Starting where I am… In an apt metaphor for everything else in my life, I’ve been waiting for the perfect time to start really writing and documenting my skoolie story. I wanted to start at the beginning and tell the story in the proper order… but if I wait until I really have time to sit down and write it all, it will never happen. So let’s just start, shall we? I’ll start where I am and go backwards and forwards in the story until I catch up. If I catch up. So it’s Monday, August 1, 2022 and I’m drinking my coffee and looking out the window of my bus at the cardboard graveyard next door. One of the questions I get asked most about living in a bus is where I’m going to park it. Fortunately for me, my friend (and fellow fabulous artist) Ruth Baggett has a gorgeous commercial building turned home with a giant parking lot. She parks her camper there and has a 30 amp outlet that I can use when she doesn’t need it. It’s the perfect setup for giving me a place to park, giving Rocket her two dogs to play with, and giving us plenty of time to sit outside and talk about art! We have an arrangement that I pay her a small amount monthly and I can park in her lot whenever I’m in town. Right now that’s all the time, but hopefully in about three weeks I’ll be able to hit the road! The other most asked question is where I’ll go for my first trip. My plan...
You’re doing what? Mazatlán, Mexico Yes, I’m selling my house and the majority of my stuff and I’m going to live in a skoolie. What’s a skoolie? It’s an old school bus that’s been converted into an RV, or if you prefer, a tiny house on wheels. Why am I doing this crazy awesome thing? Well, I’ll tell you. First, I’ve been fascinated with tiny houses since I first heard about them. I’ve been following Instagram accounts and reading articles and fantasizing about them since the minute I learned that they exist! But I never seriously considered buying/building one for myself. I’d say, well yes, I could live in one, but I’d need a second one for my art supplies and a third one for all of my books! Second, I love to travel. I love to go somewhere new for a month or two or three and not be a tourist, but really get a feel for what it was like to live there. The first time I did that was in college, when I spent six months studying art in Cortona, Italy. All I had with me was what I could bring on an airplane. I loved every minute of it and never wanted to leave. The next time I did something similar was when I was working for IBM and they sent me to Paris for over a month. I had a suitcase and a backpack and moved from hotel to hotel within the city. I did it again (twice!) in Mazatlan, Mexico. The first time in 2006 (I think?) where I spent three months there...
