BY: BEN SCHUYLER AND DANIEL VOLLAND

We were roommates when we decided to set out across the American West this summer for our project, When the Road is Home, never dreaming of all the places we would explore or the people we would meet. We left behind our jobs and moved out of our house into a 1968 Oasis travel trailer. Our goal was to meet other people who were living like we would live—people living the mobile lifestyle—and to tell their stories with words, audio interviews and photography.

During our travels, we met James and Rachel of Idle Theory Bus on a peach farm in Palisade, CO. They had also worked on a goat farm. And on twelve other farms.

The high school sweethearts have been together for 10 years. A few years ago, they decided to leave the traditional life behind in a cloud of dust. They packed up what very minimal belongings they needed, and moved into “Sunshine,” their 1976 Volkswagen Kombi. Now, the couple alternates between short stints of manual labour on different farms and travelling on the road fulltime.

Now, the couple alternates between short stints of manual labour on different farms and travelling on the road fulltime.

In more than three years of mobile living, the pair has spent time living with primitive communities that start fires with bow drills and repurpose roadkill into wearable fur for warmth. They’ve explored National Parks and BLM land. They’ve prepared meals with local produce from the farms in which they’ve worked. They’ve camped out under the stars countless times and have had close encounters with wildlife.

In more than three years of mobile living, the pair has spent time living with primitive communities

James and Rachel will be the first to admit that living on the road isn’t easy and it isn’t for everyone. Still, they know it’s been the right step for them as a couple and wouldn’t give up the adventure for anything.

PHOTOS OF JAMES AND RACHEL

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