WHY? JUST WHY?

Why would I willing choose to live in a 6 foot by 10 foot metal box full time?

Half way through my grad program I had a moment of reflection. Even before Covid screwed up the economy and the ability to find work, I had decided that I was going to take some time off. I had been going through life at turbo speed, it was time to slow down and not rush into getting a job.

Workaway

I am twenty years old and I'll have a Master's in less than six months. I have my whole life to work. I don't want to get a job right away.

My first plan was to travel around Europe, working week to month long gigs as I went to have some spending money. My housemate had done a summer long stint working on a farm in Hawaii and told me to check out the website workaway.info. The people on the site allow visitors to stay at their homes in exchange for work (anywhere from 5 to 30 hrs a week), and some even offer stipends for food and other expenses. Well, I checked it out and even made some preliminary plans, making note of hosts I might want to contact when the time came closer.

Covid

March 13th came and smacked the US across the face. I was still naïve and hopeful that I would be able to fly to Europe to visit my friends abroad during spring break. Well I was not able to make that trip, and it was clear that I wouldn't be able to reschedule it for anytime soon. Not only that, I had a feeling that hosts probably would not want random visitors (particularly Americans) crashing at their homes in the midst of a global pandemic.

That put a bit of a damper on my whole travel through Europe plan. I had to quickly shift gears and figure out something else to do. While I did that, I spent the summer at our family's cottage in Vermont, giving it a little TLC. #TinyHouses and #Vanlife had interested me since before the pandemic, but I never really seriously considered it. I'm not good with change. Selling everything and moving into a car to drive around the country, though sounding amazing, terrified me.

Don't get me wrong. I wasn't scared of being on my own or camping every night. Honestly camping inside a car would be a luxury compared to how my dad and I camp. I have even been wanting to go on an RV road trip since middle school, but my parents never seemed down for that. Anyways, I think it was the whole life style change that frightened me and the fact that it wasn't a "vacation" where I would be back in my cozy home after a week or two. It was a commitment.

All talk, no action

What about the pick-up truck?

During the summer, this seed grew into a real possibility. I drew up plans for turning the family pick-up truck into a tiny mobile home. The pick-up wasn't "mine" though, so I would need my parents permission to use it, and in that case I wouldn't have the same pride in it as I would had the car and everything in it actually been mine. That I paid for with my own money.

I considered a trailer for the pick-up truck or our family's Honda CR-V, but that came with the same ownership problem. I didn't want this year to feel like something my parents could hang over my head. I wanted control.

Though I wasn't really looking for a job, I decided to explore tiny house building options. I considered it like an apprenticeship. By working at a company that builds tiny houses I might feel comfortable enough to build my own one day.

All of this is to say that I looked into and considered many different options but never got fully invested in the idea. I thought that if I thought about it long enough but did nothing that I would eventually move on with my life, like I do with most big projects.

The turning point

My dad and I were driving around one day when I spotted this beautiful, forest green 1973 restored Volkswagen Westfalia with a bright red FOR SALE sign in the windshield. The desire to take a year off an drive through the country was burnt to ashes, but this VW was kindling and got me excited all over again.

I couldn't act too excited, so I checked the GPS for how far until the next turn. 14 miles. This was the main road, so I knew we would be driving back home along it. After a fun day with my dad, we headed home. When we turned back onto the main road, I checked the GPS so that I would know when we were coming up to it. The GPS had us turning on to a side road after 13 miles. NO! We would miss the VW. I wasn't going to let that happen.

I explained the situation, and since it was only about a mile out of the way, he agreed to check it out. We pulled over just before hitting a huge stop and go traffic jam to look at the freshly painted van with bug eyed headlights. It was unlocked, so I peaked inside. I stood there star struck staring at its newly upholstered plaid Z-fold bed in the back. It was a dream. A note for the reader, I love vintage things. VW buses, classic rock, pocket watches. Anyways, it was amazing, and I knew I wanted it.

I snapped a few pics, and reluctantly got back into my dad's car so we could finish the hour and a half drive home. My hands were clenched at my sides as I waited for us to get back into cell service range. As soon as I could, I called the guy, but it went to voicemail. Not surprised, it was 6pm on a Sunday.