Buddhabellie Sea Change Motorhome Travel Australia Massage

So, the journey to leading a simpler life was long (five years) and at times, not so simple. Go figure! There were a few things I had to do first...buy, renovate and sell some houses while holding down a full-time job, try to convince some people (love you Mum) that 'that good job in the public service' was no longer high on my list of 'must haves', and design and fitout a motorhome...although that wasn't part of the original plan. Three things I've learned during that time:

1. Don't sand floors during the middle of summer;

2. Wear shoes when jackhammering; and

3. Power tools, alcohol and rain don't mix!!

Projects 1 & 2 (next door to each other) were 40+ years and needed a lot of work and TLC. I did as much of the work myself as I could, and worked closely with tradies where I couldn't. I'm probably blacklisted somewhere "...errr, I think that wall's out about 4mm". My sister calls me the human spirit level but it SAVES MONEY; getting your hands dirty builds good relationships with your tradies (it's amazing what a beer at knock off time does too), and gives a girl a good excuse to hang out at Bunnings.

While I was working on the second house, I met Adrian (next door), and eventually we decided to give his house a makeover, sell up everything, buy a bus and travel Oz. And so the 'Krusty' concept was born.

We bought a bus from Northern New South Wales after the sale of my first property. The fit-out was pretty much dependent on the sale of Project 2 and as Adrian was working full time, I started converting the very rough and much rubbed out original A3 drawing of the floorplan into Excel (download below). I also spent hours researching/pricing/buying all the equipment and designing the layout of the major electrical/plumbing components, so we'd be ready to roll when the house sold.

A Utilities for Dummies guide would've been handy; everyone I talked to about motorhomes was an 'expert' but seemed to have different opinions. One thing was pretty consistent; none seemed to get the fact that we wanted a 'cushions and candles' style rather than 'fluros and dinettes' (and definitely no pastel prints). One upholsterer suggested red velour for the wall/ceiling lining when I said we wanted rustic...groan!

Our wish list was pretty simple...

To create a feeling of space (nothing worse than squeezing down narrow corridors or ducking to get into the shower because the floorplan includes cupboards in every square inch). For us, life on the road was a chance to simplify our lifestyle and shed some of the material things that we really didn't need or use.
To allow multiple uses for living area; ie portable massage table, fold-out couch/mattress, or table and chairs on rainy days.
To have the shower centred to allow full head height and create privacy without having to shut yourself into an enclosed space.
To not look like the traditional motorhome (interior) but create an earthy, comfortable living space that reflected our present lifestyle.

Just to add a bit more excitement (stress) into the process, we were approached by Beyond Productions to film our story for Hot Property. Click here to see us bear our souls (and a few other things we won't mention) in episodes 12 & 13 of series 7.

We stripped out the bus and had originally planned on doing most of the fitout ourselves, as we couldn't really afford some of the quotes we were getting to fit it out from start to finish. Plus, I wanted to maintain a degree of control over the floorplan and have a good understanding of how everything was installed and worked. I could see us in the middle of nowhere with a burst water pipe and ...well, I'm sure a few people have been 'down that road'.

Anyway, after helping our first sparky run the electrical cable (and spending three quarters of an hour entertaining him over a steak sandwich lunch talking about the state of affairs in the Middle East, THEN getting a $600 bill for a painfully slow day of work), decided to approach a motorhome builder to do the major work (floor/ceiling linings, fit cabinetry I'd had made off-site, install all plumbing and other major equipment). I'd already researched and purchased all the major items from the plan and worked closely with the builder, as we only had about seven weeks to bring it all together for the show.

After the major work had been done, it was then a matter of finding a competent (I probably would have settled for even half competent at that stage) electrician to connect the electrical componentry and make it all work. I tracked down a great guy on the Sunshine Coast: no fuss, very reasonable hourly rate, and lots of laughs. And over twelve months down the track, that side of things hasn't missed a beat. Thanks Vic :-)

Anyway, what Hot Property didn't show were the hours of project planning that went into designing Krusty, and the five years prior of almost constant property renovation to make 'the great escape' a reality. I'm definitely going to write a book about dodgy tradesmen (the title will include something about 'tools' ...if you know what I'm saying :-)

Krusty's now officially 'hit the road'. Go to the 'Freedom' page to find us...