While we are nearly ready to begin the actual travel part of our journey, we have been forced to hold off for a few final details to be finalized. However, the VW Bus is packed and ready to go so we set out to get a feel for van living, locally. We have of course done a fair amount of camping both in and out of the Bus. We have also spent many a night cooking, playing Scrabble, working, having coffee and whispering till the wee hours in the van, while it was parked in the driveway. It is still novel at this point, it is reminiscent of a sleepover or of the days when pillow and blanket forts were a somewhat regular occurrence. Our theoretic first night out was spent in Encinitas CA., a beautiful neighborhood. We choose our spot in part because we were able to get a wireless connection there, and partly because both in front and in back of us there rested the cousins of our beloved bus. We were delighted to be sandwiched between a Eurovan Westfalia and a camper-style Vanagon. Additionally and equally as wonderful, when we took a moment to survey the area, it turns out we were parked directly across the street from a beautiful home that is rumored to have been built by Charlie Chaplin and boasts some of the most breath-taking views of the Pacific Ocean.
The downside to our seemingly perfect spot is that we were parked at a steep vertical angle which ignited continuous repositioning both while sitting up and sleeping and resulted in us not quite ever finding the most perfectly comfortable position.
It proved a very quiet and peaceful night and when we woke up the neighborhood was already bustling with activity. We felt comfortable enough to stay put for a while, put the bed away, set the table up for breakfast and begin our day. One thing (I hope you all wonder about it so that I am not completely awkward about the telling of such intimate details) that was becoming critical at this point was the overwhelming urge to go pee. I had been holding it for quite a while and I was torn between finding a spot right then and there to go so we could carry on and continue to enjoy the precious spot we had found and asking Smick to drive me to a local and very nearby (hopefully) location that boasts a public restroom. I opted for the former and grabbed a suitable container, if there is such a thing, and took a squat inside the bus while being only partially hidden by a curtain and the sliding side door that was open about a quarter of the way. While I was relieving myself and becoming instantly cheery from the release, the owner of the home we were parked in front of came out to begin a light-hearted discourse with Smick about the solar panels mounted on top of the bus. It was a funny moment more than anything, but it certainly reminded me of the reality that a good portion of my very human acts are now going to be taking place in public.
With everything settled, we ate a delicious breakfast of cheese, salami and crackers and washed our dishes quite freely at the curb. It is of course on our minds how the public will react to such a thing and in this case, I have to say the good people of Encinitas were very accommodating.
We were literally camped out, things strewn about and behaving as if we were in our own living room and were greeted with numerous warm ‘Good mornings’ and other such niceties. A neighbor even stuck her head out of her front gate to shout “I love your Van”!

Neat, huh?

‘Twill forever be considered a successful “first night” of Bus livin’.