Hi my name is Isabella. Exactly 4 years and 3 months ago I quit my job, sold everything I owned and bought a little campervan named Sergio. Filled with wanderlust I stepped out into the unknown, leaving behind the security of a steady wage. I met amazing people, journeyed across Australia and started a gorgeous eco design label. Along the way I have been broke and disillusioned. I learnt to free myself from expectation.
So today by way of an introduction, I want to share with you how I ditched my office job and embraced a new creative life. I am so excited to discover the Steemit community. I find great solace and confidence in finding likeminded people. There is something comforting about finding your 'own' people. People that share your drive, business aspirations and eccentricity. If I can inspire just one person to pursue their dream, then this is a good yarn worth sharing.
Stuck in the daily grind
My story is a sweet slightly foolhardy tale, that all started a few months before turning thirty in sunny tropical Brisbane City in Australia. I believe that life comes together from thousands of small actions, thoughts and choices, the total sum of which has forged your path to where you are today.
My husband and I were stuck in a rut, working jobs without passion. Seven years of university landed me in an international law firm, with an office that boasted an envious view across the snaking river city below. From most eyes I had it made; good pay, luxurious perks and extravagant staff parties. But life felt listless, repetitive and bland. I craved spark, expression and to stop cramming my life into a weekend. Every morning on the train commute, a little part of my soul died. During holidays, I used to sit in cafes watching the joyous chatter and wonder who all these people are. What do they do? My husband and I called them 'daytime' people. I wanted to be a daytime person, the captain of my soul, free to roam and create.
But the overwhelming question and lack of an answer had seen months turn into years, with life just stuck in a loop. What else can I do? I need money? How do I become one of those people that seems to live outside of the 9-5 system?
Around Christmas of 2011, I decided to make a few personal gifts for family. I have always been handy with the sewing machine. I taught myself how to sew when I rather ambitiously fumbled through making my own wedding dress. Dive in the deep end I say, you can learn and master new things. I digress, so back to Christmas. I designed and made some fabric iPad cases. I loved them and pumped out 30. Despite not sharing the same love, my supportive husband came with me to a new twilight market in West End (a suburb with a nice edgey alternative city culture). We sold 4 that night.
We bought a camper van and named him Sergio
Excited, naive and full of dreams– whatever you call it, this was the moment we decided to just leave our current lifestyle and hit the road selling my creations. We had a garage sale and sold almost everything we owned (I kept the pasta maker, tagine and wedding dress). We bought a campervan and jammed the sewing machine under the bed.
We paid a guy $5 on Fiverr to write a short song notifying our friends via Facebook of our planned escape from the city grind. We copped a bit of flack from family and friends for not doing a proper send off – but to this day I am grateful we didn't share our plans. Being such a stupid plan it would not have taken much for seeds of doubt to be planted. I worked out that we had barely enough savings to get us through the first 7 weeks. That was as far as the plan went. Seven weeks. The rest was up to us. We went blissfully and blindly into the early sunrise on the open road on the 5th May 2012.
For 10 months we soared across the highways and back roads of Australia. Rolling into little towns in time for their annual scarecrow festival, outback sculpture event, lantern celebration, wood chopping competition and monthly markets. We immersed ourselves in the local scene, doing over one hundred markets. Everything we sold was made by me, in a tent attached to our campervan. We met extraordinary people and received invaluable mentoring advice. Every Sunday night, we found a free spot to camp, bought a $3 bottle of wine, counted our takings and plotted out the next week. How much petrol could we afford? Where is the next market? It was stressful and liberating at the same time.
I honed my art, we honed our brand. During the week, we rummaged op-shops in small towns for recycled textiles as it was significantly cheaper than buying new material. Soon the recycled element became part of our branding, our ethos.
We saw the wastage and loss of innovation our disposable throw away world had created. Tea-towels, coffee sacks, leather belts, broken bags, ripped clothes, partially stained scarves were chopped up and stitched into new bags and jewellery. The materials we found guided my designs and each piece harboured so many lost stories.
Broke in the forest
We lived simply at times, showering in spring fed creeks, eating local grown produce from honesty boxes, and became highly skilled at finding public power points. We shared our deepest souls with each other under the stars. We explored, laughed, cried, made up songs, drunk loads of coffee, splurged on pizza and read 10 year old magazines in laundromats.
At one stage we had $0.77 cents left in our bank account and had to live for a week in a free camp site in a State Forest. Camping under the pine trees, this was a sobering time. Nothing like being helplessly broke to test your spirits.
The end of the road
Summer hit with 47 degree fury. Tent sewing turned into alfresco moonlight sewing and our van became a hot tin box. We lost motivation, I got sick, we missed a few markets and money dwindled. We had just enough petrol to head to a small Queensland town up in the dividing range, known for a cooler high altitude climate and wine. It also happened to be the new home to my mother-in-law.
Our visit extended to months and then a year, despite telling ourselves this was only temporary. Lets just say, being 30, married and living in your parents home, is hardly a grand statement of our self proclaimed liberation from 'the man.' Deflated, embarrassed, yet still very determined to forge a new life, we rented a studio space along an old highway that had become a tourist drive in a village with a population of 270 people (soon to be 274).
Then there was four
The plan was to use this as a base for our market endeavours. Oh life just loves to throw in little surprises. I fell pregnant...with twins. I am sure pregnancy hormones make you slightly mad. Irrational even. I threw a bowl of porridge in the bush one morning before a market and balled my eyes out listening to the song “Little Talks” by Of Monsters and Men. We had $500 in the bank and two babies on the way. With markets out of the question, we decided to open a shop called Bridget Bunchy.
Our Recycled Gallery
What started as a one room shop with my label has flourished into 300 square metres of wonderland, filled with over 50 local artisans, up-cycled creations and adorable vintage pieces. We provide a platform for others to make an income making things. We have inspired a bit of a recycled/up-cycled revolution in our home town.
Through all of it, premature babies, extreme sleep deprivation and running a business on the skint , it was awesome to get that first shop sale and the delights of new parenthood warmed our hearts.
Bitcoin and the rest of the world
We created an online shop using Shopify, first shipping in Australia. Then we discovered bitcoin and the whole world opened up to us. Yay!!! We started offering international shipping and bitcoin payments. Ah the joy when I saw the first notification on my phone for a bitcoin order shipping to California.
I have poured my heart and soul into our shop. I don't think I have ever loved or worked for something so hard in my life.
My budget has been tight and everything from the paint, to the shop fittings has been sourced from tip shops and garage sales. But money aside, what I have managed to achieve with recycled materials is magical.
We rummage and recycled, wash, stitch and re-use, to help people see beauty in turning old into new.
We have earrings made from coins, blankets made into coats, old shirts sleeves made into wine bottle bags, bottle cap coasters, fence posts turned into chopping boards, broken vases fused into glass beads. Amazing original hand crafted creations that make use of existing resources.
Our storage room has been turned into a free craft materials exchange, a place of generosity and paying it forward.
We have been overwhelmed by the response to our shop both online and here in our village. It has not been easy but it has been so immensely rewarding. I look back at photos of my first market with those iPad cases. I can see now that many small steps, many small thoughts, many small decisions and shifts in attitude repeatedly over four years has changed the course of my life.
These days our life flows around family time, creative endeavours and enjoying all that this beautiful pocket of the world has to inspire.
I still remember that feeling, leaving Brisbane at sunrise with all of life's possessions in tow. That wonderful heady sense of freedom and no idea of the adventures ahead. I feel so much love for life and pride in what we have built.
How did we end up here? Well that heady sense of empowerment never really left. From the moment I sold those first four cases and made the decision to create my own income, I have never once swayed from that. When times get tough and vision falters, I remember that I don't want plan B. This is it, be innovative, adapt. Embrace opportunity, look for creative solutions, listen to people around you, visit new places, invest in family, share your soul, be you. Don't settle and be bold. Be confident in your awesomeness, we all have so much to contribute to the earth. Seek out like-minded people. Embrace community and connection.
P.S The milky way is mind blowing here on an inky black night.
- Isabella
That camper van is awesome! I have been following #vanlife for awhile and thinking of getting a van and building it up to a camper.
Welcome to Steemit!
Oh you will love it. A van is so compact and easy to travel with. I miss Sergio, we had to sell him to fit in two baby seats :) Ah the memories. My advice, go with the welded solid bed not one that folds up to seats. A good comfortable nights sleep is worth more than trying to sit in the back of a van anyway.
It's my dream too, a dream that comes closer, thanks to steemit.
Great storey makes me wish I was 15 years younger
Hehe, yess alot of nice photos. And a nice camping car :)
Keep up the good work and i lock forwoards for more great photos and blogging from you in future :)
You are so brave to do this. Now you have a story while most people have ethe same story...work for the weekend. It's awesome to see people really living life!
Awesome.....
So beautifully done. I love it love it love it....
What else does one say? I lived pretty tight for a good while at one point and learned to realize how the entire world was mine to live in...kind of expanded my view of things (though at times i got kinks in my back from sleeping in the car). Looks like you got that figured out though :)
Good stuff, the part of the story which I feel has somewhat of a gap (?) is how can one go from broke to store owner with 500$... how arethe setup costs covered (ok a lot can be covered with working on it yourself)... what about merchandise, etc? Obviously you can start small and if it goes better you expand to selling more and more stuff - but the initial setup and merchandise is a bit of a questionmark... (for that amount of money at least)
Hi - Yes there is a bit of a gap of time, we started the shop when I was six months pregnant, our daughters are now a little over 2 years old. We were lucky to find a cheap spot out of town but still on a tourist drive with perhaps unnoticed potential and a super awesome flexible landlord that was stoked to finally see someone take interest in the location and strike a deal. The local township is full of arty folk that were happy to stock on a consignment basis which is a win for filling a shop and preserving cash flow. The shop was small to start with but well attended by locals and tourists, plus we had our online shop income in the slow times. And you would be AMAZED at what shop fittings we found at the local tip shop! We love this town!
Aha, that makes sense... Thanks for explaining it... good luck with the shop, your kids and steemit!
Oh, and welcome aboard!
Hi Isabella!
I am glad that after many wanderings you have found a deal to their liking.
Signing onto Steemit was a great first step in helping you achieve the things you want in life.
Good luck
Thank you. I love that J.R.R Tolkien quote - not all who wander are lost. I only found out about Steemit yesterday. So cool.
Welcome and thanks for sharing :)
Thanks! Glad to be here.
What a great read! Can't wait to see more of your posts!
Oh shucks you are so random and kind :)
I can just imagine the view in Straya
Enjoy the star gazing and keep the planet going @bridgetbungy
What cute kids
They are adorable tornadoes! Thanks for the sky gifs!
good story isabella, hope i can following like you. :)
https://steemit.com/introducemyself/@kamvreto/steemit-have-a-limit-age-for-user-please-let-me-introducemyself
youre good
hello @bridgetbunchy !
welcome to steemit, nice introduce
Hi Isabella
Very inspiring story! Hope it all works out for the best. Thank you for sharing.
This is a very positive, inspiring post.
Not long ago, I was one of the countless german backpackers in OZ.
howyagoin, aye ?
G'Day and Cheers. Hope you loved Oz. We loved meeting all the backpackers on the road, you guys have such great tales of your own, travelling in another country has its own victories and challenges.
I had a great time, thanks.
I hope to see OZ again.
Shoutout to http://cockatoopaul.com/
Laughing Jimmy , SP and all the others
Wat a Brilliant Post!!!!!!
nice writing . but wherre is sergio?
Sergio has gone on to have many more adventures, unfortunately without us. We felt that to accommodate two baby seats we would have to change Sergio too much. He was made for living on the road a free man so we sold him for a sedan :(
Youget a beauty way of life, thank for share your history and i wish you the best
What a great dream coming thru. This is why sometimes you talk about persisting. It does pay of.you sometimes possess some great quality or in built qualities ,you dont know have. But do to being persistence that can unveil itself.
Great story! Welcome to SteemIT!
Small world - I'm from Brisbane too!
Interesting brand, I love seeing people reusing recyclable materials .. Welcome to steemit @bridgetbunchy :)
Deep down we all want freedom, of sorts, the 8-5 grind is not satisfying, no matter the title or paycheck - well done on your journey
Now that's an amazing story!
What a beautiful story and family!
One of my favorite posts so far on Steemit, thank you so much for sharing. What a beautiful story.
What a fantastic story. I wish you all the very best X
Very good post :D
Welcome aboard the SS Steemit!
just wow =O
Hello @bridgetbunchy, I admire what you did, quitting a good and satisfying job for the sake of self satisfaction. I know what it felt when you spent your whole day setting in front of a table doing what you need to do for a living. Reading your story makes me say "I wish I could do that someday".
That accept Bitcoin sign made my day. I hope lot more locations start to accept bitcoin :)
wow :) upvote with a smile!
What a story! Thanks for sharing. I can't even imagine the things you must have seen, felt and experienced along the way. A hard journey, but you stuck with it and now you are reaping the rewards.
Looks like quite the journey, thanks for sharing!
Wow what an adventure. You guys are like a solo greatful dead in Australia. I love it.
very creatives, and inspiring
Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the post Isabella. "Tea-towels, coffee sacks, leather belts, broken bags, ripped clothes, partially stained scarves were chopped up and stitched into new bags and jewellery"- I like it
A good idea
You're welcome, thanks for reading it. There is so much beauty in the discarded that just needs some love and innovation to unleash a new life.
Probably the best amateur writer/article I've seen on this site. While reading it, I couldn't help think the entire time, why didn't you get a sailboat instead??? You could then at least travel and eat somewhat for free (minus maintenance), albeit with a much higher chance of dying. You can even get a stand up shower in ones around 30' or higher and aren't that expensive. I plan to buy a 32-40' soon. If you have any noob questions about them, I probably know the answers if you want to ask.
whats is you is your shopify url, iam really curious with your idea and i want to see another product that you made
Hi, thanks for your interest. My online shop can be found at http://www.bridgetbunchy.com.au/.
Interesting post. Thanks for sharing!
You and your family are a BIG inspiration! I loved reading this and it put a huge smile on my face! Thank you for sharing your amazing story with us all.
Good on you to follow your heart. Great to see you are successful but don't forget to spend time with your children. they grow up too fast.
Thanks. Yes it is a fine balance isn't it. Our shop is only open 4 days a week so that I can really try to invest proper time with the girls on our days off. They are such gorgeous characters.
This is a great story and an example for future generations. We need more business's to follow your model, I am seeing more startups in our local community doing similar things here in New Zealand:)
Amazing #introduceyourself post and an even better life story. Such an interesting life you've lived and I'm happy about your success!
Great post Isabella, I love the camper :D