If you’re on this page, you’ve decided you want to find out a little more about the inhabitants of The Wanderlust Bus. Well, strap in and take in all the glory that is the story of how we came to be where we are today!
WHO WE ARE ... YOU KNOW... AS PEOPLE
The story of how we got to where we are now (bus, dump everything, and go) is long, drawn out and unneccessary for this page. I’ll make a post about it at some point and link it here. For now, here’s the short, bullet-point version of that sordid tale.
We were your typical couple. We were living in a lovely home in TN and doing the daily thing; Johnny as the morning show host for a local Hot AC station, and Jess as a stay at home and occasional lunch lady at our daughter’s school. (incidentally, that happened to be the last public school my daughter attended when we began homeschooling.) After a ton of reading and research trying to determine what was causing our eldest’s ADHD, we made the decision to go completely organic and synthetic free! That was in January of 2013, and we haven’t looked back since.
Because of this lifestyle change, a couple job changes, a couple city changes and $26,000 spent on just rent and utilities over the final straw year, we came to the decision over many months that we wanted to start our own intentional community. Growing our own food, living in a sustainably built, alternative energy powered home with others who held the same ideals and principals that we do and providing a place to teach others how to go about doing the same thing either with us or on their own. No bills, no day to day grind, just the enjoyment that comes from a honest days work providing for the family you get to spend the day with.
Now, even though there is a plethora of information online about how to start your own community, we wanted to experience that first hand; really get into how the day to day goes and what problems we’ll run into. At the same time, we wanted to be able to take the kids along for the ride and still feel like we were at home. After a long conversation, we settled on a tour bus style bus. (More on Why We Bought the Bus We Bought When We Bought the Bus We Bought).
So in March of 2016 we bought our 1988 Eagle 1EU tour bus. More about the bus here. We have named her, and this might be obvious by now, the Wanderlust Bus. My wife has wanted to be a gypsy for he whole life and we are now embarking on the journey to do just that.
WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT TO GET OUT OF THIS SITE?
BUS CONVERSION
This bus is a lot of work and we are going to chronicle all of it right here. From the first seat being taken out to when we put her on the road and everything in between.
We’ll cover the addition of solar, wind and the conversion to waste vegetable oil. We want to provide a wealth of knowledge and media information so you can have some reference if you want to undertake something like this on your own
OUR WANDERINGS
We will be travelling all over North & South America and we want you to come along for the ride. We will be visiting some incredible places including some intentional communities throughout the US and also in Canada and South America, some progressive thinking farms & businesses, and we’ll have some fun on the way.
If there is somewhere you think we should be at make sure you let us know so we can add it to the potential travel destinations. We’ll see you on the road!
ORGANIC-NESS
The push to be organic and synthetic free in all we do is a pretty core principle in our world. We will provide as much info as we can to give you an educated opinion on if the switch would be a good fit for your family. It does take some work and commitment, but if it’s something you’re passionate about, it becomes really simple once you know the tricks.
We’ve got recipes, tips, deals, links and so much more. If you’ve been considering going this route but haven’t found a way to rationalize the hassle, we ask this:
“Why haven’t you found a way to rationalize living better instead?”
EDUCATION ON WHEELS
Our teenager has been homeschooled since she was 10 and it’s something that has really worked for her. She had a hard time in a traditional public school due to her ADHD. Through diet changes and some non-traditional schooling methods, her love for learning has really blossomed over the last few years. We intend to continue down this road with the toddler.
We’ll talk all about what it takes to homeschool, or should I say worldschool, while in constant motion. Things like interesting activities on the trail, how to keep your kids engaged about learning, non-traditional ways to teach traditional lessons and more.