Charley Majeski, a senior Mass Communications major, sits in her van that she nicknamed Roamie.
Patrick Tobin | The Crow’s Nest
By Sophie Ojdanic
To Charley Majeski, a van is more than a mode of transportation.
A senior mass communications major, Majeski came to USF St. Petersburg two years ago after transferring from St. Petersburg College.
But Majeski is not new to changing schools.
Majeski, 24, was born in New York, but moved to Las Vegas at 3 years old, then Florida at 5 years old. At 6, she moved back to Las Vegas, where she stayed until she was 12, when she made her final move to Florida.
“I think I went to six elementary schools and three middle schools,” Majeski said. “I lived in 10 houses.
“I never really minded it though. As a kid, I never felt like I fully fit in anywhere, so every time my family was like ‘oh we’re moving again’ I was kinda stoked on it. I was like ‘oh fun, a change’ and I still feel that way.
“I still like a change in atmosphere and I think that’s probably why.”
Majeski’s desire for a change in atmosphere led her to pick up Roamie, a van she and her stepfather outfitted for life on the road.
“I love to travel,” Majeski said. “The whole point of the van, really, is to travel and (rock) climb and just to have everything with me. It sounds cliche but it’s like my little home on wheels.”
Majeski’s van is still a work-in-progress, she explained, but she and her stepfather have added a bed, a closet, a fridge and kitchen space and possibly her favorite addition: swivel chairs.
“It was just such a game changer when I put the seats in,” Majeski said. “Once you twist the seats it’s just so much more open, surprisingly.”
Although, she admits, van life took a bit of adjustment, “I take it somewhere every chance I can get.”
So far, she’s driven cross-country three times and done multitudes of other trips all over the United States.
Her favorite trip so far was her second trip “out West” with a close friend.
“We initially just planned on driving to Utah,” Majeski said. “We got to Utah in two days. And then we planned on driving back. But we ended up going to Utah, to Colorado, back to Utah, to Oregon, back to Colorado, and back (to Florida).
“A lot of things changed, but I think that that trip made me the most comfortable in the van.”
Majeski’s major passion is rock climbing.
She said her first experience rock climbing came when her father took her to Red Rock Canyon in Las Vegas. But she didn’t find her passion for it until two years ago, when she and her father went to a rock climbing gym on the East coast of Florida.
After that, Majeski spent five to six days per week at rock climbing gyms.
Majeski worked at local gym Vertical Ventures for about a year and a half, losing her job because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Matt Treanor, Majeski’s boyfriend, admires her love for travel.
He remembered a time when the two had trips to Colorado which happened to fall on the same dates.
“She showed us the cool stuff to do,” Treanor said. “We didn’t do the lame touristy stuff.
“Her and I spent the night at Twin Lakes and we watched the stars and took long exposure (photographs) out there. The stars were insane, I’d never seen anything like it before.”
Treanor saw that as his opportunity to experience “the van life.”
“I make fun of her a lot,” Treanor said. “It’s all out of love, but she’s just this mostly Florida girl and then, you know, she took a trip out West or two and started listening to The Lumineers and climbing and dressing different and thrifting, and her whole life kinda changed. But I’m here for it.”
Majeski graduates in December and plans to work in St. Petersburg for at least a year. She hopes to eventually move to the Western United States and pursue a career in brand management or public relations.
