When was your last holiday? How about a holiday in The Rustic Bus. A holiday that Ignites Good!
What is The Rustic Bus
The Rustic Bus will be a re-purposed coach that provides easy, comfortable, glamping accommodation for 1 to 6 people. Like an apartment on wheels with everything you need for an off grid, self contained holidays for visitors and vulnerable families in nature based locations around North East Victoria. For every 15 nights booked we will offer a 2 to 3 night stay to a vulnerable local family. We will build connections with local care organisations to make this happen. The bus will also be used to educate visitors and local school groups about sustainable off grid living.
The inside of the bus will look similar to this.
It's mobile - so it can take you right to the best places. Like this beautiful site on the banks of The Murray River
It's flexible - you get to choose your location from The Rustic Bucket List or if you have a better idea, try us. The bus will meet you there.
One of our rewards is a picnic at Connic Rocks in Mt Lawson State Park - this is an amazing view we would love to share with you.
We think The Rustic Bus will support holidays such as fishing by the Murray River, multi day rail trail cycling adventures, mountain biking weekends at Falls Creek, bush walking in the Alpine National Park, winery, brewery and farm tours or just hanging out with the kids for a relaxing holiday. We although see it as a value add to existing local business that haven't got accommodation on site. Every time we tell people about this project they have different ideas of how it could be used. Come to us with your ideas and we'll see what we can do to help you.
Choose your own adventure.
Book a date.
Pack the car. The Rustic Bus will meet you there!
AND REMEMBER every booking pays-it-forward for a holiday for a vulnerable family.
Statistics are saying that some North East Victorian families could do with a break. The divorce rates are at 9.5%, much higher than the Victorian average and 7.4% are widowed compared to a Victorian average of 5.2%. Anecdotally many of the refugees relocated to Albury/Wodonga are single parent families (mothers and children) with very little income.
Think about it.
Do you know a family that's going through a rough patch and could really use a break. When we talked about it we realized there were at least four families we know that could not afford to take a holiday. WE want to do something about this!
The Rustic Bus is a place to get away, to regroup, find some perspective and de-stress.
Who are we?
Rachael is an experienced engineer and a qualified teacher who has recently won a place in Towong Shire Council and Launch Vic's, Think Start Grow business acceleration program facilitated by the Australian Centre for Rural Entrepreneurship (ACRE). Rachael has successfully delivered infrastructure projects for local government, run educational programs and is so excited about this project. She has planned and budgeted the bus build, identified and documented all The Rustic Bucket List locations and found two potential buses. She's ready to make this happen!
Alex is a seasoned bus and van converter, bush walker and general handy man with extensive experience in event management.
Together we make things happen!
Rachael's family is also full of helpful people with useful skills and they are going to help out with building this amazing project. Phil (dad) - Builder, Jordan (brother) - Electrician, Tom (brother) - Fitter & turner and mechanically handy, Adam (brother) - Water supply specialist.
ACRE - The Australian Centre for Rural Entrepreneurship is providing support and business mentoring
We are people who get things done!
Why are we doing this?
When we (that's Rachael & Alex) moved back to North East Victoria, where Rachael grew up, we knew we wanted to do something good to:
- connect people with the natural environment and local agricultural industry
- support disadvantaged families
- benefit the declining rural economy in a sustainable way and,
- create experiences that people want to tell their friends about
We think everyone deserves a holiday that doesn't cost the Earth, literally!
The Rustic Bus ticks all of our boxes. We hope it ticks all of yours too.
Why do we need your support?
We need your support to purchase a bus and buy materials to fit it out including:
- Solar panels and inverter
- A gas stove and oven,
- Instant hot water heater,
- A shower and toilet,
- Kitchen and furnishings
- 1 queen and 4 single mattresses
We will be sourcing recycled materials where ever we can. You can follow this journey on our bus build videos and we'll also be putting a scrap book in the bus to highlight our sustainable approach to guests and visitors.
We will have the bus finished by March 2020 in time for the Bus Warming around the time of the Off Grid Living Festival, Eldorado in May 2020 (Everyone who pledges is invited to The Bus Warming. We hope to see you all there for a wonderful celebration).
To get this opportunity off the ground we need your support.
We need you to pledge.
Check out the rewards on the right side of this page, there's something for everyone. Any of the vouchers can be gifted to someone else.
Maybe you'd like to advertise on the bus, take a holiday or pay-it-forward for vulnerable family to have a break. You can book and pay for your Rustic Bus holiday now and come and stay once it’s finished in 2020. There's also Off Grid Living Festival passes, beeswax food wraps, cd's, canvas shopping bags, colourful window stars, access to bus build videos and more.
We will send out all the physical rewards that out within 12 weeks of the campaign.
We need to raise at least $20,000 for this project.
Thank you so much for your support and we look forward to connecting with you at one of our campaign events below.
Campaign Events
- The Rustic Bus Virtual Q&A on Zoom at 9pm Melbourne Time ID 286 937 754
Join us online to meet Rachael for a 30 minute Question and Answer session discussing all things The Rustic Bus to celebrate the launch of this campaign.
- The Rustic Bus Gathering
A mini festival in Tallangatta to celebrate with The Rustic Bus community. Free food and entertainment. Meet Rachael and Alex.
Check out our press release below:
Let's make this amazing project happen together. Pledge now!
Kind Regards,
Rachael and Alex