] DN: It's crazy. A lot of the films I grew up watching that really taught me a lot like fast forward to now and then the guys that directed that and made those films are some of my closest friends now. They're obviously older than me, but they're kind of like full circle and others and they've been just really integral in my development in the outdoor world. 

[00:43:10] JM: Yeah, that's full circle. That’s really profound things. But yeah, that's cool. So, before we go, we just want to know where everyone can follow you and your adventures and your career?

[00:43:19] DN: I guess, just Instagram. I don't really post much anymore, but I'm out there, I guess.

[00:43:26] KTMM: Okay, what's your handle?

[00:43:27] DN: Oh, just my name, @danielnorris18. 

[00:43:31] JM: @danielnorris18. Got it.

[00:43:32] KTMM: Got it. Cool. Thanks for sharing with us. We had so much fun with you today and learning about your intricate lifestyle.

[00:43:38] DN: Thank you. I really appreciate it. Hope you have a good day.

[00:43:42] JM: Thank you. You too, man.

[00:43:42] KTMM: Thank you. Bye 

[END OF INTERVIEW]

[00:43:44] KTMM: Thanks for listening to another episode of On Arrival. We've had so much fun recording these episodes and sharing them with you every week.

[00:43:52] JM: If you liked this episode, share it with somebody and don't forget to subscribe to our show, On Arrival Podcast, on all podcast platforms. We would really appreciate it if you would write us a positive review, wherever you choose to listen. 

[00:44:03] KTMM: Look for us on social media @onarrivaltravel on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

[00:44:10] JM: If you're looking for more episodes, you can always head over to onarrival.com. 

[END]