When we started our life-commitment to each other, we talked endlessly about ways to spend our time together. Our first excursion into our shared world was to focus on our common
desires. We each wrote our own bucket list of things that we hoped to do someday. We looked over both lists and found all the desires that we had in common. We also looked for things that one of us wanted to learn and that the other knew how to do already. From these items, we composed a list of things we would like to do together. They ranged from simple to extreme. Some examples: make a candle, grow a garden, learn to crochet, renovate a room, and travel the United States. As the list continued to grow, we realized that in order to accomplish all the things we wanted to do (in this lifetime), we would need to literally spend 24 hours a day together.
We had a million (or so it seemed) ideas about how to afford to be together endlessly. We agreed, the best (or at least biggest) idea was to become commercial truck drivers. You know, team long-haulers. We sold or gave away everything we had and registered at a trucking school in California. After a year of planning, attending school, passing our class A drivers test, and learning about life on the road, we were hired by a national truck company.
Long, long, long story short: we took the job, drove for a few months, and retired forever from trucking, secure in the knowledge that commercial driving was NOT for us. What was for us, however, turned out to be travel–exploring the beautiful U.S.
So, within a month after we quit trucking, we picked ourselves up, scraped the blacktop from our knees, and began searching for the perfect traveling vehicle…a 1969 VW Bus. We were down to our last few bucks, but miracle after miracle, we ended up with the most beautiful (in our opinion) traveling home. We named it “The Bridger.”
James’ parents gave us complete access to their garage and tools, and we tackled our first renovation project.
Over time, we hope to share many of the wonderful stories of our three years living in The Bridger, and we’d like to start by creating this mini scrapbook of our precious home on wheels.
To start with, its name hails from the ancient Mayan glyphs. As it turned out, based on our birth dates, we are both “White World Bridgers” (derived from the glyph “Cimi”). It was an interesting little tidbit of commonality, and we are always eager to grasp at any little connection.
We chose the 1969 VW Bus because John Muir, the author of a book called “How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive,” claimed that a 1969-1971 VW was the most economical way to travel and the easiest and least expensive to repair. According to Muir, working on VW engines is akin to making lawn mower repairs, and his handy guide gave step-by-step instructions to correct every single possible malady. And boy did we use it. We spent almost as much time under the bus as we spent in it.
*Yes, The Bridger is jacked up. We’re in Marion, Mississippi getting an engine rebuild from the VW man himself, Rick Hasselle. Apparently he’s read the book.
Living in The Bridger was an awesome experience. We restored its original equipment, including the camper pop-top, the sink with running water, refrigerator, and closet. We added many modern conveniences, such as a double bed, dresser, bookshelf, pull-out writing desk, mini bathing station, stove, microwave, and pullout spice and food storage racks. We even installed electrical outlets. Every inch of space was maximized.
Refrigerator
Sink
Electrical Outlet
Work Station
Images: Electrical outlets; Sink and faucet (pictured beside it is our handy spice storage drawer sitting atop our work station–next to where our microwave and stovetop would soon be installed); Looking at the sink/refrigerator top (from the cab); Closed sink-top and refrigerator (the refrigerator is the door underneath the sink.
The bed, made from plywood and topped with a futon mattress, was to-this-day the most comfortable bed either of us has ever slept in. We also used the bed and some specially made pillows as a make-shift office area. The table extended four feet. The trick was to learn to sit crossed-legged while writing and typing.
Bridger did not have heat or air conditioning (that flat space to the right of the steering wheel is where the heater was supposed to be), which made for some creative driving and living situations. We drove it from California to Maine and back again, twice. In between trips to Maine, we visited the U.S. state capitols. Between the two of us, we have been to every U.S. state except Alaska. In general, it was comfortable to ride in (as long as the weather was fairly nice). In the Bridger, we’ve driven (and explored) close to 12,000 miles of the U.S. Perhaps someday we’ll get time to post more of the many strange and wonderful stories from our travels.
We lived in The Bridger for just over three years. It was an amazing and exhilarating experience. Looking back on it now, we realize that it took a lot of courage and curiosity to live in a bus.
We learned some of life’s greatest lessons from living on the road. People can be awesome–VW owners (or even ex-owners) will stop if they think you need help, and they treat you like you’re family. People can also be ignorant jerks–a few people assumed we were dope smoking hippies, ready to steal them blind when they turned their backs. But more often than not, people were interested to hear our story and offered a kind hand in friendship.
We hope we have inspired you to adventure. It doesn’t have to be as extreme as moving into a 14 foot VW. Perhaps you might just take that train trip through wine country that you’ve always dreamed of, or simply take a day-long “hike” exploring your own city. You don’t have to pack-up and move, just pack a lunch and enjoy the shared experience.
In Kindness,
~JnK