Brian and I have spent the past couple years doing some soul searching and making some positive changes in our lives. Even though many things have changed (ride our bikes more, make healthier choices when buying groceries, no more tv to name a few) many things have stayed the same (same jobs, same house, same rat race). We've had numerous discussions about how we are not happy with our way of life. We feel like we are missing out on so much. We work 5 days a week and try to squeeze in some amount of real "living" on our two days off. The scales just don't balance out and we are working on tipping them. We've had many ideas on how to do this: We've thought about buying a rural piece of land and farming; we've talked about moving to Portland, OR; we've considered bike touring for an indefinite period of time; we've been intrigued by the thought of living in an eco community.....but there was always a feeling of reluctancy with each of our ideas, until.....
In July, on our way home from a camping trip to Buck's Lake we started up this discussion once again and came to a conclusion that we both felt comfortable and excited with. We decided to travel for an indefinite period of time in a self contained vehicle. After doing some research we decided on converting an old school bus. We actually did buy a bus about a month ago but got our money back after the DMV told us the title was suppose to be destroyed along with this bus. This got us thinking more realistically about all the work and money involved with converting a bus and we shifted gears and started looking into motorhomes. Long story short, we put a deposit on a motorhome this weekend. If it passes smog, it's ours and we'll drive it home next weekend. It's a 1983 Sportscoach. We are planning on doing some renovations just to make it our own. Here is a picture of the outside. More pics to come once it's ours.
Awesome! This is going to be interesting.
ReplyDeleteCollect all the manuals you can find on that coach now because as old as it is they could become scarce. Example: for my bus they cost around $50.00 thirty years ago. They are in the hundreds of dollars now.
ReplyDeleteCheck for service bulletins. There are bound to be some. You are not bound to them but it is good to know. Google is a good place to start.
It has been my experience that the water delivery system is the first to go. Plan on it.
No matter how it turns out (unless like my brother it catches on fire) I doubt you will regret it in the long run.
I am conjuring some "good luck" smoke and sending it you way.
Rat Trap Press ~ Yes, we are planning on it being interesting. And scary. And awesome. And scary...
ReplyDeleteOldFool ~ Thanks for the tips. We are buying it from the second owner who inherited a binder with some original manuals when he bought it. Only skimmed through it so far, hopefully, it will prove to be of value. Please include 'no fires' with your conjuring. Having a vehicle catch fire is one of my biggest fears.
Monica