Cedartown, Georgia

Cedartown: The Beginning

Welcome to our blog! Mara and Brandon here 💚While we live in the bus full time and travel as much as we want to now, it was not always this way. In fact, we had a very long road of building and preparing before we could set off on this journey.

Ending the Year 2022 with Big Ideas

Brandon and I spent much of 2022 not happy. We were happy in our relationship, don’t get me wrong. We just were not happy with our life trajectory, our careers, or the roots we had planted. Buying a home in 2021 was a little surreal, as we had found a place and locked in just before the market changed. We needed to get out of the rental situation we were in and renting was not something we wanted to continue doing. The next step seemed to be purchasing our home.

I absolutely loved our home, bar the location it was in. Unfortunately, we were surrounded by crime and ultimately, people who did not care about how they lived. Walking our neighborhood daily, we were reminded of the lack of care each day. We knew the heat was turning up, the pot starting to boil, if you know what I mean, and we decided we needed to get out of the area before it got worse. Discussing all of our options, selling the house and what we would do after, would we rent? would we buy again? Every bill collector was raising their price and it did not seem feasible or smart to make those decisions, signing up for more outgoing money, especially in haste.

Starting 2023 with Big Decisions

By the 14th day of the year, we had decided we wanted to sell our home and go down a path we had not seen before. We really did not want to give more of our hard earned money to companies and collectors that very clearly did not care about us. We contacted our realtor and told her our plans. Within a week of posting our home for sale, we had a buyer, and within another 30 days, we had to be out. I started packing our 4 bedroom home as quickly as possible while Brandon searched for the right place to put a bid on.

By this point, we had talked over the life we wanted - we wanted to live on our own terms. That meant decreasing the amount we owed others. We wanted to own where we lived, collect our power from the sun, and to live sustainably. With those wants, we took to the internet to research what kind of live afforded them. Living off grid quickly came to also mean without roots, at least at this point. We needed something that we could go anywhere and be home. The skoolie life presented itself as the most viable option. School Buses that are converted into a tiny home are called “skoolies”, but if you are here, there’s a possibility you already knew that.

We took into consideration RV Life, Van Life, and also Skoolie Life. Van Life was attractive but coming from a 4 bedroom, multiple living areas house, we were already concerned about the space difference. A van is great for concealed camping and they can gain access to more than a bus or RV, but we decided it was too small for everything that we needed it to do. RV’s are built out into specific layouts and are typically made of lightweight materials. If you know someone with an RV, you will know they need constant maintenance and fixing. They also are very limited on how much water they can hold, as well as other amenities that might be considered “standard” but that we did not want. If we were gonna have to fix it all the time, I would rather know how it was made in the first place. School Buses are maintained well and regulated the entire time they are in a fleet for a school, thus we knew we would be better off than something that had been maintained spottily. They are made of strong, reinforced steel and are made to meet stringent safety standards. They also have higher ground clearance, durable tires, and the ability to be completely custom. At first, we wanted to find a bus that was 60% done and then just finish it ourselves. We had no experience so we wanted to limit the amount we needed to do.

Our First Bus: Donna

Meet Donna. Brandon found her on FB Marketplace in a small town in Alabama. For only $5000, it felt like we had found the bus we were looking for. She was mostly done and was technically livable, with room to grow into our home. We drove to meet the guy selling her, took a tour, and decided on the spot that we had to have her!

With hindsight, this is the first event that started teaching us the lesson “Slow Down”.

Driving her home. Brandon and I quickly realized that she was too big to comfortably maneuver the street and was almost impossible to get into a gas station. At 13 windows, she is 39 feet long. I commend bus drivers who whip those long buses around like they’re nothing. I think if that was the only issue, we could have made it work. Being built in 1989, Donna has a very specific engine and computers so old that mechanics don’t have access to the software anymore. She runs her idle so low that she turns off if you stop or even don’t use the gas enough. So specific that our mechanic, after charging us over $2k, said he couldn’t help us. We decided this would not be the bus that got us across the country.

We had to start over, with significantly less funds than we started with.

Our dream of only staying with family for 6 weeks was quickly slipping away from sight.

Cedartown, Georgia

After signing away our house in South Georgia, we headed North with a 26’ U-haul, a very packed truck, and 2 anxious fur babies. I had taken at least 3 loads of our stuff to the storage unit before moving day but somehow we still filled that u-haul to the brim.

Pulling up to the storage unit and realizing we had to unload it all again made me 1. hate moving, and 2. grateful we were doing it (putting our stuff in storage). It had started to feel like all our stuff was owning us, pulling us down, that each item organized into our 10x15 felt like I was getting lighter. (even though day of was very difficult 😣 and in fact I was technically heavier each time I walked inside 😂😂 …)

Thankfully, Brandon’s mother has a bonus room in her home that she was willing to let us use. From a 4 bedroom, we set up our belongings, blow up mattress, and offices in one room.

It took another day to get our bed upstairs, we were so tired. It took up basically all of the floor space and our folding table with two office set ups in the corner took up most of the rest of the space. Our clothes got folded onto the floor, so we had a pathway through our things. At the beginning, we used a mini fridge for all of our kitchen items. It was very difficult to shrink down to that amount of space, and it was definitely essential in our learning to be in a smaller space together. Our entire pantry fit in a plastic tub that we kept under the stairs and we shared a kitchen with their family of 5.

I mention this because although it was a very spacious kitchen, there was always something going on or otherwise that made it very difficult to cook. This time was such a bridge to living in the bus that although difficult, I am grateful for it.

Originally, our goal was a very quick stay, just 4-6 weeks. With Donna’s disappointment, we knew that timeline would be extended but we weren’t sure how long at first. We moved in February 26. March 1st, our solar set up was delivered, and by March 6th, we had found a new bus. This time in Knoxville, TN, we took a trip - all the while telling ourselves we had to be careful this time. Thankfully that was not needed. This bus was a 2010 International and had been taken off the fleet within the last 2 years; it still had COVID stickers on it 🫢. The current owner knew much more about the engine and even took us on a test drive through the winding backroads, showing us how well he handled turns and small roads. At 7 windows, he is 28’ long. Feeling much more confident, we signed for him and drove him home!

Bus 0271

This bus was shy at first. Donna had told us her name within a few days. It took at least a month to start seeing a personality and figure out his name. We played with the numbers that were still on him, or papers we found inside, but no name stuck.

On the way home, we stopped at a rest stop and accidentally triggered the Emergency Alarm. Thankfully the previous owner had warned us and told us how to fix it but man was that a loud tantrum 🫢😂. The rest of the way passed with no issues. Brandon pulled in after me and climbed out smiling, saying how much he loved to drive him. I knew we had found our bus then. In the next few days, we tried taking it for a test drive so I could drive him.

On the way down the driveway, we realized the gas pedal was not working and the bus was just kind of.. rolling. We got it to the side of the road as best we could and definitely, did not, not at all, question our decision… (can you read the sarcasm?) A mechanic came to look at it and in the night, a mouse had chewed through a wire. A large tractor had to pull the bus back up the hill and barely made it.

A few days later, I decided I had better get a move on. Our goal: take it to Bonnaroo, fully completed. 70 days.

Hindsight is a blessing but I don’t think it would have improved our progress if we had known how much work we were in for, and how 384 days later, we are still not completed.

Our Stay

Staying in Cedartown gave us the financial freedom we needed to get our project underway and completed. Every extra dollar and every extra minute was spent on the bus. We worked in our room, juggling our remote work, and then would spent the rest of our time working on the bus or researching new projects. (There will be posts about

each stage.)

Our build and work was punctuated with our daily walks, spending time with our fur babies & theirs, and cooking dinner. Most days, we took 5 or more little walks to clear our heads from our activities or to talk about our plans and future. Duke, our 15 year old Jack Russel/Boxer mix, was always down for a walk and a spritz. Jake and FatMan usually joined us. Luna, our black kitty, was just learning about “Outside Time” and would demand porch time, never going too far from the door 😂.

FatMan

Luna

Jake

They had a bunny in the first few months of us being there and we both bonded with Bunny Buns more than I thought I could bond with a bunny. My sister actually came and adopted her, and named her Mimzy, but I still call her Buns in my head {lol}.

Stella was one of their most recent rescues and although we had issues with her chewing anything she could get a hold of, she was very sweet and eager to please the whole time. Their outside cat, Lily, finally warmed up to us and we would get a very short cuddle session with her and her pretty boots. I don't think I managed a picture of her but her presence was always appreciated.

Another kitten was adopted while we were there and we named her Ellie Mae, even though somehow they got caught on their “it might be a boy name” of Miller.

The animals were absolutely the highlight of our stay in my eyes. Of course, being able to borrow a whole tool shed worth of tools, the space to park the bus, the ability to stay freely - all of that was awesome. But I love me some fur babies.

Almost Halfway Through

Day 70 came and we were about 50% completed. We had hustled to the line but the lack of experience and having to learn a new thing for each step made progress with the bus slower than we had wanted. We took it to Bonnaroo and learned so much (read more here: https://t3ddytrav3ls.wixsite.com/teddy-travels/post/bonnaroo-2023).

After our break we returned to building with renewed energy. When it came time for our Virginia trip, a month later, we decided the bus was not ready for such a long drive. ( you can read about that here: https://t3ddytrav3ls.wixsite.com/teddy-travels/post/wobble-coliseum-ii-2023 )

We decided to capitalize on our break and drive the bus to our cabinet builder while we were gone. The original estimate of time was about a week so we thought we would be getting it back right after our trip. The build took about 3 weeks and when we went to go pick up the bus, he told us the cabinets weren’t going anywhere at least 15 times. They definitely went somewhere but more on that later.

By September 1, we had moved our bed into the bus and had started sleeping in it overnight. Being individuals that like our own space, have our own schedule, and have specific goals in mind, we needed to regain some of our own space. Brandon and I still worked inside and cooked in the kitchen, showered, etc. but our bedroom was our own again. This did not last long as a month later, we were asked to end our stay. By October 1, the rest of our belongings were moved into the bus. October 16, we said goodbye to our furry friends and left for our next stop. You can read more about that here [coming soon].

More furry friend pics:

R.I.P. FatMan, aka Tyson

I wish I could have had one more cuddle 💚

Thank you for joining us on this journey of a lifetime. We hope our blog inspires you to embrace your own spirit of adventure and discover purpose in everything you do.

Until next time, happy trails!