Around the country in a bus

Ehren has finally posted all his pictures from our Vegas trip, and as I looked through them this morning, I had a chance to peruse his entire website for his trip around the country in a converted school bus. Here's how it starts out:

This page, temporarily, is the story of the conversion of a school bus into a motorhome. The deeper question of why will be answered eventually, so be patient.

On Friday July 23rd, I quit my job. I didn't enjoy it at all. There's an entire mental tome of reflection on this subject too, but again it's outside the scope of the bus conversion. Be patient.

A couple of posts later, Ehren explains a little about why he's excited for the trip:

It was tonight that the trip really began. My mind is clear of all doubt. In the past week and a half, even though it's been fun, and smooth, and unbelievably close to our vocalized goals for distance and experience, I've still been mulling over The Big Choices. We've stayed at the appointed apartments of friends who are going on to do their great things, having ensured their success along the paths that have been labeled out for all of us with bright signage and MapQuest. Yesterday, even, I balanced remote and lucrative-enough work, an afternoon at museums, an evening out and comfortable return home, which is all I had asked of myself on the days of this trip.

But tonight out my bedroom window I can see 270 degrees of the Shenandoah mountains. We're in a wide cup of hills, and all across the sky are cloudless stars and a vivid milky way. For dinner we had a roast chicken, and bread and cheese, and Dr. Pepper, finding our way around the kitchen by flashlight because main batteries still aren't connected.

It's hard, but not impossible, to describe why -- at least temporarily -- I've given up on doubt despite the fact that so much, the remaining entirety, is still unknown. This view, this composition of a day's events, this mix of travel and homes, this everything, is what I want. From now on, all the time.

There are a few reasons why I'm enormously impressed by Ehren's undertaking:
1) He's managing to work from the road/bus enough so that he's got money in the bank to support his travels, but not so much that it interferes with the real purpose of the trip.
2) Instead of buying an RV or equivalent vehicle, he bought a school bus, and converted it into a liveable space with only the help of his traveling partner Miro.
3) He's chucked the whole idea of a standard life: 9-5 job, apartment, etc. I'm embarrassed to say that I'm not sure I have the balls (for lack of a better term) to quit my job and move out of my cushy apartment to pursue a dream like that.