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The first thing we needed in order to make this “bus life” dream a reality was a practical place to work on the bus. As both of our leases were ending around the same time, Chelsea and I decided to move in together and find somewhere that would facilitate this dream. We were lucky enough to find a house with a small enough rent, a big enough driveway and a yard that could fit a bus.
The house we found was perfect. The average bus could fit through the gate, and the back yard even had a small shed that could house all of our tools.
We were lacking few things though. Chelsea and I both had small cars. She had leased a newer Nissan Sentra and I had a Miata. Since hers was a lease, we decided to give up her car (conveniently it was up in a few months) and buy a truck that would be reliable enough for her to drive daily, but could also be useful for buying and transporting “bus stuff”.
We looked through Craigslist and she found a 2003 Ford Explorer Sport Trac.
It definitely needed some TLC, but she really loved it. Since she was giving up her nice new car, it was important that she liked driving it as well. We negotiated the price a bit but eventually brought it home for $2400.
Just like that we were set up! We had a house with a yard and shed that would facilitate a bus, and a small truck perfect for Home Depot trips. Now all we needed was a bus!
