One of our biggest dreams was always to travel the United States and see its great wonders. Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, so many great places..... In our opinion, the only way to really see these places and enjoy them is to spend some time in each place. Hence, we would need an motorhome. So we sold our house and hit the road. Our Goals: To see the United States, live some of our dreams, and in the process, find a new place to live. We built a Bus Conversion instead of buying an RV. This is the story.
Some people wonder how much driving we actually do, as if we spend all day cruising along in our big bus and trailer all the time. No. Not Quite. The answer is not much. Our objectives are different than most vacationers. since time has stopped for us. We travel to a destination and typically stay for at least two weeks. When I say destination, I mean a place where we are going to set up camp. take the car out of the trailer and establish a home base. Make no mistake, we visit places in a day or a couple of hours too. We just simply pull up in the bus, park, do the sightseeing thing, get back in the bus, have lunch, take a nap, and off we go. But for the most part we move from base camp to base camp. When we move we tend to move about 350 miles at most, then stop, like I said before, for an extended period. Really we want to absorb the places we visit. Get to really know the city, or town, never in a rush, do multiple visits to a place that deserves it. Remember; we are in search of a new home too. I will give you an example of our method. We went to San Diego with the intentions of staying only two weeks. But we ended up staying 3 months. (huh?) We are flexible and San Diego was just to good to be true. The park we stayed at was economical, the weather was just perfect and once we discovered Balboa Park, well, we just had to stay. Of the 17 museums in Balboa Park, every Tuesday, three or four of them are free. So in order to visit them for free, you have to stay at least a month. Well these museums and the park itself are just too special. Every Tuesday we’d pack a lunch and spend the day at Balboa Park. When the second month rolled around we decided to do it all over again, (it was also the Christmas Holiday and a bad time to move around anyway), and the third month.... well, Sweetwater Regional Park was having a special, $8.00 a day. That’s water, 50 amp hookup, and beautiful wooded sites. Well at that rate for the whole month, we just could not leave. So now you can begin to understand our philosophy and method of our travels. Of course there is a lot more to see and do in the area than just the park, this is all in our journals and scrapbook. I’ll give you another example: Living our dreams. One of my lifelong dreams was to ski till I dropped. Ever since I was a kid I wanted to ski a whole bunch, not just three days for the whole winter. So we went to South Lake Tahoe to spend the whole winter. To our fortune we had a great campground to stay at, as a matter of fact, it is #1 in my book. We researched the ski resorts, chose one, got ourselves some cheap season passes, went to a thrift store and bought some secondhand Jimmy Carter skis. We spent a total of
$250 for everything for my two daughters and myself: boots, skis, poles, jumpsuits, down jackets and more (we looked right out of the 1984 Olympics). It was all name brand, Pierre Cardin etc., and almost new, all of it. Way to go........So all winter Monday through Thursday we skied....... for 3 months straight.........4 days out of the week!!. We skied week days so it was like we owned the place. Actually, after about the first 4 weeks, we were about to kill ourselves racing down the slopes. So we repeated the process with snowboards ....and we learned to snowboard. We did something similar for the summer in the Redwoods of Northern California and learned to fish for Salmon ....
WHAT IS THE BUS
I remember reading an article once that said traveling by motorhome can save up to 80% over the cost of conventional travel. That is with airfares, hotels, rent-a-car and eating out.....that’s not based on renting the motorhome. But anyway, the only way to travel an extended period is to do it in a motorhome. The real truth is, even a motorhome does not qualify. They are all designed for two people and weekend warriors. We did an exhaustive search for a motorhome that would suit our needs and all we saw was expensive units with little true amenities that would be essential for us. Sure, they were very pretty, lots of buttons and novelties like back-up cameras etc. Now there’s a misconception, a backup camera in your RV that you can’t back up in. (you cannot backup with your tow vehicle attached, you will do substantial damage). Not a single unit we look at was designed with 4 adults in mind. Thats four adults using the bathroom and sleeping comfortably, No, not on the couch or on a piece of foam. I mean a bed, a posturepedic quality mattress. After all, if you are going to travel extensively what is most important ? A good nights sleep. Let's just say our bus is state of the art, it may not look it, but from the standpoint of design, (forgive my modesty) I have yet to see something come close. You want to know more, go to the Bus Conversion section for all the specs, pictures and details.
ON MONEY AND SPENDING.
This is a big deal. Too many people who first meet us immediately assume we are independently wealthy. They think we are sitting on a fortune and just spending it. They cannot see that anyone can do what we do if they truly wanted too. You don't have to have money. People have these blinders on with only one path in mind, Work, make money, spend money, keeping up with the Jones’s, etc., lets not go there. The fact is we have very little money. That why we built the bus. By making it ourselves we saved a huge amount of money. All it really cost was my time, and my labor. So this is our spending philosophy DON'T SPEND. The #1 thing that saves alot of money is we don’t eat out. In building the bus, this was a major design consideration. We needed a full size kitchen with an oven and a dishwasher so as not to eat on paper plates all the time. Paper plates add up and also onto a landfill. When you are at an RV park or campground, you have paid for your sewer, water and electric. So use it. All you need to add is dishwashing liquid. I would say that one in thirty campers/Rv’s use real plates. Everyone eats out or on paper plates. Not eating out is a huge savings for us and for anyone for that mater. If overworked/overstressed Americans would do the math, they too would actually realize that by not eating out, one of them could quit working. Stay home. Be with the kids. Prepare all the meals. Imagine, no day care, half the clothing expenses, half the gas expenses. They could live healthier by eating healthier and not to mention less stress overall and longer life.
Anyway, lets leave it at that. So this is it. This is the formula. By not eating out, shopping the sales, thriftstores, discount stores and overall thriftiness we manage to keep our expenses to a minimum. Our biggest expense is campground fees. Next would be groceries, then fuel. We are not measuring the costs of items purchased towards computer upgrades, bus items, since these are all capital expenses and the bus is an investment. But yes, these items do add up too. Our fuel expense being so low is a surprise to most, but again we don’t drive the bus as much as people assume. Another contributor to this is when we move we don’t stay at campgrounds, we dry dock. We spend the night at rest areas, truck stops and Walmart parking lots and yes, many a city street. We call it silent running. So not having a park expense for that day subtracts from the fueling cost associated with the move.
HOMESCHOOL
As a necessary part of this trip we decided to homeschool. I was not unhappy with the public education my children had received up to 4th and 6th grade. I was concerned about middle-school because of the environment. I’m sure if I would have continued working and we did not do this trip, the girls would have stayed in public school. So our catalyst for homeschool was more related to being able to travel extensively than anything else. Now that we have been homeschooling for two years, I think I would find it hard to go back into the public school system. We have met many homeschoolers ranging from “unschoolers” to “school in a box”. Unschoolers generally believe that a child will learn what they need to know through life experience and guidance from their parents. School in a box basically duplicates the school curriculum, but taught at home by a parent. Both of theses extremes work for different people. I would say we are somewhere in the middle of the two. We use our everyday experience as great learning tools. We visit numerous museums and cultural centers. All the National Parks we have been to have provided a wealth of information on a wide range of subjects: archeology, geology, history, science, ecology, biology. We have also been able to experience different cultures in the U.S.: Nashville, Tn., country music, Cody, Wy., wild wild west, Virginia City, Nv., old historic town, Klamath, Ca., Yurok indian ceremonies. These are just a few of many. Another way of learning through everyday life has come by immersion. Spending months in a place doing what the locals do. We spent 3 months in South Lake Tahoe, Ca. and the girls learned to ski and snowboard really well.
We spent 3 months in Klamath, Ca. and they learned to fish for salmon. Now you might say well that’s not educational why do you include those things. I have seen my children flourish and blossom thru mastering a new skill. It has given them confidence and depth in their lives. They can relate to so many different types of people. I can just picture my daughter standing shoulder to shoulder with 50 other “fishermen” on the mouth of the Klamath River, casting away with the best of them. We have also taken the opportunity to include subjects like safe boating, photography, website design, cooking, typing, etc. Now on the other side of things we do include formal education. We have a diverse selection of cd-roms and textbooks mostly for math and english. We did weeks on geography and journal writing is a requirement. We just don’t have a set schedule or time frame for things. Our days are very flexible depending on what’s going on. Some days we are touring and sight seeing, some days we are traveling from one place to another, but many days we are “at home” just doing what normal people do. I would have to say the best part of all of it is how close I feel to my children. I feel we can talk to each other easily and we can have all these wonderful shared experiences.
OUR STORY
Letter to Oprah. By Lynn Smith
(Oprah wanted to hear from extraordinary families in the United States to be on the show. This is the e-mail that was sent.)
We are an extraordinary family. At least our friends and family continue to tell us so. In April 2002 my family and I moved from a spacious 2000 square foot home to a 300 square foot converted bus. My husband converted himself. We have been traveling the U.S. since August 2002 from Florida thru Tennessee, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming etc. We have stayed in many National Parks and seen some amazing sites. My two daughters 11,and 13 are being homeschooled along the way. I believe we are an extraordinary family because we were brave enough to do what a lot of people have told us they would like to do but can’t for one reason or another. We sacrificed the security of a job and mortgage and the conventional way of life for really living. There is so much freedom in letting go of the things you think you need in turn for experiencing a life of simplicity and adventure. The best part of all this is the closeness we have experience with our children. We have been inspired by the Oprah Show for years and would love to come to Chicago to be on the show. We can drive there in our house on wheels. We have numerous digital photos and some very good edited video if you would like to see what we are about.
The Bus Family By Gillian S. 3/15/2002 6th Grade
In the year 2001, the Smith family bought a 1982 MCI 9 charter bus. It was parked in their fenced in yard so that no one would notice it. The crazy adults, André and Lynn, wanted to see the United States in an unique way, leading them to buy the bus. They planned to change it into a comfortable motor home, livable for a family of four and four pets. They plan to use it to travel around the U.S. and maybe the world! The adults agreed that Florida was getting too crowded and wanted to see American landmarks before it was to late. Ever since the September 11th attacks they have been more determined than ever to complete their dream. The children, however, have a completely negative approach to the vehicle, and the pets give no comment. Shannon, a friend of the children states her feelings toward the bus and about her friend leaving: “ I feel bad for Gillian” . Shannon hates the bus because she thinks it is the cause of her friend’s departure. The family plans to leave at the beginning of this summer to start their crazy legacy of travel.
Change is Good
Over the last year and a half, my family and I have made some significant changes to our lifestyle. We watch your show regularly and we were inspired to contact you ( we think you’ll appreciate this story). It all started when I turned 40. For the first time in my life I allowed myself to look back at what I had accomplished. I had everything most Americans dream of, successful career, a beautiful house, a loving husband, two bright healthy children, and an extra bonus a Mercedes in the driveway and a Rolex watch on my wrist. Why was I so unhappy? My career in real estate was very demanding on my time and also stressful. It was challenging and exciting, but I became the outsider in my own family. My husband who after years of being disillusioned in his aviation career quit his job to take care of the house and kids so I could be free to work when I had to. It all seemed so perfect at the time, but I felt lonely and empty. I missed the connection the family all used to have. I would come home late and tired. In September of 2000, I made a commitment to quit my job. It was very hard, but it was the best decision I ever made. By January of 2001, we made a bold decision together. We had always dreamed of getting an RV and traveling the United States with the kids. Now a lot of people have this dream and some people do it when they retire. But my husband when he dreams, he dreams big. After looking at your standard RV’s and realizing they were too small, he did some research and decided to buy a BUS!!! Yes a real bus like you would see going down the road for charter. In March 2001, we purchased a 1982 MC9 with 47 passenger seats. It was ugly, but it was ours. We were committed to convert this beast into a comfortable motorhome for the four of us and any visitors that we could accommodate. Talk about traveling in style, full size beds,a/c, heat, hot water, satellite internet, gas stove, and even a dishwasher and washer and dryer. Now mind you we could not afford to spend $300,000 or even $100,000, so we are doing all the work ourselves. The next piece of the puzzle was to rid ourselves of the anchors that tie us. This meant selling our house. The house had become a huge burden with maintenance taking up a lot of our time. Not to mention we needed the equity to finance our trip. And so we began unloading our worldly possessions ( not the Rolex). Several garage sales, countless trips to donation and gifts to family and friends. We are committed to spend a year traveling, the four of us plus a dog, a cat, and two birds. We think this will make for some interesting stories to tell.