We are two young travelers, meandering around the country on a wayward journey back to our home in Oregon. After spending a year in sunny Florida, we are eager to return to our rainy, mountainous, beautiful home in the upper left. But not without a few detours! We’re driving our converted 1984 Blue Bird as our home on wheels. We’ve always wanted to see the East Coast and explore New England. We’ll be visiting as many of our scattered friends and family as we can along the way.
Our bus provides us with a nice roof over our heads, and a comfortable place to live as we cross the country. We built it ourselves, starting with a very interesting old bus. Using mostly reclaimed or second hand materials we were able to build the interior without spending very much money, and have a lot of fun in the process. Once we get to Oregon, our plan is to do a little remodeling as we can afford it, add more solar power, and turn the bus into a more permanent (although still mobile) tiny home.
Below is a rough outline of our trip, which will span over the summer.
New Oregon Trail 
Sounds like a great adventure! Looks like San Diego, Ca didn’t make it on the map though. It’s a beautiful city (lived there for 6 years and can’t wait to return). Balboa Park, Coronado, and Seaport Village are fantastic places to visit.
Thanks for the recommendations! San Diego is TBD, one of my close friends lives there so I’m hoping to either see her in LA area or we might dip down to visit her at home. That’s one of the best parts about this trip, the route is really just a guideline.
Looks like from your map that you may hit J Tree in Cali. If you need a place to park we got you covered. Just let me know.
Thanks so much for the offer! If we come through that way we will let you know.
Mind. Blown!
You just drove through my hometown! I found your blog through the tiny house swoon website and loved ready about your journey. I live in Columbia, Missouri! Have safe travels!
Thanks so much!
Hi Steven, I’m hoping to reach you through your blog to inquire about your bluebird sale. I found your post on C-list a few weeks ago and was very interested but some things came up back home in New Orleans and I’ve been so busy with things that I’m only checking into the bus again now that I’m back in my present home Portland. I’m sure its to late and I’m kicking myself for not contacting you weeks ago. Still I figure I’d give a shot to see if it’s still available? I’m 90% sure i would purchase for your asking price. So if this message does indeed reach you please let me know if the chance still exists. Thanks so much. Oh and regardless if she’s still available, id like to say great job. My fiance and I really appreciate your work and taste. Which is why we would be living in it immediately if we were lucky enough to receive good news. Take care and of course enjoy the road on your future adventures. Hope to hear from you, Cheers, Armand
I’ve loved living vicariously through your stories! My husband and I hope to do this once the kids graduate. May I ask what kind of work you do that allows you the freedom to take so much time off?
For us it is all about having no debt, not owning a home, and not having kids. We sold off all our cars and large items before the move so there is nothing else to take care of. We just saved for several months to afford to travel for a summer. Neither of us were vey happy with our jobs in Florida so it was pretty easy to just walk away, we will start over once we reach Oregon. Good luck getting out on the road!
You are my new heroes! I have the class A motor home, a motorcycle, two paid off luxury vehicles, and a house with tons of equity stored up in it. My sweetheart and I still can’t find the mutual courage to break the golden handcuffs and do this.
I’ll be sharing your site with her and linking to it from mine.
Rock on, Intrepid Adventurers!
Thank you! Sounds like you are having a good time
Loved reading what you’ve blogged so far. I was surprised at some of the things here in Colorado. Never knew they existed and I’m from here.
Thanks, glad you enjoy it!
Can you share more about the costs of your travels? One of the things that concerns me is the cost of gas. What are you average per gallon for diesel fuel as you travel? Do you spend any fees to camp in places like state or national parks or campgrounds? And if so what are those costs? Food I know is pretty negotiable from eating out to farmer’s markets, but what about other items. What can someone who wants to do what you are doing anticipate?
Can you share more about the costs of your travels? One of the things that concerns me is the cost of gas. What are you average per gallon for diesel fuel as you travel? Do you spend any fees to camp in places like state or national parks or campgrounds? And if so what are those costs? Food I know is pretty negotiable from eating out to farmer’s markets, but what about other items. What can someone who wants to do what you are doing anticipate?
Sure, Victoria. Sorry for the delayed response. Diesel is our biggest expense on a trip like this. We get anywhere from 7-11 mpg, depending on terrain. I think the cheapest diesel we’ve found was in New Orleans at $3.59, the most expensive being over $5 in Canada (we got out of there fast!). We try to find free parking whenever we can, although sometimes we require amenities like showers and electricity. If you had your own plumbing and a more efficient battery set up, you could avoid a lot of spending on camping, keeping in mind that sometimes means parking in more remote locations (like BLM territory). We use the websites boondockerswelcome.com and harvesthosts.com a lot for finding parking. When we need a campsite, we first try for state parks as they are more affordable, usually ranging from $10-$35. Sometimes we luck out and have friends or family that have space for us. When we are in a more urbanized area and/or with friends, we cannot resist the temptation of going out for food and drink. But when we are on our own we just shop at grocery stores and co-ops and cook in the bus. I think budgeting is different for everyone, depending on priorities. We choose to spend money on food and drink because it’s what we like to do. Maybe we’ve been spending more than we “should”, but this trip is more important to us than the money that it costs. We have one credit card that we try not to use too much, otherwise it’s all savings.
We wrote a post about these things that you can read here. I hope that’s helpful!
Hi there. I keep up with some permanent RV blogs, living vicariously through them. There is a lot of free camping available in the west on Bureau of land management land. You can find into on the BLM website. Max stay is 14 days, lots of wide open spaces out there for free.
This is so awesome!
Stumbled upon your bus on TinyHouseSwoon. My husband and I are Idahoians converting a ’74 Gillig in Oregon while we finish university. Have you made it back to OR?
We love those old Gilligs! We did make it back in August, and have resumed a more “conventional” lifestyle. Still dreaming about future adventure mobiles though. Haven’t been good about keeping up the blog since we got back. Best of luck to you and your conversion!
Hello, myhusband’sand I are planning on building our first home, a tiny home. I’d like to know the pro/cons to turning a bus into a tiny home instead of building a tiny home connected to a truck.?
Thank you,
Isa
Hello Isa, it’s hard to answer that question. For us personally, it all had to do with money. We only had a small budget to work with, and buying a school bus that was already running and drivable saved us from having to spend 4 times as much on a large pickup truck to haul a trailer. If you are planning a stationary (or at least semi permanent parking) tiny home, I would definitely suggest building it on a sturdy trailer. It might cost a little more to start from scratch like that, but it opens up a ton of possibilities for you. You won’t have to work around the strange walls and low ceilings of a bus, and you can design it with great insulation from the beginning, instead of pulling down bus walls to add it in.
If we ever do it again, it will be in a bus though. They are just so much fun. Whatever you choose, I wish you luck on your new project!