As many of you know (and perhaps to those who don’t, you can tell by the name of the blog!), our dream for the last almost 10 years has been to buy a school bus and convert it into a house on wheels – a “skoolie” as many call it. But the day I never thought would come, has come. I’m here to tell you that this summer, we bought a camper trailer instead. Some of you may be disappointed, but I hope you’ll stick around! There’s a lot to unpack here.
First of all, why did we completely change our plan and buy a camper? Well, I can start by saying that this didn’t happen all of a sudden. In fact, you can probably tell from some of my early posts on the bus (which, if you’re curious, you can find here and here), that the bus was never something we were desperate to have (clearly – since it’s been a dream for 10 years…). Buying and converting a bus into a skoolie started as a wild idea from Mr. Dink that became less wild over time because he is a carpenter and I could tell he was really, seriously, into the idea. Getting a bus became this thing we knew we wanted to do someday, but as I talk about on the blog all the time, we were in no rush. We have been designing our best lives all along here, on the journey to financial independence, and we always felt that we didn’t need the bus to be happy. We just knew it was something we wanted to try out some day.
And at the same time, as we continued to live our lives together, our feelings about the bus gradually changed. Because we all change!
For starters, since the bus idea first emerged, Mr. Dink has bought a truck that he loves. When I met Mr. Dink, he had a ‘99 Toyota Camry and was using that to go to work as a carpenter. Once he went out on his own and started his own business, he tried out a Toyota Tacoma, and has landed on a Toyota Tundra that he bought used, completely fell in love with, and has now just paid off. He plans to run that thing into the ground (if that’s even possible). Because of this, over the past year or so, Mr. Dink started to shy away from the idea of owning an additional engine (aka, the bus) and started thinking more along the lines of something he could pull with his beloved truck, with an engine that he knows and trusts.
In tandem with this, we have had years and years of experience with camping at this point. Camping is one of the activities we share together that we both love and cherish. As we’ve gotten older, we’ve adjusted our set-up many times to make camping more comfortable and enjoyable for us. For example, we’ve gotten bigger tents (including one we could actually stand up relatively straight in), and Mr. Dink made us a platform for our bed. But even with these adjustments, as much as I absolutely love camping and being in nature, I have never slept that well while camping. And sleep is something that is really important to me. This has been one of the huge draws of the bus for me – to have my bed, a real mattress, travel with me wherever I go. With the set-up we’ve had, camping never felt like something I could do for more than 2 to 3 nights. And lately, as we’ve downshifted at work to create more free time, we’ve started to desire doing longer trips (for example, 4-5 nights) and longer distance travel (aka, leaving Vermont).
So, gradually over time, Mr. Dink started to talk to me more and more about camper trailers. He shared his thoughts about his truck that I alluded to above, that he felt like it would be less of a risk to buy a used camper than a bus. And he also brought up the fact that we could start using a camper immediately upon purchase, whereas the bus would require a lot of up-front work. Based on our current lifestyle and desire to camp more, it might make more sense to get a camper now and save the bus as a project for down the road (when we have even more time on our hands).
But there were still some problems with the idea of a camper trailer that made us not go out and get one right away.
The first problem was a layout problem. One of the biggest reasons Mr. Dink loved the idea of building out a bus was the fact that he’d have total control over the layout. He could build it out to his heart’s desire. Mr. Dink was very picky about how he wanted the layout of the inside of our bus to be, which made him want a certain sized bus. Well, the same issue existed for the camper. Especially based on the fact that we wanted to buy used, not only did Mr. Dink want a very specific layout of camper trailer, he then also had to find one in decent enough shape, for the right price, and in or around our location.
The second problem we faced was in the “cookie cutter” nature of a camper. One of the main draws of the bus was that we could make it our own. But there’s only so much one can do with the interior of a pre-fab RV. Just like the bus, Mr. Dink didn’t want to rush into anything that wasn’t going to suite us or that we’d buy and then not like, and I agreed. After all, we didn’t need this for our happiness, we just wanted it to enhance our camping lifestyle.
Because of all this, I had pretty much given up and resorted to the idea that we probably wouldn’t get anything for a long time, if ever. And even though I am looking to decrease my work hours even more soon, I wasn’t sure where Mr. Dink stood (sometimes he’s ready to quit work, sometimes he’s diving into my work-less mindset).
I had no idea that Mr. Dink was continuing to look at campers in his spare time (although, looking back, I should have known. Of course he was).
So when one day this summer, he came to me out of the blue with a camper he wanted me to take a look at, I was shocked. He said it was the exact layout he’d been looking for, for the right price, and he hadn’t seen anything like this one come up yet (and it was nearing the end of summer – early August). Would I want to go look at it with him?
It just so happened the camper in question was right on the way to where we were going to be camping that weekend…
So, we went to take a look. Of course, it was raining (it had rained on every camping trip we’d taken so far this summer, making us want to get a camper even more). I went in with zero expectations. I figured there was no way we were actually going to purchase the first camper we’d ever looked at together, so I didn’t think too much of it.
My first impression was that it looked so small from the outside, in a good way. I really didn’t want anything big and bulky. After all, I didn’t want to lose the essence of camping. We would rarely be inside, after all, just to sleep! And then, when I stepped inside, my first impression was that it felt so big in there! The inside wasn’t anything fancy by any means, but the mattress was huge. The fact that we would finally have our own, dedicated bed space that we didn’t have to set up and take down every time we camped was enough to make me want to write a check right then. As a bonus, the couple had replaced the crappy mattress it came with, with a memory foam mattress (that has turned out to be very similar in comfort to our own bed, so we haven’t felt a need to upgrade).
The couple was really what put me over the edge. You could tell they had taken such great care of the camper. He was a plumber, and so had given it some upgrades in that department, and had already done all of this sealing work in fear of a leak one day sprouting (Mr. Dink was exceedingly happy about this). The couple joked that they were just like us 5 years ago – they were sick of sleeping on the group and wanted to upgrade their tent setup. And the only reason they were even selling this camper was because after 5 years of ownership, they wanted a few more upgrades (basically, the wife wanted to be able to get into the bed from both sides, which I totally get, but we have found to not be as big of a deal as we thought). I just got an overall great feeling from them, which I personally think is important for buying anything used. There had been only one other previous owner, who had barely used it or taken it out at all.
Perhaps most importantly, neither of us ended up caring at all about the “cookie-cutter” feel of the camper trailer. First of all, it was a 2013, so it was already pretty outdated anyway. All the shinyness was gone (which we like). I think really what it came down to is that both of us were just willing to see right past the “cookie-cutter” nature for what we wanted most – a huge upgrade from a tent we wouldn’t have to stoop to get into, and take down and set up in the pouring raining every time we camped 🙂
In true frugal, financially responsible fashion, we didn’t purchase right away (I still love Mrs. Frugalwoods’ 72-hour rule). Plus, we wanted to think about it while we went camping with our tent setup.
I started a pros and cons list as soon as we got to the campsite (I can’t write in the car because I get carsick, or else I would have started it immediately), so that we could discuss and add to it throughout the weekend. One of the biggest pros on our list was that having a camper would significantly decrease our set up and take down time, by A LOT. At Vermont State Parks, check-in is at 2 pm, and checkout is 11 am. Because we’re usually traveling Friday-Sunday, one of our complaints is that we always feel that setting up and packing up take so long that we really only get to enjoy one full day of actual, settled camping.
I didn’t make it past a few items for each side of the pros and cons list. By the first night, we knew we wanted the camper. We knew in our hearts that it was time to make this jump.
But by the second day, I could tell something was still holding Mr. Dink back. I knew he wanted the camper, but when it came to actually saying we were going to do it, he was resisting. So I pressed him. Turns out, he was concerned about the money! At the time, Mr. Dink was at a big crossroads in his career. He was seriously considering purchasing his first rental property, and had already been thinking about how he would get the deposit together. So, spending money on this camper was in direct opposition to this other big goal of his. He didn’t want to take a step back, monetarily, on the progress he’d already made.
Thanks to his honesty, I knew immediately in my heart what I wanted to do. The money for the camper was nothing to my savings (we ended up paying $6500), and I realized I had wanted this for so long. I wanted to continue to do my favorite activity with Mr. Dink but to be more comfortable. I was sick of getting home from a camping trip feeling like I’d barely slept and was sore from sleeping on the ground. And then realizing I had to work the very next day. I was tired of having to set back up all our gear when we got home because it had rained and needed to dry out.
Just the week prior, I had been about to transfer the exact amount of the cost of the camper from my checking account into my high-yield savings account (where I’ve been parking most of my money since hitting Flamingo FI to build up my cash buffer in preparation for downshifting again). But I had held back for some reason. Oh, I’ll do it next week, I thought. Now it felt like fate.
So, I told Mr. Dink to let me purchase the camper (we keep our money mostly separate). As long as he would treat it like his own, and help me care for it (of course he would, he was just as excited as I was), I would be happy to pay the initial cost. He couldn’t believe it.
And so, we had a great camping weekend, knowing it would be our last in a tent. It was a gorgeous weekend, the weather was perfect. At the VERY end, we joked, do we really need the camper? And without fail, just as we were about to start packing up to go, rain came out of nowhere. We would once again, after packing up our whole campsite, have to get home and set everything back up again just to take it down again. We laughed. It sealed the deal.
A week later, the owner met us half way with the camper, and she was ours.
And guess what people?
We love it more than we ever thought possible.
We knew we’d love the camper when we bought it, but it has truly surpassed our expectations. Even though we bought it in the middle of August, we have made the most out of it, taking it out 4 times. And we can say that it has officially changed our camping lives.
Closing thoughts
At this point, you may be asking yourself: what about the name of the blog? Will she change it?
Well, my friends, the answer is NO WAY.
Before this blog was a blog, when she was still just a dream, I knew what her name would be. The name for the blog came to me like a gust of wind, and I’ll be damned if I let a camper convince me to change it. And guess what else? I’ve never had a bus, and ya’ll have kept reading 🙂 I like to think the reason people read my blog is more about the writing/content than the name. Plus, the bus will always be my symbol for my dreams of lifestyle design. And Mr. Dink wants everyone to know he still wants a bus! He still loves the idea of building one out for fun (he’s a carpenter, after all). Now, he just sees it as much more of a full FIRE project, not something he has to stress about getting up and running because we really want to hit the road. When we no longer need to work and he has the time to devote to it like he’d like, maybe we’ll get a bus.
Until then, I think we can officially call ourselves camper lovers!
What’s new with you? And is there anything in particular you’d like to hear about life with a camper? I’m not sure yet whether I’ll write an additional post anytime soon about life with the camper, but I would consider it if I had reader interest. Let me know, either in the comments or via email ([email protected]). I’d love to hear from you!
How has it been, so far?