Skoolies

S

sargentodiaz

Member
Location
North Las Vegas, NV
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]
[/FONT]
​
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Who on earth has heard of these before?

[/FONT]
​
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]

[/FONT]
​
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]We’ve all heard of motor homes and travel trailers. I’ve even seen converted school buses before. But, never anything like this.[/FONT]​
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Skoolie life is built on the idea that happiness and desk jobs are like oil and water. A fast-growing branch of the van life community, many of them millennial parents, is trading its homes and jobs to live in school buses in rebuff of the so-called American dream. Skoolies believe in a life free of picket fences, 401Ks, and 30-year mortgages—all the securities their baby boomer parents coveted. “We knew early on we wanted a different life than our parents,” says Amanda Smith, who lives on the Giant White Bussalo with her family of five. “Our parents just worked nonstop every day. We didn’t want to do the ‘you get married, buy a house, have babies, and pay off your debt the rest of your life.’”[/FONT]​
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]I just wonder where they get the money to live on.[/FONT]​
 

My soon-to-be step daughter and her fiancé just bought a school bus to convert into a skoolie!!!! They currently live in a tiny house (ever heard of those?) on her Dad's property, which they and Ron spent 5 months working on so it was livable, because it was just studs inside to start out. It's a work of art now. I need to make a thread about that!

Anyway, yeah, now they're onto their next project which is a skoolie. They bought the bus at auction in February...Feb 14 actually, as their Valentine's day present to themselves!
52039673_2522315587785484_4941139829988524032_n.jpg

They have it parked at a friend's house in the country while they start work on it. Here it is after they spent last w/e gutting the interior...all the seats are out!
53211709_1956357131152880_7931753527020355584_n.jpg

Extra..here are the folks who are doing all the work. Their wedding is in May...I posted about that elsewhere on the forum I think.
51200771_2497900356893674_2569371847330103296_n.jpg
 
I've seen converted school buses before, but didn't know it's become a fad called skoolies. If I had to compare, I'd prefer a tiny house.

Neither one seems good for small children, I'm thinking.

Ronni, nice pic of the engaged couple! :)
 
All this tiny houses and school bus living with children (and sometimes it's SEVERAL children) sounds good on paper. But wait until the 18 straight days of rain with the small area hung with wet coats and muddy boots and five children whining "I'M BOOOOOORED" incessantly and there's going to be homicide for sure. I'd love to see the figures on the percentage of families that have fled back to a regular house within a year of moving into their dream tiny house/bus/yurt/boat.

A couple of years ago, the neo-hippies across the street brought a huge school bus and parked it in front of their house, almost blocking our little t-shaped cul-de-sac. Their harebrained plan was to convert it into living quarters for their "friends" (apparently the approximately 18 people living with them in their little two-bedroom house --- sleeping in the garage and on the screened porch -- wasn't enough). They actually though they were going to be able to park the bus permanently in front of the house. The HOA lady and the Code Enforcement guy explained the facts of life to them. They were astounded that they couldn't do that.
 
Skoolies have been around for a long time. Heck, back in the 60's I had an old 55 chevy bus, complete with wood stove :D to live in for a while.
I have had quite a few of them for there are practical uses for some. However, The bigger issues with skoolies these days are...
1- it's getting harder to find an insurance company to cover them.
2- Out on the road, you'll discover a lot of campgrounds don't allow them.
3- If parked on the street, someone will inevitably call the law.
4- even on BLM land, the rangers tend to come around more often to eyeball you then they would for someone in an RV.

Here are a few of the buses I've had.
https://lifeisacarnivalblog.wordpress.com/2017/04/
 
Almost forgot to add. There are also a lot of problems associated with the tiny home movement.
For one thing, people are finding out that a lot of community's have some kind of zoning regulations that prohibit them.
Usually, they are not self contained which means they must be hooked to a sewer system and that alone create's problems. Some have found that after they move into a tiny home on a relatives property that they are regulated out.
Another thing, is the cost of one. Not so bad if you are a do it yourself kind of person, but, when you look at the price of some of them, it seems to be more practical to just purchase a used camper. Already self contained, and no where near as heavy when one considers moving it down the road.
Of course, the issue of insurance raises its ugly head once more.
Granted, there are times when a tiny house would make sense. For instance, I built one for my mother to live in. Fortunately for me, I live in an area where there are not so many restrictions.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0277.JPG
    IMG_0277.JPG
    67.2 KB · Views: 20
SD, your super bus conversion was fascinating. Now, I can't appreciate the mechanical and technical descriptions, but I got the gist of things. I think there's not much you cannot do! Thanks for this look inside your lives.
 
RadishRose said:
SD, your super bus conversion was fascinating. Now, I can't appreciate the mechanical and technical descriptions, but I got the gist of things. I think there's not much you cannot do! Thanks for this look inside your lives.
Click to expand...

Thank you RR. being poor, I learned early that if something is human made, than I should be able to learn how to make it myself. It has been our guiding thought all of our life. I have discovered that most people are unwilling to even try something. Of course, I'll conveniently leave out any and all the mistakes I've made. :p:p and there have been a few. :)
 
This was ours until we sold it in 2016. I really missed it we had it for 11 years. Started out an old 1991 yellow school bus. Hubby with help from son and I did all the painting and remodeling. Took us awhile but we used on many trips while getting it ready.




2W1ZHMV.jpg


Inside. Although I redid it later with more white and lighter pastel blue.

FrzwMPx.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top