Prologue: Preperation

For many years now I have dreamed of owning a 70's Volkswagen Bus. A Westfalia to be exact with a sink, stove, fridge, pop top, and *two* beds! Year after year whatever car I was driving would break down on me (or become the unfortunate victim of an accident) and each time I went to get a "new" vehicle my parents talked me out of getting the Bus I had wanted for so long. Telling me to wait till I had the time, cash and ability to take care of it to the extant they knew I would need to. I took their advice, but eventually when it was time for me to finally get a new, or near new car, I had an embedded love for Volkswagens, having never driven one!
I had hoped for my first foray in to the brand to be a 2006 Rabbit, the first year they brought back that name to the US. However after careful deliberation I went with a 2002 Passat. Oh man was I not disappointed! This car came with luxuries and amenities that newer cars from Toyota and other similar priced cars just didn't offer. Power lock and window, DC jacks in the front back, *and* trunk, and mpg gauge just to name a few, not to mention the awesome flip key.


I drove around in this glorious peace of machinery for about 6 months, fixing computers, making $25 an hour, toting around a $400 touch screen Cell phone (before the iPhone was even announced), I was living the good life. But there was just something nagging at me. I knew I couldn't be happy, with the normal goals people set out for themselves. Money, a nice car, a prestigious job, aren't what bring me happiness in life. Adventure, freedom, and the simple life are what do so in my case. I could sit around trying to make enough money to pay for my life style at the time, while day dreaming about one day having enough extra cash to go out on the road, or I could do something!
First thing first, lose the job. Lose the job and everything else will come toppling down as well whether you want it to or not, I wanted it to though. The moment I wasn't racking in as much cash as I had become accustomed to it made it harder to pay $282 a month for car, $200 for insurance, and $80 for a phone. So next thing to go was my phone, I called Sprint and told them I was moving to Thailand and couldn't use their services anymore, they let me out of my contract without a termination fee. Next up came the car, my brother had a last leg vehicle at the time so I figured he might want to take over the payments. Surely he did, he loved my car just as much as me and everyone else who had ever been in it. So this freed me up from any monthly bills. No phone, no car, no rent (I was still living at home at the time).
So with very little in the way of expenses I went about making the bare minimum, worked for about 2 months for slave labor wages, but enjoying myself doing it. Come July I was ready to start fulfilling the dream. I have used sites such as TheSamba and eBay to look f0r VW's for nearly 7 years at this point so I went about my relentless search for the perfect vehicle for me. I spoke with some local VW experts in the area, one of which owns hundreds of old buses, but they are all rotting out on his property from having been there for so long.


Nothing viable there, so my best bet was going to have to be the internet. After tirelessly searching for hours I found the perfect match. However it was in Maryland about 5 hours away and not running, so I needed someone to tow it for me. I got in touch with a car shipping company who treated me like shit, lying about when it would be picked up on multiple occasions. Finally when I thought I had figured it all out, almost a month after having paid for the Bus, it ended up that the trucker who was going to pick it up had been given the wrong information about what state it was in and couldn't get it anymore. Fed up with the bullshit of trying to get it shipped by a company me and my dad decided to go get it ourselves.
One Saturday night in late July we left Pennsylvania at about 10 PM and drove straight down to Maryland reaching our destination at around 3 in the morning. Every second was worth it though because when I pulled up and saw my bus for the first time I was in love. I opened it up, it stunk of oil, and god only knows what else, but that didn't stop me from popping the top and sleeping in it that first night. For what can almost not even be called sleep because me and my dad were awake 4 hours after we had gotten there. Now the real mission starts.
The Bus wouldn't start so we couldn't drive it on to the trailer we had hitched to my dad's truck. After trying to push it we decided the best bet would be to unhook my dad's truck and push the bus with it up the ramp. I blame it on the lack of sleep, but neither of us foresaw the trailer's front end being up heaved into the air when the weight of the bus started to push down. We put some cinder blocks on the trailer (which did nothing) and with me in the front seat steering the Bus and my dad behind me in his truck, went about getting her up on to the trailer.
Great Success!

After a slow start we finally got back on to the road to bring her home with us. It was a pretty uneventful ride except for at the first gas station we pulled in to. Literally moments before I had just said to my dad "Man I really want to get a VW Thing next, I've never even seen one in person they're so rare" and what happens to pull in right behind us, a Thing! the driver gave us a peace sign as he drove in and came over to talk to us for a while. He showed us his Thing, which had been restored twice over it's life time and owned by this same guy since the 70's. It showed me instantaneously that buying this Bus had just brought me in to a member's only club, one of antique VW owner's.
While being in this club is nice, it would be even nicer if I could turn owning a antique VW in to driving one! From what I had been told the only work she really needed was a new muffler, gaskets, and a carb adjustment. The reason she wouldn't start in Maryland was because the battery was dead, nothing major. Before getting any of the mechanical work done though I wanted to gut the inside and make it my own, and oh boy did I. With my dad's help we pimped my ride, no coffee machine's or chandeliers but I'm not complaining.


Next up was the hard stuff, but even that wasn't hard. I had a muffler put on at my Uncle's shop, I had another guy adjust the carb and I got my hands dirty myself and put in the new gaskets for the carburetor, which was the first time I had really worked on a car engine before. Did pretty well too. I then learned how to change the oil myself, which feels great to do finally, after all these years of paying for oil changes. And with that little work put in it, she ran great! So after having worked and lived with my dad for the past 3 months I headed back to LI. The bus made it perfectly giving me great confidence in my next step. Which was of course a road trip!
Where to though, California is a little too far for a first trip, so I decided to go with Florida. Now all I needed to do was save up some money. After a little over a month back on LI I decided it was time to get back to PA and make some money, while having fun. I went and got myself a job at Shawnee Mountain as a chef. I got to eat for free, drink for free, and best of all snow board for free.
With two months of working and snow boarding under my belt, I had saved up enough for my trip. I headed back to LI for one last hurrah, which so far has been very unhurrahfull, but not to worry, the next few weeks will definitely be eventful enough to make up for that tenfold. Within the next week I am going to be departing on my road trip down the East Coast. From Staten Island to Washington DC, The Smoky Mountains to Miami Beach. I'll be sharing pictures and videos of our Nations greatest national parks, amusement parks, historical landmarks, military installation, haunted houses, roadside attraction, sports stadiums and much much more. Keep coming back for updates on the progression of my trip and my daily tips and pics.