2012 has begun.

    The first blog of 2012. Never when we started the Lost Bus did I think I'd be heading back for the next round of adventure. I have an odd feeling of excitement and curiousness. Its crazy to me to be giving up the comforts of a home, fly across the country, and call a school bus my home again. Its a little confusing. Since I was 18 I've lived on my own. Moving back in with the parents was such an odd thing for me but my time home was really good and needed. When I left the bus in December, I was tired and ready for a break. Life on the road is great in so many ways but it also has it's draw backs. It's exhausting. Everyday, I explain our story, who we are, where we came from and give tours of our home. I'm not complaining by any means and we designed the bus for the purpose of turning heads and getting attention. Also, for anyone that's ever spent a longer period of time away from family knows how much they can be missed. My brother is an older, weathered, less handsome version of me; and for a long time been a great brother and best friend. Just getting to sit and catch up was great and I'm excited for my next return to do it again. I've been truly blessed with a great family who loves me and cares about me, regardless of being "mobile homeless". 
     The three of us also got to do some much needed Lost Bus work. The most important was getting a little bit of money for year two. California proved to be the hardest state for us financially and living-wise. Traveling and homelessness is much more normal there and donations virtually stopped coming in because we don't stick out as much. We went home with the least amount of money we've had in a long time and a little nervous. We did a lot of speaking both at schools and churches and through that got some donations. I'm happy to say we are going back comfortable and will be able to focus on volunteering and the next step. We also sat down and discussed year two for the three of us. Surprisingly enough we came up with very little. (would you expect anything different from us?) We all agreed we want to end this on a high note. We will keep going till it doesn't feel right anymore. We will be sticking to the U.S. and staying in the south till warmer weather moves in. There's been a lot of talk of the future of the Lost Bus name and what we would like to do with it. One thing we don't want is to park the bus in our driveway, pull the keys from the ignition, and call it quits. The Lost Bus' potential is nearly endless and we have been talking about some pretty cool ideas to take it to the next level. Who knows what will happen but I'm not willing to just pull the plug on something we've worked so hard to create.    
     It was an odd feeling for me to speak in front of people telling my story, especially our old high school chapel. I never paid attention during chapel and was by no means a "star" student. Never in all my days did I think people would look up to me and I'd be an influence; both direct and indirectly. 
 
    I wrote the beginning of this blog yesterday during our travels back to the bus. We got home to the bus Saturday night around 11:30pm. It was a cold night and immediately made me appreciate heat and the regular comforts you can so easily overlook. I woke up in my bed currled up in a ball and very chilly. Showers are no longer easily at our disposal. It's time to get back in "homeless" mode. Homeless mode is something we joke about because life on the bus is obviously a different lifestyle. We constantly have to adapt and think of things a little differently. Our bus is currently locked into the hay lot so everything has been by bicycle to get anywhere. The wonderful 70 degrees and sunny makes everything better and the bike rides extremely enjoyable. I hate to say it but where we are has some beautifulness to it but also some pretty bad ugliness. We went for a longer bike ride today and the amount of trash on the side of the road was like nothing I have ever seen. You name it, it was in the ditch or amongst a field somewhere. The best word I can think about to describe Southern California thus far is dirty. Tomorrow, we hope to figure out the next step of the journey and go from there.