Here is a submission we made at the request of VW Camper Magazine out of England.
How do I summarize a year long trip in a '72 VW Bus named Olive?
A trip that takes two corporate cubical junkies from 3000 sq ft of household
trappings and "stuff" to 50 sq feet of compact German engineering in a mobile
office. How do I tell you about the beauty and splendor of nature that rolled
out before us as we traversed North America, or of the wonderful warm-hearted
people we met along the way, who would not take no for an answer as they opened
their homes to us in the sweltering 110 degree summer heat or the blustering
winds of hurricane Irene?
Shall I try and describe what you see as you
drive around the twists and turns of the Gaspe Peninsula during a moonlit night:
a coastal drive with dozens of tiny bays and quiet little fishing villages, the
moonlite shining on the water like a million diamonds. Lake Louise on a cool
early morning with it's turquoise glacier fed waters surrounded by snow capped
mountains, or the sudden appearance of a large moose running astride us as we
make our way across the ocean of colorful fields which stretch to the distant
horizon on the great Canadian prairie.
How can I begin to tell you about
the wonderful people who invited us into their lives and homes, who shared with
us their stories of escape from Communist Czechoslovakia many years ago, or the
artist who tells us of a private beach to spend the night in Liverpool, Nova
Scotia. The kind stranger in Montana who buys gas for our bus just because a VW
brings him such fond memories. The harden soldier in Texas, who owned a VW Bus
while stationed in Europe and how he met his wife there, likely conceiving their
son inside their beloved bus. I invite him into the Olive so he can reminisce
and watch as his eyes fill up with tears. It's funny how a VW bus touches such a
wide range of people. Young children laugh and smile and older folks always have
a story of their own adventures in a VW. Olive has instant appeal to everyone.
When we randomly see signage for a car show sign, we decide to pull into the
small, one street town. We are amazed to see such a selection of restored autos.
Olive pulls into the middle of the street where they make a spot for her. The
crowds quickly form and it seems like the mustangs and corvettes are totally
forgotten as the growing mass encompass our bus, with an anxious audience
yearning to hear how two middle aged, non-hippies make a living from a pretty
green bus.
We have traveled over 22,000 miles since we bought our bus in
August 2010. Eight months of restoration in a warehouse and then the beginning
of our new life in May of 2011. Now nearly a year later my wife just turned to
me as we were driving north on the famous #1 Hwy of California, between Los
Angeles and Monterey, and asked, 'How has this changed me?'
I think about that. What does it mean, to not have anything?
But I do have something... a life that countless people have expressed
envy for, time and again as we shared our story. 'You guys have the right idea'
- we'd hear them say.
How have I changed? I am the same person I was in
the beginning.
I think now, looking at all the times that we have had
'chance' encounters with people at just the right time in just the right place,
and I think that the thing that has changed the most is my faith. I have seen
dozens and dozens of what we call 'God moments' and have been privileged to be a
part of these with kind people from every walk of life. I would be writing all
night to try and detail all of them. Many we still are writing every week or
month as the correspondence with these people we met 'in passing' continues. My
wife calls it 'A moment in your life' and we talk of writing a book from our
adventures.
We got a wonderful going away gift from my folks, a
Volkswagen Camper Cookbook by Steve and Suz Rooker. With our
new cabinets I designed, we have ample counter top space for the SMEV two burner
cooktop and sink combo unit - the sweetest thing. Not wanting an ugly propane
tank dangling from the outside of our bus, we opted for 1 pound mini tanks
inside the bus. Our fresh water is a 5 gallon tank from a water cooler which
fits nicely inside the cabinets under the sink. A electric fridge provides lots
of space for our food and runs off two deep cycle batteries which also give the
tiny amount of juice needed to turn on the LED lights I placed in the new
headliner and roof trim. After removing the gas heater we needed some way to
keep warm so picked out a Alpaca comforter which was a good investment. The
original motor, with only 85,500 miles didn't need a thing. She ran so smooth
and powered us over the Rocky Mountains and across the massive nation of Canada
before the original Solex carbs quietly gave up the ghost. Replacing them with
new Kadrons was the first of the new parts to replace the 40 year old tired
ones. The starter died in New Orleans and the transmission in San Diego. With
new shiny parts she runs as good as the day she rolled off the line.
I understand that not everyone can live like this. I know some
need the big screen tv and hot tub or walk-in shower. But living like this is
really not that bad. Local swimming pools have all these things for less then
ten bucks. Local pubs feature all the sporting events we feel we can't miss, but
what we realize is, there's really not much on that we care to watch.
I
suppose telling you what motivated us to do this would be helpful. As Christians
when you hear from God you decide whether your going to do anything about it or
not. Sometimes it's just something like, go pray for that person, or give that
guy fifty dollars. What we heard was clear... "Would you sell everything you
own?" We said simply, "Yes, sir". Next came "Get mobile" Not
being sure what was meant by that we went for a coffee to discuss it and that's
when we picked up an issue of VW Camper magazine and saw the beauty of restored
buses. With that image in mind we thought we'd look online to see if by chance
we could find one. Within 48 hours a bus showed up for sale in Vancouver. We
liked what we saw and took the two hour ferry ride to inspect her closely. On
the way over we decide to call her Olive, after a publishing company we own.
Once there, we noticed a curtain in the back window with images of olives and
the word Olives written over and over again. Confirmation is nice. That is just
the first of what would be dozens of signs to us that we were on the right path.
Feeling confident about our future we commence the transition from suburban work
a day types to a lifestyle of gypsy travelers doing graphic design work from
your neighborhood Starbucks. Each and every day meeting people at just the right
time and just the right place. Our blog contains so many stories of the people
we have met and the blessings they have been to us and us to
them.
How do you end an adventure like this? Do you end it at all?
Have we stumbled upon nirvana and found that life is more than working 9-5 and
commuting to the cubical. We will be heading up the west coast of the United
States through to May, heading to what we call 'home' - Vancouver Island, BC. We
will have circumnavigated the entire continent including six weeks in Baja,
Mexico. We have walked for six hours in Washington, DC hunting down the
Constitution. We have stood completely soaked at the very front of a boat as it
sailed the showering mists at the base of the thundering Niagara Falls. We have
proudly stood in a North Carolina church, the only token white folks amid a
congregation of people who know how to sing and clap, and we just did our best.
We have pulled into burger joints to have complete strangers notice Olive and
invite us to Thanksgiving dinner, even putting us up for a night. We seen
snow covered cactus as we drove through a blizzard in the deserts of New Mexico.
We have weathered two hurricanes on the east coast and freezing temperatures as
we pulled away from the Grand Canyon. Entertained crowds parked in front of yet
another Starbucks on the cobble stoned streets of Savannah, Georgia, with it's
haunting trees and century old buildings.
It's the magic of a Volkswagen
bus. The only vehicle ever made that causes spontaneous smiles to break out on
people. No matter the age, no matter the status in life. We have had bikers give
us a friendly wave and lawyers offer to buy our baby. No matter who you are, you
have a fond memory of a Volkswagen Bus.
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