Sound Healing Vanlife: Debra Fleeger’s Journey in a Van Named Padmani
- Sunny Lane
- 16 hours ago
- 3 min read
By Sunny Lane | The Drift – Tales from the Road
For Debra Fleeger, healing doesn’t live in one place. It resonates. It travels. It echoes off canyon walls and settles into the quiet corners of lakeside towns. A sound and breath work facilitator based in Sedona, Arizona, Debra has spent years weaving sacred music into her work—and now, she’s taken that offering on the road.
Born in Gary, Indiana, Debra has called Sedona home for over 20 years. But long before vanlife officially became part of her identity, she and her husband were already seasoned road travelers, journeying for weeks at a time in a leisure van, then later in an Airstream. That rhythm of movement became part of their shared language. Still, Debra needed something more intentional for her practice—a space that could carry not just her body, but her instruments, her energy, and her mission.
"That’s when Drifter Vans came into my life," she says.
Her custom build, now affectionately named Padmani (a reference to her spiritual name, Padmani Akal Kaur), was designed to house her collection of sacred instruments—crystal singing bowls, gongs, tuning forks—with care and balance.
"The lotus, Padmani, is about rising from the mud to bloom," Debra explains. "That’s what healing is. And that’s what this journey is."
The first time she drove Padmani was straight off the Drifter Vans lot, en route to Traverse City, Michigan for a healing event. "It drove so smoothly I almost didn’t trust it," she laughs. "Those first few days, I called Kim more times than I can count—figuring out the power systems, learning the flow of things. He was incredibly patient."
While she had previously traveled in a larger Sprinter van, she found it less accommodating for her instruments. Her Drifter build, by contrast, was the first space that truly felt like a sacred container for both work and rest.
Embracing Sound Healing Vanlife Across the Country
Now, Debra moves across the country offering healing sessions in the communities she feels called to serve. Her travels often take her through the desert Southwest, where the red rock silence invites stillness and presence.
And yet, she admits Northern Michigan still tugs at her soul. "The light on the lakes, the peace in the woods—it always whispers to me: stay a while."
Travel, for Debra, is a sacred blend of spontaneity and intention. Her time on the road is not just transportation, but transformation.
"To be on the road is to remember: simplicity, connection, and peace are always within reach. The journey becomes the session—each mile a note, each stop a breath, each offering a reminder that healing can happen anywhere."
You can follow her offerings and travels at: 🌐
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