âDonât Sweat The Little Stuffâ
Through years of adventures and misadventures, Paul and Meredith Pritts have learned that itâs all about enjoying the time and the moment youâre in with your person.
FEB. 14, 2023 | BY INGRID SCHNADER
Paul and Meredith at Arches National Park in November 2020, one of the first trips they took in their Storyteller Overland Classic MODE van.
Thereâs nothing more embarrassing than getting caught staring at someone. But Classic MODE owner Paul Pritts couldnât help himself â his Match.com date, Meredith, looked amazing in her pair of black slacks as she left the coffee shop.
When Paulâs eyes traveled up, though, he realized Meredith was staring right at him and had just caught him checking out her rear end. Turning a shade of red five shades darker than his usual skin tone, Paul smiled and shrugged.
âI was so busted,â Paul said. âShe blushed and smiled, but she texted me later that day, so it wasnât a total loss.â
Their relationship grew from there over many more cups of coffee.
âWe were both single parents working full time, so it was usually late-evening coffee get-togethers,â Meredith said.
Paul and Meredith at their wedding in Hawaii in 2016.
When youâre clicking with someone, you have to be open to trying new things. Meredith brought Paul to her personal development book clubs, and Paul asked Meredith if she enjoyed going off-grid and camping. Meredith hadnât been camping since she was 13, but she said, âI love camping.â
So Paul took Meredith to Knoll Lake in Arizona, which has a campsite only accessible by a 25-mile dirt road. âItâs out in the middle of nowhere,â Paul said.
They decided to go on a walk around the lake and explore its connecting trails. Paul packed water and some snacks â and thank goodness he did, because they got lost.
âOur little hike that was supposed to be like two miles turned into a 12-mile walk,â Meredith said, laughing.
Paul chimed in, âWe werenât really lost, per se. I knew exactly where we were.â
They finally returned to the campground and started prepping for dinner. Meredith spotted a magazine laying out and went over to inspect it.
The first thing she saw was an article titled, âHow to know if you have a keeper,â and the text read, âYou may have a keeper if they donât freak out when unexpected circumstances happen.â
Meredith, laughing, looked at Paul and held up the magazine. âWas this a total set up?â
For the big proposal, Paul took Meredith whale watching in Southern California over Thanksgiving. He brought the ring with him on the boat, waiting for the perfect, romantic moment to propose after seeing a whale.
But there was one problem: they didnât see any whales.
âWell this is lame,â Paul thought. âI donât want to propose if there arenât any whales. Because then thatâll be the story: we went out, we didnât see any whales, but we got engaged. Thatâs a lame story.â
They got back to their hotel, which was on top of a hill overlooking Dana Point Harbor. They sat outside on the hotelâs adirondack chairs and watched the sun set.
âI had the ring in my pocket, and I was petrified,â Paul said. âI knew she was going to say yes, but I was sweating, and thereâs all this nervousness.â
Just as the sun was setting, he got on one knee and proposed. What he didnât realize is that half of the hotel guests were out on their balconies, also watching the sunset.
âOh my god, heâs proposing!â Paul heard from behind him.
âDid she say yes?â he heard from another direction.
Paul and Meredith looked up and saw hundreds of hotel guests watching the proposal.
âYes, I said yes!â Meredith called up to their spectators. All at once, hundreds of people erupted in applause, cheer and laughter.
âIt was the craziest thing ever,â Paul said. âI never could have planned that.â

The couple has a blended family with five children total, and "having grandchildren is amazing," Paul said.
The couple got married in 2016, and they became a blended family with five children. Despite getting lost on that first camping trip, they continued to go tent camping together â until they had a minor bear scare.
Then they tried rooftop tent camping â until Paul drunkenly fell off the ladder one night.
So they began their search for the next camping/overlanding solution. They saw an early prototype of a Storyteller Overland van at Overland Expo in 2019, and a year later, they became owners of a Classic MODE.
When deciding which model to get, Paul looked at the upgrades on the Beast MODE and thought, âWell Iâm pretty thrifty. I can do a lot of that myself and make it my own.â With every upgrade, he shared updates to the MODELifers Facebook group. Now, most people call him the âmod masterâ or âmod king.â
The Prittses are also known for their annual MODE meetup in the fall at Baja, Mexico. The event had 12 vans in 2021, then on their second trip last fall, they had 48 vans.
âWhen we bought the van, we thought, âCool, weâre getting a van,ââ Paul said. âWe didnât realize the community we were getting with it. I think the icing on the cake was being able to help the shaping of that community as it came out of the ground. Itâs been an amazing bonus for us.â
Paul and Meredith Pritts picked up their Classic MODE in 2020.
Their relationship with each other has been successful because of their willingness to communicate, Meredith said.
âWe both have lessons learned from previous relationships,â she said. âIf thereâs something on our mind or heart, we talk about it and donât let it fester.â
Paul agreed. âDonât be afraid to admit that youâve said something wrong. And check in often.â
My biggest takeaway from the call was how much time they spent laughing as they told their stories. Every misadventure worked out for them in the end â from getting lost at camp, to a foiled proposal plan, and even Paul getting caught staring â all these things contributed to their hilarious love story.
âDonât sweat the little stuff,â Paul said. âWho cares? Just enjoy the time and the moment youâre in with that person.â
Happy Valentineâs Day to Paul and Meredith! Thank you for everything you do in being a part of this community.
Xo,
Team Storyteller
