Rina & Michael
We live in a van with our two boys and eat our way across North America.
A Cantonese family of four in a van we built ourselves. We stay in each city for a few weeks at a time, so we eat slowly, find the good stuff, and let the boys grow up on the road.
Four of us, one van, a lot of dumplings
Michael films, edits, built the van and does most of the cooking. Rina plans where we go and takes care of all of us (you'll hear her more than you'll see her). Spencer is three and will find every playground in town. Archie, our baby, was born in October 2025 and has been traveling with us since he was a few months old.
Our families are from Hong Kong, so a lot of what we do comes back to food: cha chaan teng breakfasts, dim sum, congee, Asian supermarkets, and Cantonese home cooking made in a very small kitchen.
Toronto & Markham
We drove up from New York this fall and we're living in the van around Toronto for a few weeks. Most people come here to eat for a weekend. We get to do it slowly: Hong Kong cafes, food courts, congee shops, and the places our family keeps telling us about.
Explore
Where we eatCity food guides, with what we ordered and what it cost
Van life with kidsShowers, water, laundry, cold nights
Our vanHow we built it, and every part we usedOur kitchen is about two steps wide
Eating out is half the fun, but a lot of nights we cook. Clay pot rice on the stove, a ribeye in the cast iron, char kway teow on a wok burner outside the van. It's the food we grew up on, and we want the boys to grow up on it too.
Van Life Family of 4
Our new season, NY to Toronto, is on YouTube with new episodes every Tuesday and Saturday at 6pm ET.
Come along on YouTube
New episodes every Tuesday and Saturday at 6pm ET. We'd love to have you.
Subscribe to @rinaandmichaelGet our Toronto Food Map + van build parts list
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