Jacqui recently started her bus life journey after being a teacher for six years. After following other full-time bus dwellers on social media, she decided to take the leap.
Read our interview with her below.
Abe: Tell us a little bit about yourself, your history, and what made you decide to pursue this lifestyle.
Jacqui: For a couple of years now, probably about four years, I followed different people on social media who did the bus thing, and I was really just interested in it, and I love to travel. I was a teacher for six years. So every break that we would have…Christmas break, summer break, I would always fly places. And so for years, I watched other people do it, and then finally it was just like, what's stopping me? So I looked online, probably for like four months, really, really looking. And then when I found this one, I knew it was the one.
Abe: You did it all kind of quickly, right?
Jacqui: Yeah. I talked to this couple who had this bus. I bought it in February, finished out the school year, and then (the school year ended like June 3rd-ish) packed my house up, sold all my stuff, rented my house out, and left July 15th. And so I've been in here for like three weeks.
Abe: Are your friends and family supportive?
Jacqui: They're super excited for me. They're nervous, and you know, all that but yeah, super excited and super excited to see all the pictures and all the cool stuff that I get to do.
Abe: Did you have any must haves for your bus?
Jacqui: A bathroom and a shower for sure? Yeah, so I wanted a short bus to park easy. Drive it easy. But I had to have a bathroom and a shower. And it had the bathroom, it had the shower, the little dining table, kitchen, fridge, the little one stovetop, bed…so it's just like everything perfect in a little 23-foot bus.
Abe: Do you have any sort of timeline?
Jacqui: I know it's gonna be at least a year. I signed like a year lease on my house. So that's for a year, and then I quit my job. So like, I mean, I could go back, but I want to do at least a year and then see where it goes. From there, if I want to go back to working as a teacher or if I want to just keep going.
Abe: What have you learned about yourself so far?
Jacqui: I feel like I can do things I didn't know I could do, like even simple things like learning how to change the oil, learning how to put coolant in, and learning how to caulk leaks. Just simple stuff. That is simple, but I never would have done before–learning new skills.
Abe: Is there anything that's particularly stood out to you as being more difficult?
Jacqui: I think just figuring out the solar situation, like when to turn what on, so that I don't like (on days like today) when there's no sun… like conserving, I guess.
Abe: What advice would you give to someone just starting out if they're thinking along the same lines as you are?
Jacqui: Just do it. Just do it. Don't let anything hold you back. It's amazing. I mean, it's only been three weeks. And even though I've literally broken down like three times the first week, it’s still worth it, and you grow and you learn and I think it will make you stronger in the long run for sure.
Comments