Ever since the beginning of our relationship we found that we both valued experiences much more than material objects. We both have quality time high in our love language, so it was organic for us from the start to invest time with each other exploring, being in nature and finding an excuse to get on a plane.
As we traveled around and continued to make adventure a priority, we realized how much disparity there was in our lives. We knew being on the road is what made us truly happy, yet we continued to take on a path that drifted us apart from it. We had rent, were about to buy a new car, had full time jobs and were building ‘roots’ in a city we didn’t even like.
When we came across the concept of bus life we were both immediately drawn in.
What started as a fun "Look how cool, imagine if we did it" transformed into a bit of a *healthy* obsession. We would spend most of our conversations daydreaming of what it would be like, what floor plan would we have and where we would drive it.
Just simply talking about it gave us so much joy that we couldn't ignore our happiness anymore and started looking for buses in May of 2018.
To be honest, when we started looking for a bus we weren’t quite sure how we would make it work, or even if we would actually go for it. What we knew was that other people did it and that it would allow us to live our dream life. So we started looking, without much of an expectation, more so curious to see what we could find.
Soon after this decision, we were taking a road trip to Philly when we found our shuttle bus on the side of the road with a big ‘For Sale’ sign. We turned around, got a chance to talk to the owner, check the bus and after an hour or so we got back on the road.
Right before this moment and, as a matter of fact, for most of the drive afterwards we started to go down a list of why it wouldn’t work out, why it was too good to be true and why it would be ‘better’ to do it in the future.
We were scared, caught up in the plan that society has normalized (go to college, get a job, get a house, grow your savings and THEN have fun) and to be honest very doubtful if we had what it took to make it happen. As our conversations got more serious we realized that the big things that stopped us from just buying the bus that felt so much like home + adventure were: money, what people / our families would think, how we would make it happen (we don’t have any construction backgrounds, nor tools, nor space to park it) and fear of failing. We were in Cleveland at that time, which although a big city is still a bit uptight about the way you should live your life and this environment definitely influenced us negatively. Yet the feeling of not relating to the city is what drove us to continuously ask ourselves, “Is this our dream life? Is this pointing in the direction of our dream life? Are we even happy here?”
At that moment we did something that we now understand to be a great technique to help you conquer your fears. Say them aloud and describe the worst case scenario. We realized that there was an online bus building university on YouTube and that we could borrow / rent tools and make it work. We realized that if we worked hard enough and gave it our all, we wouldn't fail. Failing was not trying.
We realized that money is everywhere and that we could have seasonal jobs, online jobs or start our own business.
We realized that it didn’t matter what other people thought, it mattered how it made us feel. We felt extreme joy, purpose and drive just imagining this life. So two weeks after seeing the bus, we bought it. Clueless in many ways and maybe a bit impulsive, but just with the gut feeling that bus life was calling. Bus life chose us when it presented itself in such an easy and effortless way into our lives. We wholeheartedly believe each and every one of us is put on this earth to achieve that dream life and that if we open our eyes we will find many signs pointing the way. So, are you taking steps every day to get there?
Let go of the fear and go chase some dreams!!
As always with mucho amor, Fiorella & Zach
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