I thought I would answer a few questions since I haven't been writing much and haven't been philosophical lately. Why are we making our bus a steampunk bus? Why is it called the Albatross?

The first answer is: because we can.

Steampunk is a look back at the future. It's the answer to the question... what would happen if modern technology were put in the hands of Victorians? As the author of a book on how to do things by hand and from scratch, it may seem like a bit of a contradiction. I see it differently - I believe in appropriate technology... technology that is appropriate and doesn't take away from the human experience.

Anyway, steampunk is cool because it's another level of scavenging, which is the highest form of recycling. I just read this article about a woman who lives almost for free by scavenging everything she needs. Our bus represents a huge recycling project - we took a retired ski bus and an RV that has bad tires and simply can't go very far, we'll combine them together with thrift store finds and handmade things to create something amazing.

Why is it called the Albatross? Besides being cumbersome and huge, seeing an albatross following a ship is considered good luck. The real reason, however, is that we were trying to find someone famous to name it after. The Edison? The Tesla? We decided to pay homage to someone not so famous, someone who failed but paved the way for someone else. We decided to name it after Le Bris' Artificial Albatross.