About Amanda & Dylan
THE BADASS BUSLIFE NAME...
Anyone can be "badass" (edgy, tastefully rebellious) and we believe that when people embrace their badass side, good change comes from it. Badass adults stand for something bigger than themselves because their passionate about a better life for themselves and those around them. Hence, people who are brave enough to head down a different path than most of society, are legends in our books!
OUR MISSION & VISION
OUR MISSION is to help as many people as possible realize the potential of living smaller.
Our way of doing it is with bus-life and conscious acts geared towards sustainability & wellbeing, but no matter how you do it, it always brings more time & energy for the important things in life.
Especially now after COVID19, I think we've all had a bit of a reality check into what is really important. Family, friends, slowing down, appreciating nature & life and not just letting it fly-by.
Things and stuff will never truly fulfill us and the planet can no longer handle our thirst for constant consumerism.
If we don't change, and find a way to love the journey to change along the way, we will never have a chance to embrace the beauty of this life.
Simply, we just want to make it easy to access alternative methods & different ways of thinking, and let people make their own choices and own badass journeys ♥
AMANDA
That person who craves adventure & change.
FOUNDER & THE VOICE BEHIND ALL THIS INSANITY
That one friend everyone has who just fucks off with a backpack out of your town/city and never comes back.
I was originally one of the most stressed, broken children/teenagers out there, I couldn't even handle the thought of Mondays without making myself physically sick. I had no idea how I would ever face even having a job let alone travelling alone. But I managed it and a lot more along the way, I've grown a backbone throughout seeing the world, as many before me have.
I adapted this "fuck it" mentality and started facing my fears and doing the most random things I could think of. Things will always scare you, you just have to push through. The other side of that fear is always worth it.
I've gone through my own struggles with barriers of mind and body and I've overcome many obstacles like being overweight, dealing with the health consequences of that and then the mental consequences, including depression & anxiety. I'm now driven to share everything I've learned along the way and am continuing to learn because all our journeys have connecting subplots. We struggle with a lot of the same things at the root of it all and we are meant to live in communities that share and learn from each other. So here we've created a platform for a community so that we can all feel like our way of thinking and being isn't so strange after all.
Together we can feel normal but together we can also create a difference for our lives and for the betterment of whatever cause we set our minds to. My causes are on this site, and if you can relate please join the journeys. I'm here to cheerlead for your crazy fun bus life, your own health and wellbeing or for our shared goal of a healthier planet.
Each step is a part of learning and everything teaches us something wonderful (eventually).
This site is the brain-child of my hectic mind which loves to overanalyze, organize and share-share-share everything.
I hope you enjoy!
DYLAN
the good but bad influence.
FOUNDER & TECHNICAL BRAIN BALANCING OUT THE CREATIVE BRAIN OF AMANDA
He's the legend who has all the answers in regards to building a bus. I have the ideas, he has the answers, we build stuff together, it's a match made in heaven for you readers (and for me :D).
He's studied engineering, trades, he's from a tradie family, he's got this. His passion was ignited when I said let's build a van.
We bought a van and to my surprise he said "fuck it, let's build a bus". Then we found ourselves constantly watching bus build videos, searching for buses to buy and sketching out bus layout after bus layout....
We love doing research and Dylan's absolutely epic at it.
On top of it all, he's been the biggest supporter of all the projects that I've taken on on-top of building a bus, this site wouldn't be anywhere without him ♥
TWO HALVES OF A WHOLE CRAZY PERSON
us together, a mess made in heaven.
OVER-THINKERS & OVER-PASSIONATE HUMAN BEINGS.
Separately, we likely would have ended up on this same type of journey, but together we have fast tracked it!
We are the types of people that can eat toasties for months on end to save for something big and important if we have to (not for health but for getting ahead haha). We aren't high rollers or anything. We work day in and day out and we could barely afford our rent and bills. It's been SAD but it's made us a tougher couple, able to stand up next to each other PROUDLY even without any money to show for our efforts LOL.
This got us on the bus-life track. To be able to live without bills thrust upon us, we would be able to live a crazy-fun life! Travelling anywhere on a whim and all that jazz.
We are the types of people that are stubborn enough to not let what people say deter us from doing something "crazy". Crazy is a spectrum... if you spend your life living within all the metaphorical and physical walls put around us, everything seems crazy.
Together and separately we are the types of people to do something just because people said we can't or because it goes against social norms (or y'know, sexism and all that - fuck those people). So we just do it, to prove a point.
You can do anything you set your mind to. The old cliché is right.
Which is why we want to bring you a bit of our stubbornness, our level of tasteful rebellion, and our passion for DOING not just SAYING.
There's time for work AND time for PLAY in life! Adults deserve to enjoy life as well.
We found a couple ways that make it easier to find that balance and we are here to share!
Check out Our Bus Life Plans!