Building with Vanilla Gorilla

Behind every site on the web lies an engine, and for Adventures with Breezy, that engine is Vanilla Gorilla.

When designing a site to document life on the road, heavy client-side frameworks and complex dynamic servers can get in the way. That's why this site is built using Vanilla Gorilla, a ultra-lightweight static site compiler.

Why Vanilla Gorilla?

1. Pure Static Speed: Vanilla Gorilla compiles Markdown files, SSI header/footer partials, and skeleton templates into pure, static index.html pages.
2. Pretty Directory URLs: Every article lives in its own directory slug (e.g. /blog/building-with-vanilla-gorilla/), ensuring clean URLs on any web server without complex routing rules.
3. No Heavy Dependencies: Built with raw Node.js, cheerio for slot injection, marked for Markdown parsing, and zero client-side JavaScript overhead.
4. Offline Resilience: Perfect for nomadic life. When mobile connections are spotty, static files load instantly and depend on minimal network bandwidth.

Whether we're posting from the driver's seat or reviewing route notes in camp, Vanilla Gorilla keeps the publishing pipeline smooth and fast.