That time we spontaneously bought 2 vintage VWs
A lot of you may not know the story of how my family ended up with two vintage Volkswagens. It all started with my dad, whose first car was a red 1971 Super Beetle.
Years later when he and my mom got married, they bought a Westfalia bus and camped away in it for years until it nearly rusted into the ground.
Once I graduated from college, we all got the bug to get some vintage VWs again. I only vaguely remembered the one from when I was a baby, so I had a lot of years to catch up on!
Within a few weeks, my dad and I were in California in the middle of the night in some stranger’s kitchen, handing over an envelope of $5,000 cash for a car we’d never seen in real life.
Thankfully, we didn’t get murdered. But we did drive Route 66, get a flat tire in the Mojave, see a solar eclipse in Albuquerque, and bring that 1971 Super Beetle home.
A few years later, I’m not sure how, but my dad found a 1978 Westfalia bus in B.C. and hiked it back home. If I thought I had the spirit of Volkswagens in me, it increased tenfold when we started camping in the bus. Absolute freedom.
I never thought that I’d actually be one of those VW people. I didn’t think I had it in me to be minimalist enough to go for an extended period of time on a bus with a few pieces of clothes and a tiny space.
Since I’ve made strides to have a smaller wardrobe at home, it’s been so much easier to go camping. Buslife is such a darn effective way to practice practical minimalism. And, you know, to practice a good old Canadian Tuxedo, too.
Wondering what it’s like to go on the road with a vintage VW? Ask away in the comments below!
This is awesome! Did you see the new ones they made and released only in California? I read about it in an article of Treehugger: https://www.treehugger.com/cars/i-want-new-vw-california-camper-i-cant-have-it.html
Very cool! What a neat opportunity for people to own a classic style. I’m glad you enjoyed the read!