As we've spent more and more time traveling and living on the bus full time, we've learned a few things about what it’s like living in a Skoolie. Some challenges were expected, and some we’ve been surprised by, while other things we assumed would be difficult have ended up being quite easy to deal with. All in all, we’ve learned a lot about ourselves, what we’re capable of, and how to manage this tiny life.
TEMPERATURE
Probably the most important thing we've learned, so far, is that we have to consider temperature control at every step of our planning. As we've mentioned in the past, we truly believed that we would be able to follow a path throughout the US and Canada that would keep us at a pretty consistent 70°, year round. Unfortunately between the global pandemic and the scheduling of a few anchor events, that plan never coalesced. Heat and air conditioning have both proven to be invaluable additions to our roving home.
But even with the restoration of our engine-driven A/C, there have been challenges with heat. While we were in Colorado they were experiencing an unprecedented heat wave due to something called a "heat dome." This atmospheric event led to temperatures 10 - 20° higher than average throughout the entire Four Corners region. We even made a last ditch attempt at cooling by buying a surprisingly decent As-Seen-On-TV personal air conditioner! As a result, our plans to see Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon were nixed and a jaunt through Idaho brought great relief from the heat. This was a frustrating pivot, as we had been really excited to see these spots, but we ended up absolutely loving our time in Idaho. It was a detour we never would have planned for ourselves on this trip, and ultimately neither of us complained that the heat pushed us to explore this beautiful state. We’re both learning to go with the flow a little bit more, and let some of our expectations go and enjoy the ride.
TIDYING UP
The second most important thing was how adaptable we and our dogs are. We've developed a sort of rhythm to the way we interact with each other and the space, seamlessly working around one another. There are inconveniences, to be sure, but to us they are well worth the freedom that this lifestyle affords. It can be annoying to hop in the shower only to realize we didn't take a towel out from under the bed, but we help each other out. Having to stow most of our pots and pans in the oven means that we have to remove everything in order to bake, roast or broil something, but we have a good sized oven and plenty of vessels to cook and bake in. There’s a certain rhythm to bus life that we’ve developed and are really feeling like we’re all working nicely together in that groove. It doesn’t hurt that both of our pups really like their lounging in bed time!
Something that surprised both of us is how often we need to clean up our space. Because our home is only 90 square feet, including the bed, it's extremely easy for the space to feel cluttered. Most days we spend at least a few minutes puttering and tidying, but at this point in our travels we’ve really gotten our storage and organization systems down, so it’s mostly a matter of putting things away. We also sweep our entire space at least once a day; since it’s the only space we walk on, all our foot and paw dust builds up pretty quickly. Because the dogs' preferred hangout is the bed, we're having to wash our bedding much more frequently than expected. We also have to squeegee the bugs off of our windshield at every fill-up, or else we risk not being able to see. The benefit to our entire house being 90 square feet, though, is that it can be cleaned really quickly! Sweeping and wiping down the counters takes us only 10 or 15 minutes if we’re working efficiently together. And laundry days give us a great time to reset our space, and get some inside work done while we wait. But, it is NO exaggeration when Bus Life accounts talk about how making the bed is practically an Olympic sport!!!!
KITCHEN ORGANIZATION
As people who love to cook and bake, I’d say the biggest issue we’ve had with storage space in Charlotte has been in our pantry. While we have a decent amount of pantry space, we’ve pretty consistently had issues with our food overflowing these spaces and ending up in our “extra food” box that floats around the bus. You never notice how many basic recipes utilize “pantry staples”, and the more of those we keep around, the less room we have for active purchases, long-term foods, and impulse buys from Trader Joe's. I’d estimate that around 75% of our pantry space falls into the “staples” or “basics” category. Flour is bulky, sauces are oddly shaped, and everyone needs the casual 2-3 boxes of mac 'n cheese around. We try to shop our pantry when we’re meal planning, but since I’m always browsing recipe sites for fun things to try, we often end up getting more groceries than we have room for. It can be annoying having to tango around our box of extras, but ultimately it's worth it to be able to enjoy the meals we want. Maybe one day we’ll solve this conundrum by squeezing in a magic extra pantry!
Relating to our dietary needs on the road, we’ve both been surprised by how quickly we’re consuming our water. We’d both thought we could go 7 - 8 days between fill ups of our 75 gallon tanks, but the reality has been more like 3 - 4 days. Water is our main beverage, and being at higher elevations out west has meant we’ve been needing a lot of it. Reese and Winston also need their fair share, so most of our water is consumed through quenching our family’s thirst. We’re pretty efficient with dishes and showering, so it seems like our drinking habits are the main culprits here. Thankfully, with the help of the FreeRoam app, we haven’t had a ton of trouble finding places to fill up, we just have to factor that into our planning. But it was still initially a surprise and a bit of a challenge to deal with our water depleting so quickly.
SLEEPING SPOTS
Another thing FreeRoam and other apps have been amazing for is finding sleeping spots. This was hands down my biggest concern with Skoolie living - how in the world would we find sleeping spots every night that would allow our big purple bus and fit in our budget? Turns out, pretty easily! Building an arsenal of apps was definitely the key and knowing what they each had to offer made it easy to search through them all to make out a weekly plan and know where we would be staying each night. RV Parky was great for cities and long travel days, where you just needed a safe parking lot for the night and needed it efficiently. Harvest Host is perfect for when you’re looking for some local fun to explore and generally wanting a quieter spot. FreeRoam has been incredible out west, I’m not sure how I’m going to give up camping on these wonderful dark and quiet and peaceful and beautiful and easy-to-access federal lands as we head back east! We usually plan a few days at a time, so being able to look in the area where we will be and pick the best spot for what we need using each of these tools has been so shockingly simple. This was such a lesson for me (Emily) that sometimes the things we worry and stress the most about can be actually pretty easily addressed if we put in the work and push ourselves out of our comfort zone.
BUS MAINTENANCE
We've had to deal with our share of repairs on the road, which should be expected of any 17 year-old vehicle. When we've had to enlist the help of garages we initially tried to wait out the repairs and hope that they'd be done in time for us to get back in before bedtime. That meant packing up a variety of things to occupy ourselves and the dogs and trying to find a public space that we could comfortably spend a day in. We eventually realized that we can't necessarily count on all repairs being completed same-day and we should plan on getting a hotel room, just in case. To our surprise, once we came to terms with that idea, both of our bus repairs WERE completed same-day.
We try to manage as much of our bus repairs and maintenance as we can, but it is not always practical or feasible while on the road. We only have a limited number of tools that we can carry with us and any repair temporarily hobbles our only form of transportation (unless we happen to be in a city with extensive rivers and canals to kayak through). We've mostly had the good fortune to encounter reputable repair shops, but it's always nerve-wracking giving up both our home and vehicle. Ultimately we've learned to trust our guts when talking to repair shops and technicians and it's paid off. We've also learned that sometimes the time savings and convenience of having a professional repair or service justifies the expense.
The biggest frustration is having to pay for a service you know you could complete yourself, if only you had a little more space and the proper tools. I (Craig) have done oil changes myself on Charlotte before we hit the road, but while we were traveling through New Mexico, it was impossible to consider doing one without a nice space for it and an oil pan oh, and space to hold 15 quarts of used oil until we can get it somewhere to recycle.
HOME IMPROVEMENT
During our more stationary bus life of 2020, we were in a uniquely beneficial position of living in our bus while also having space to easily make changes. This allowed us to really work out the mechanics and kinks of Bus Life before we hit the road. Even though this was incredibly helpful and allowed us to make some updates, there were still a few things that occurred to us on the road that we wanted to fix. Thankfully it was mostly little things, like adding a hook for our bath towels and changing our water filter and doing some pantry re-organizing. As a result, a piece of advice we would offer is to give yourself a good month or so of decently stationary Bus Life before hitting the road. It will give you time to get used to the bus and make any improvements or changes you notice you need while not having to factor in travel and sleeping arrangements. I can’t imagine having to re-organize our entire garage in the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel!
DOGS
Our biggest consideration when planning anything is the safety and happiness of our two furbabies, Reese and Winston. Whether it’s factoring in their comfort during wild temperatures, making sure they have enough exercise, planning our activities to bias pet-friendly ones, or letting them hog the entire bed, they’re always at the forefront of our minds. We’ve skipped many National Parks, since dogs typically aren’t allowed on the trails. We’re always checking Bring Fido to ensure they’re welcome where we go. We factor in where the local pet stores are, so we can keep them well-stocked on food and treats. We’ve even gotten a hotel room or two when the temperatures indicated it would be too hot for them on the bus! Traveling with dogs certainly presents a unique set of challenges, but seeing their happy butts wiggle up a trail, watching them play on BLM lands, or seeing their contented faces after a nice day together - it makes it all worth it. This is a family adventure, and they’re family.
FINAL THOUGHTS
We try not to gloss over the frustrations of bus life, in large part because we recognize that this lifestyle isn't for everyone and don't want to give the impression that it's always easy and perfect and glamorous. There’s a certain challenge to not exactly knowing where the road is going to take you, and there can be some instability to living in a moving vehicle that’s never really stationary. The space is small, and there’s not a lot of room for every single convenience you may want on hand. To travel around requires a level of planning and research that can be a bit stressful at times. Knowing our home requires home improvement fixes AND the occasional mechanic can be tricky and troubling. But for us, it’s all ultimately worth it. We’ve gotten to see and explore so many beautiful places this country has to offer. From stunning national and state parks, to silly roadside attractions, to quiet BLM lands - we’ve seen and experienced so many incredible things and it absolutely makes any challenge we’ve encountered worth it. Charlotte has been an amazing travel companion, she can cruise down a highway or keep us stable on bumpy dispersed campground roads, and we’re so grateful for this tiny home keeping us safe and comfortable on our amazing adventure.
Comments