So You Owned a VW Bus

You hear us mention the sponsor who paid for our healthcare whilst on the road, Jan Michalski Foundation, at the end of most episodes. Who are they and why in the world would they sponsor a podcast about VW buses? Plus, you’ll hear about how many times our healthcare coverage came in handy. 

About a year before we launched season one of So You Owned a VW Bus, we interviewed Rajan Kose—a close friend and one-time Volkswagen school bus driver in Colorado. 

Jennifer and Jonn’s VW story is a love story. High school sweethearts and now husband and wife, their mutual love of VWs of all types has been present ever since their first date when Jennifer pushed her way into Jonn’s heart…

Christie and Jason Brown own Our Vintage Photo Bus, a Folsom, California-based operation. The road to launching their business hasn’t been easy, but neither of them ever had doubts—even after a dangerous highway wreck. 

John Hammond is a professional podcaster whose bus doubles as his studio. He took the time to sit down with us to talk about podcasting, bus life in California, and, of course, the history of his Vanagon, Guapo. 

Erik Schmid is the founder, owner, and operator of Red Bus Brewing in Folsom, California. But even more importantly, he owns a VW bus. The story of how he started a brewery, how he came to own a bus, and why his marketing is amazing are all intertwined. 

Jason Hall is a veteran with quite possibly the most elegant bus we have ever seen in person. Take a ride with Jason as he tells us about the personal journey he took to get the bus and where he plans to take it. 

Greta (AKA Mad Maxine) has been all over the west in her grandfather’s Syncro. Adventure runs in her family. Listen along while she tells us the history of what is quite possibly the world’s coolest family heirloom. 

When we interviewed Shawn and Emma Sullivan at Happy Productions, they told us the story of how they acquired their bus (who is now also the Happy Productions logo), Cosmo. The story was simply too long for our regular podcast, but it is a story that needs to be shared. 

A guy with so many stories we had to make a second episode! You already know Jesse from the first episode of this season where he talked about leaving his job as a mortgage banker to start the world’s first mountain bike shuttle service called Coyote Shuttle. When we arrived at Coyote Shuttle, a gentleman was talking with Jesse about a welding job. Jesse is Moab’s go-to guy for fixes and emergencies. In fact, during this interview, he worked on our bus… 

We were passing through Escalante, Utah, and met a young couple, Ian and Kaitlyn. Even though they had a sweet home in the heart of this mountain town, they had previously lived in their 1986 Syncro. We got to hear all about how they managed living in the bus—through turbulent weather and life circumstances. 

Buckle up, folks! This is a good ride. As we crisscrossed California, we stopped by the GoWesty campus in Los Osos to interview the founder and president, Lucas Valdes. It’s hard to imagine, but at one point in time, Lucas’ VW operation was considerably smaller. Lucas talks about how he started in the VW world, what it is like to grow a business, and some of the adventures he’s had along the way. 

We sat down with Paul Austin, the owner and operator of Austin Automotive in Canon City, Colorado. Even though Austin Automotive doesn’t specialize in air cooled VWs like our bus, Paul is more than knowledgable about bay windows like ours. He was willing to spend an afternoon giving our bus the once over before we climbed our way across the Rocky Mountains. 

We met Eric through the old VW network. I read a review of Jerry Steimel’s book Chasing Zorba in Vintage Voice magazine, so I looked up the editor, who happened to be Eric. I dropped him a line with a story idea. Before long I was writing an article for Vintage Voice. When it was all said and done, Eric said, hey if you’re ever out in Las Vegas, let me know. We sat down with Eric and learned quite a bit about what it takes to be a VW photographer. 

This episode is really special. When we started out on our 49 state adventure, we received a lot of encouragement. But then we got a message from a woman Ryan used to work with at children’s services some fifteen plus years ago. Her name is Sally Doyle. Even though Ryan and Sally worked together for years, he had missed an important detail about Sally’s life—she owned a VW bus.

We were cruising around Moab, Utah, when I spied a stretch Vanagon parked on a side street. The side of it read Coyote Shuttle. A google search and a couple phone calls later and we were sitting down with Jesse Marshall (his wife calls him Jesse “VW” Marshall), the owner and operator of Coyote Shuttle. Even though I had called to get the story about the Vanagons, he had lots more stories…

Our favorite chef is back to share with us the story of how he became a chef. It's hilarious and heartwarming and sweet and savory. 

Join us for some detours from our usual VW bus talk. 

We begin each episode by asking people to say and spell their names so we can accurately record it for the podcast and blog. Sometimes it is harder than you think. Also, Nellie has a story about a horse. 

Xavier Laurentino is a larger than life, colorful character. He's been a bodyguard, an actor and is now a bonafide chef in New Orleans. We met up with Xavier at his home in NOLA and he told us about leaving his home country of Spain for the States, his travels and adventures across the US in his first beloved VW bus, what it was like to lose everything to Hurricane Katrina, and his future plans for his new bus. 

Jaymi Millard, VW collector and bassist for the band Slaughter (yes, that Slaughter) loves pink guitars, has a pink beard, and has a VW bus story or two to tell. We caught up with Jaymi in his Tennessee kitchen to hear a few tales from the hundreds of buses he's owned.