Taking the plunge!!!

[sweetlightwithin]

:::::: quietly and tentatively waving from the sidelines, and looking forward to getting in the game ::::::

I’m right on the verge of taking the plunge, y’all. After years of researching, dreaming, and planning, I finally found “the one” and am hoping to bring her home in the next month or two. I can’t wait to tell you all about her, but don’t want to jinx anything until it’s officially official, so the details will have to wait for now. Depending on the moment I am 60-90% bursting with excitement and anticipation, and 10-40% terrified/overwhelmed/freaking the **** out. (Not much sleep around here last night for both reasons, plus internet rabbitholes!)

I *know* I can trust the seller, and have been counseled by another one of the great Crown experts and owners (all of whom I am I am *so* grateful for— you know who you are ;) I know I am getting a deal, even though it’s more than I hoped to spend. But rather than getting the cheaper “starter bus” that I would forever wish was a beautiful Crown of my dreams,, I decided it was worth it to go all in and get the bus I have wanted for years. The downside is that going over budget leaves less $$ for my build, and I’ll have to take that part slower than anticipated and do it in stages over time as I am able.

I know I may be getting in way over my head. I know it is going to be one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done (and trust me when I say that I’ve done a *lot* of challenging things). I’m under no illusion about that. But I am researching, studying, learning, prepping, planning, listening to experts and other owners, and learning from all of you.

All that being said, I’d love to hear any words of wisdom, courage, and/or advice you have. I would say “Don’t hold back” because I want to be realistic and hear “the real deal”, but please be gentle with your warnings of “you have know idea what you’re getting into”, etc... (I’m sure I’ll hear enough of that from my extended family when I finally tell them).

Specifically, here’s the kind of info I am looking for: What do you wish you knew before buying your bus or first starting your build? What would you do differently in retrospect? Since I can’t go “all out” on the build (yet), what is your advice for making it comfortable and safe, on a tight budget? I want to live in it as soon as possible, and will stay other places when I need to as the bigger projects come up. What would you say are the most important things to start with? And how can I create these temporary fixes while doing a minimal amount of changes to her, and making it easy to upgrade as time allows?

I have many, many more detailed and specific questions— but I will use the search function and read more before getting in to the specific, nitty gritty details. Even so, generally speaking, I’d love to hear your *favorite* purchase, splurge, creative solutions, hacks, or component of your build— what is the best purchase you made, and what are the ones that didn’t work as well as you thought, or would change if you could? I especially welcome links to specific products— there are so many choices and things to consider! Wood stoves? Diesel heaters? AC’s? Solar set-up? Toilet? Fridge? Is it crazy to put in a bath tub? Etc etc.

I realize this a long post and a big ask— so thank you for reading if you’ve made it this far. I appreciate your time, expertise, and willingness to share your experiences. And once I am a more “seasoned” owner I will absolutely pay it forward and share all I have learned along the way.

So grateful and thrilled to (soon) be joining this phenomenal community.

[Buster Junior]

Congratulations!!! I sense crazy excitement on your part. Dont let that fizzle!!! Since you have been dreaming and researching and planning sooo much, it can be a little bit of a decrescendo if you dont have someone encouraging you or you are low on funds to move forward for a bit or you fi d an unforseen problem arise. This is not a race. As long as you are moving forward, even slowly, you are fine. I also think that the research and planning is important...but dont overthink every step. You can get bogged down with over thinking and then it can feel like you are just treading water and eventually run out of steam. Sometimes i just throw caution to the wind and say that i will figure it out when i get to that point and it usually works out. Of course, sometimes it is a do over...but i want to keep moving. Baby steps are fine. Wishing you the best!