Couple exploring the country after creating fully sustainable vehicles

MILL CREEK — They wanted to be more than weekend warriors.

Ching Fu, 33, and her partner, Jerud Crandall, 36, didn’t want to wait until they retired to travel and see the great outdoors. They found a weekend or a one- to two-week jaunt wasn’t ever enough to really experience a place.

So they went to work in Asheville, North Carolina, rebuilding a silver fifth wheel, outfitting it with solar panels, electric appliances and even an waterless composting toilet. They converted a rusty, red and tan 1991 Ford F250 to run on waste vegetable oil.

Once their sustainable travel rig was in line with their commitment to living a green lifestyle, Crandall, a mechanical engineer, and Fu, a marketing professional, quit their jobs. They packed their stuff, rented out their house and hit the road in March.

“We wanted to show people you can live sustainably whether it’s in a home or on the road,” Fu said. “For us, we wanted to travel and see things.”

The couple is now camped out in Mill Creek, visiting family.

However, they hit a bump in the road two weeks ago when Fu’s touring bike with an attached dog trailer was stolen from the parking lot of the recently closed Mill Creek Safeway.

That’s made getting around more difficult. The couple depends on their bikes for local transportation.

Tybee, their 12-year-old Labrador-rottweiler mix, has arthritis and relies on riding in the dog trailer behind Fu’s bike. Tyki, a 2-year-old blue heeler mix, is able to run alongside the couple as they ride.

The couple has no itinerary. They stay in each place as long as they like.

“Our goal really is to visit smaller towns with a lot of outdoor stuff,” Fu said.

They plan to keep rolling as long as they can or until they decide they want to do something else.

Fu and Crandall earn money to keep traveling by doing odd jobs and with small real-estate investments.

“We’re not rich, we’re just ordinary people,” Crandall said. “The important thing to note is it doesn’t cost us a lot to live this way.”

They don’t have to pay to stay in RV parks because the solar panels power their rig anywhere there is sunshine. They avoid costly wastewater dumping fees because of their waterless-composting toilet.

Their fuel costs are lower because they only use diesel to start up and shut down the truck. They ask restaurants to give them used vegetable oil to burn and convert into fuel.

There is a cost to getting the oil ready to burn but it’s fairly inexpensive, Crandall said. The couple can travel about 400 miles on each 37-gallon tank of oil.

They also don’t spend much on propane because the only time they have to use it is when they want to bake in the trailer’s oven.

Their rig also has other eco-friendly features, such as LED lights and a low-flow shower. They go through about 40 gallons of water a week.

The couple said they invested about $30,000 to buy and rebuild their trailer and truck with sustainable features. They spent a year working on it before they hit the road.

“She’s always the one who comes up with ideas that make me do a lot of work,” Crandall said, pointing to his partner.

The couple decided to take to the open road because the 9-to-5 daily grind didn’t work for them. They weren’t interested in climbing the corporate ladder.

“For us, material goods aren’t as important as quality of life,” Fu said. “You have to be true to yourself about what you want and why you want it.”

The couple said they’re happy living on the road but the nomadic lifestyle doesn’t come without a lot of work.

“When you’re living on the road things don’t ever go as planned, you have to roll with the punches,” Fu said.

Still, they’re living small and enjoying the freedom that comes with it.

Amy Nile: 425-339-3192; anile@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @AmyNileReports.

Their adventures

Follow the couple’s travels at livesmallridefree.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.