Wander Bus and Her Family Ride Again (Well, Soon We’ll Ride Again)

It’s been a long time since I last sat down to chat about our family. Life, often, gets incredibly busy and overwhelming around here, and Jason and I have to hunker down and get the work finished before we can see through the trees again. We are still working, but we are also starting to relax a little and see an end to some of our major conversion projects (LIGHTS!).

For the last 2.5 months, we have been staying with my parents in Kansas City, MO. Working on the bus and overseeing the launch of our performing arts publication, PerformInk Kansas City. Launching a new website and immersing yourself in a new community is exciting, but it’s a lot of work. Our focus has been on surviving the first couple of months in KC, and on Chicago, IL where we also run PerformInk Chicago from afar.

Post-transmission blowing, we enjoyed a beautiful November afternoon waiting for a tow truck.

And while we keep one eye on theater, or our fourth child as I call it, we’ve also been beefing up Wander Bus (our fifth child). After Bussie blew her transmission back in November, a lot of our plans had to be readjusted. Thankfully we’ve had the support of our families, and that enormous bump in the road did not derail our full-time dreams. There are a lot of lessons to come out of this life we have chosen for ourselves and our kids, but the unexpected one – the time we’ve been given to bond with and grow closer to our extended family – that has been a deeply satisfying experience. We know many face a lot of pushback from family when they learn of their plans to sell it all and hit the open road. It is not lost on us how fortunate we are to have the support of both the community of individuals who dream/live this life, and the family who’s love and guidance gave us the courage to pursue this adventure.

Drilling a hole in the bus to vent the compost toilet.

With a mild winter, a winter that’s included numerous 70 degree days, Jason has installed our flooring, run the electrical, trimmed everything, painted the walls, put in beautiful textured wallpaper in our bedroom, built a bedroom door, touched up the outside of the bus, and is currently venting both our compost toilet and our a/c.

Building the bedroom door.

Completed door, bunks painted, and flooring.

If all goes according to plan, we’ll be putting all our belongings back into Bussie and hitting the road in just a few more days. What a wonderful, but scary thought!

Scary, you ask? Well, yes. It took me a few weeks to settle into life in the bus last Fall. It is, for all it’s wonderfulness, unlike any lifestyle I’ve ever known. It is shocking to think your whole life fits inside a 37-foot bus. Some may take to it like fish take to water, but I will need some time to adjust. Again. Plus, I will miss my family and friends in KC. I have enjoyed getting to know my parents after being away from home for over 15 years. I have enjoyed reconnecting with the city that I grew up in, sharing it with my husband and kids for longer than a vacation period. I know I’m not leaving here for good, and all the good vibes I’ll carry with me, but it will take some time to shake off the inevitable homesickness. Things you learn about yourself as you get older, I guess.

Textured wallpaper in our bedroom

But, with this new and improved Wander Bus to carry us around we have so many things we look forward to creating for the Our Wandering Family website. I, personally, want to start sharing articles on cooking when on the road full-time. Jason wants to put together more detailed blogs on how we converted the bus, and one of these days we’ll get that RV website up and running and create a place where all who live life on the road, and those who want to learn more, can come together and read up on news, stories, updates, and who knows what else. But, that’s a website for another day. Right now, it’s time to close this chapter of our lives in Kansas City and start a new one on the road, in a bus, with electricity…and floors. How exciting it’ll be to never look upon subflooring again.