That’s a wrap, folks. Two years ago we bought some podcasting equipment and consulted our friend Alan (who has long-produced podcasts for the local NPR affiliate) on how to edit audio. We drove around our hometown, collecting stories from friends and family who had owned VW buses. They referred us to other people. I taughtContinue reading “Podcast: The End”
Tag Archives: road trip
Podcast: Miranda and James (with Ken)
In November of 2018, I placed a bid on a VW bus in Clear Lake, Iowa, owned by James and Miranda Eilders. I had never owned a VW before and I figured it would be a neat car to own, to take out on the weekends, and tool around town. I did not have theContinue reading “Podcast: Miranda and James (with Ken)”
Podcast: Bonnie
Bonnie Larsen bought her bus as her marriage of many years was ending. Working on the bus and becoming part of the greater VW community helped her heal and move on, she says. As part of her journey, she opened up an online store, ToolMomStore.com
Podcast: Amanda & Matt
Amanda and Matt Hakola have owned a few buses before finally finding their current bus and landing in Oklahoma. Their bus is also the mothership for their business Ragtag Resilience—an approach to stabilizing food systems by doing a lot of little things that add up to change. (They farm their .15 acres and grow lotsContinue reading “Podcast: Amanda & Matt”
The bus, my taxes, and writing as a career choice
Taylor Herrick—accountant, tax lawyer, and all-around nice guy—was the first non-family-member person to believe in my writing career. I hadn’t published or bought a VW bus; I hadn’t even completed my undergrad when I started going to him to file my tax return. I was nineteen and working two or three jobs and going toContinue reading “The bus, my taxes, and writing as a career choice”
Season 9!
Join us for the last leg of our 49-state adventure. This season we meet Jarah, the Linnertime DJ at Happy Productions as she makes plans to take her bus on the road. We stop to meet Pat, an author who wrote a memoir told from the point of view of his bus. In Oklahoma, weContinue reading “Season 9!”
American West Magazine
Some of you know I tried my hand (briefly) at freelance writing once we came off the road. In the turmoil of moving across the US and securing steady employment, I totally forgot to brag about my publication in American West—a very cool magazine I adore run by an editor with a keen eye forContinue reading “American West Magazine”
Detour #7: How does Colin sleep at night?
Colin Kellogg of Itinerant Air-cooled fame has logged more miles on the road than most humans. When you live on the road full-time in your VW bus, you sometimes bed down in strange places and make friends (and enemies) out of your nighttime visitors. We knew when we sat down with Colin last year, weContinue reading “Detour #7: How does Colin sleep at night?”
Detour #8: Birding on Attu
VW people are by nature obsessive people. Maybe obsessive isn’t the right word. We are driven, passionate, and—well, obsessive, might be the right word. Oftentimes, we have interviews where our VW bus owner reveals they have another passion. Perhaps the best example of this is Birding By Bus. Marc and Eliana are professional birders whoContinue reading “Detour #8: Birding on Attu”
The winter car
We had outfitted the Beetle—Miracle’s ’74 Sunbug—for the Maine winter. Heater boxes and a new blower (and then a new new blower after the plastic one melted). I shored up the floors with sheet metal screws and plugged any gaps with foam. I even lined the boot with reflectix to keep the draft from leakingContinue reading “The winter car”
On the Road with Adie 