Bussin’ It

We did it! Our little shuttle bus home is finished, and we are back on the road!

It took us almost a full two months to build out our bus. What began as a smallish, former party bus slowly blossomed into a colorful, cozy, batik-forward, functional home on wheels.

In the grand scheme of things, two months isn’t all that long for an undertaking like this one. But it sure felt like it. Each and every one of those days was long. Some were frustrating. We’d spend all day driving back-and forth to Lowe’s, mocking up and tearing down possible structures, endlessly discussing why some aspect of the build would or wouldn’t work. Other days were energizing. We’d get cranking and put in half a ceiling, or something.

We were lucky to find a storage unit that could fit the bus and allow us to work on it. But our storage space was at least a half hour away. And the traffic….. whew! Let’s just say, Florida is not a friendly place during rush hour. And often, our commute was an hour of constant stoplights, lines of traffic and angry drivers.

There were many other challenges. Dan had never built such a complex electric system, or water system. And learning these things was no small matter.

We really tried to minimize the weight and cost of materials. Our bus is an e350, with a burly (but not so burly) v8 engine. And we really didn’t want to tax it (or our wallet). We dipped into our savings to buy our new home, and it was a bit frightening to watch those receipts roll out of the cash registers at Lowe’s.

A few short cuts were taken.

For instance, we decided to leave the floor as it was. Pulling off the rubber mat and replacing any damaged wood underneath would have been prudent. But it might have opened up a can of worms we just didn’t have time to deal with. For now, the floor remains as it was, with the addition of some snazzy wool rugs. We hope to put down some vinyl plank flooring someday.

We ran out of time to figure out outside storage, shoved our traction boards and a whole lot of other stuff under the bed, and left our bikes behind.

If you want to learn more about our build, we managed to make quite a few bus build videos before the time grew too short for such extravagances. (Check them out here!)

And in between all this building, we had a slew of doctor appointments. Dan had some scary heart related tests (all turned out to be fine) and some emergency dental surgery. Oy!

So yeah, our four months in Florida started with shock and grief, continued in constant work, stress and worry, and ended with a mad rush to the finish line.

But all that is behind us, sort of. The grief stays.

It was really hard to say goodbye to my brother, who put us up (and put up with us) for so long. And it is surprisingly strange to be on the road without calling my mom every few days. I find myself thinking “I should call, Mom” and readjusting to this big loss all over again.

And the shortcuts we took may stay with us as well. We aren’t sure we made the best decisions in our build, but they were the most expedient.

But all told, we are really happy with the results:

And, now that we are on the road, we’re confounded by many new organizational challenges. Where to put our dishes? My books? The rocks I will undoubtedly collect?

We had daily life in our little van so dialed in. Now it’s back to square one, trying to organize and create new routines all over again.

But other than a few organizational hiccups, we’ve found our bus to be ultra comfy. Honestly, in our first few days on the road, we’ve barely left it!

After three years of “living OUT of rather than IN our van” and scoffing at folks who barely left their RVs, it’s a strange position to be in.

But no worries! We expect to be back outside exploring and hiking when we hit the west again. Which is where we are headed.

We’ve returned to posting daily journal entries on Instagram. And to cooking healthy meals, working regular hours, and generally living our old life– with an extra 2 feet in ever direction!

Our plan is to head back to New Mexico, fly to Montreal for our youngest’s graduation, then drive the bus to Victoria, BC for a wedding.

But who knows where we’ll end up this year. We are planning extra loosely and hoping to find some beautiful wild places to settle into. The bus is more ponderous to drive but better equipped for longer stays. So that’s what we will do…. Maybe.

And check out these fortunes we got in our last week in Florida:

New heights? Happiness! Already happened: we are happy to be back at it and glad to have you along, too. Thanks for being part of the journey!