Travelling the country in a bus...wanna ride with us?

[ladygrinsoul]

Long story short: We buy buses, rebuild the interiors, gather a solid group of committed, like-minded free spirits and travel the country this way.

So this is the plan this time around: I am off to monastery for a couple months in freezing northern Ontario. When i come back to Montreal in May, i'll gather (hopefully) a couple friends here and hit the road for the Niagara Region, in Ontario, on some land in the country that a friend owns (this has been for the last couple of years a place to gather). We'll buy the bus (which is not as expensive/complicated as you might think) and begin to rebuild the interior and POSSIBLY convert it to veggie oil. We live at the house as a family, and function as communally as possible. We all work, we all eat. This ideally takes maybe 6 weeks, and come mid-to-end-june we're ready to hit the road. From there destination is really unknown, we all decide together, usually stay within Canada and the States. Usually festivals, concerts, rainbow gatherings, small farm jobs, etc are on the list of places to go, anywhere really! We make money as we go, stick together, discover as we go, change as we go...You're always free to get off when the road is taking you elsewhere...in the end you'll have a family forever.

What i'm looking for right now is anyone who would be interested in joining us at the house in May to start the build. Even if you were just passing through and/or would just want to come by and work with us for a bit then head your own way...ideally you stay and become a solid part of this before we even hit the road but either way, we all understand how life on the road works...

If you have any questions, suggestions, etc feel free to post here or PM me!

So???? Who's in?

[oceanofwaves2]

u got a face book

[ladygrinsoul]

pm me yours? i'll find ya

[dirs0003]

Hello,

I am curious on many levels! My main concern is money for travelling, i am currently completing college and would like to travel canada before departing the country in the fall. When rebuilding the bus in May, where do people stay? How long do these treks accross usually last? How many people do you typically allow on the bus? What happens if personalities cross?

[ladygrinsoul]

We park the bus on some land that a friend owns and stay at his house while we complete the build. It has sort of been a gathering place for many people the last couple of years. He has rebuilt the interior of buses and travelled the country many times and is always a great help. We stay on the road as long as we want to, people come and people go. We all have our own paths to travel down and sometimes it becomes time to get off the bus and go a different direction. We have council every day to discuss issues, so usually personality conflicts can be worked out. We are non-violent and will not stand for any manifestations of it. There is some structure and a couple rules to follow and we all commit and agree to them so usually conflicts are dealt with in a mature manner. I'm not saying they never happen, but when they do, we are all able to communicate by keeping things out in the open.

I guess it's a good opportunity to mention some of the ways we function:

-Council is held everyday to maintain smoooooth sailin' and discuss the days events, where we're headed, etc
-We live in a non-violent environment
-Money is held in the communal "pot". This means none of us use our own money while on the bus, we only use the money we have made as a group.
-All decisions and expenses are discussed upon and voted on as a group. This includes the people we invite on as permanent "tribe" as we travel down the road.
-We all work, we all eat. Slackers are not welcome!
-We have different ways to earn our money but we all have to make at least 30$ worth of crafts/goods to sell per day
-No drugs on the bus
-Keep it clean! This prevents us from nasty critters, and helps promote a healthier environment for all of us. Once 1 person gets sick, we all get sick!
-Tasks are completed as a group.
-There is no "ruler", but ultimately someone does have to be responsible for keeping structure in place and that would be me. My opinion and position is however is only as important as anyone else's.
-There is a treasurer who holds the money and keeps track of funds, this only means they are responsible for our money being in a safe place, not responsible for spending it!
-There is also a captain aka our driver! Usually we go for someone with the best sense of direction and safest driver!

That's all i can think of for now, but we will all talk about this as a group and no doubt change a few things as we go. The dynamics of a group change as the people on board do, and so can the way we function.

I hope none of this seems intimidating because it truly isn't and believe me, there is PLENTY of freedom. We DO NOT dictate what you believe in, who you are or pass judgement on others. We are ALL different, and all have different talents, abilities and insights to contribute and ALL of those are valid and appreciated.

[stephanielynn]

my ears have perked up! what a beautiful idea. how can i get involved?

[dustydreamer]

That sounds absolutely amazing!
I've been dreaming of doing that for years.
how can I help?

[reva]

This does sound interesting!

[ladygrinsoul]

Hey!

Sorry for the late reply, it's really hard for me to get on the internet.

Can you all make it to canada? If so, all you gotta do is come to the land and help with the build to get this thing moving! The more we are, the faster it gets on the road. I think we might have plans to head to the Rainbow in Washington this summer. Just an idea, but that does seem to interest a few people. When can you begin to make it out to the land? If there are a couple people interested and ready to show up as of now i am willing to fast forward this thing and get started now. Let me knowwwww!!!! We would be in the Niagara Region of Ontario, near Hamilton.

[jack28]

This is what I've been looking for a while now. I came to a community in Eugene, Oregon, USA and have been living here for a little while, but there are SO many problems no one wants to address and it's VERY judgmental. People are not as nice as I thought they were when I arrived. I have a healthy work ethic, lots of different types of experience to contribute, and am a very loving guy. I'm a U.S. citizen. I will probably need to get a passport in the next couple months, then, but aside from that, do I sound okay as far as coming to join up with you guys? I know what living communally means and enjoy teamwork. I hope this works out. It sounds like a sweet deal. I also have a friend in Austin, TX who is from Seattle, WA and did this same thing with a bus. It looks awesome now. Like a legit two-story home, with a balcony. We can always get some tips from him if you'd like. Talk soon!

Peace and love,
Jack