In February 2020, as the world prepared for government shutdowns, silly bi-partisan political games, and facemasks that threatened to suffocate the elderly, my landlord paid a personal visit to inform my wife and I that we were to vacate our 4-bedroom rental house within 3 months. My wife and I were ecstatic.
We had been renting the house, a church parsonage (technically, the church was our landlord but the pastor was its proxy), for about three years, maintaining the church grounds, and providing income for the small congregation that was struggling. In all fairness, we were paying below market rent. However, the previous tenants were paying none (another story for another day).
We talked them into giving us a 1-month extension. They graciously agreed.
After a short discussion, Theresa and I decided to not look for another place to live. Instead, we decided to buy a bus, convert it into an RV, and do some traveling. Hey, life must go on.
Just as we began our search for a suitable bus, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf shut down the entire state of Pennsylvania. Every government office. Even if we did buy a vehicle, we couldn't get it registered and tagged to make it legal. Two months later, at the beginning of May, he began opening up the state again county by county. Our county, Adams County, opened up in the middle of the month. We began looking at buses and found one.
While I continued running my freelance writing business, working clients, etc., Theresa performed the handiwork. Within six weeks, she made us a nice little tiny home on wheels. We hit the road on July 4. Independence Day.
Ain't that special?
We drove the bus to Texas to visit my parents and took a few short excursions before deciding we didn't want to drive it any more. We loved living in it, but we didn't like the loud roar of the engine right in our faces as we strolled down the highway. We downsized into a Chevy Express 1500.
Here's the monster that was our bus.
After sitting through a harsh Texas winter, we bought a van and converted it into a tiny home on wheels. We hit the road in March 2021. Here's a little snapshot of that smooth old ride.
That summer, 2021, we kicked off our YouTube channel. Since then, we've posted more than 200 videos. Most of them are Theresa and I filming small town historic walking tours, a little hobby we've developed that helps us connect with each other on a level we weren't used to connecting on until we started traveling. For us, we hope it becomes more than a hobby, but we'll leave such things to fate and the marketplace.
Here's our introduction video for the YouTube channel.
This first was published first at Paragraph. Collect it for free (only 5 mints available).