In British Columbia you can just buy a school bus and drive it, on a regular driving license provided you take the seats out and the signs down. It doesn’t matter that it weighs 8 tonnes, it doesn’t matter than it is basically a steel tank, it doesn’t matter that your last car was a smart car, you’re free to drive the length and breadth of one of the largest counties on earth.

Every day I drive it is a fun day, and everywhere I stay is a new place full of new adventures. It almost feels like too much fun and I keep thinking someone will stop me and tell me it is illegal to have so much fun.

It is undoubtedly the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, abandoning the stability and predictability of living in an apartment.

But then again, you can’t beat these views.

Every morning the sun wakes me up

I go for a swim in the lake

I look at the mountains

I write a little code

I look at the stars if the conditions are right

Then I go to sleep. And I would like to do this every day I can until I can no longer do these things.

Other things I do

Converted buses are rare. I have seen a few, but not a lot.

Sometimes I worry I’ll get stuck. Then I remember this is fucking bus with a big commerical engine and it does not care.

I swam in this river one morning and felt quite free ~

It blows my mind there are campsites like this that are free for 2 weeks. I cackle myself to sleep every night at these. Take that landhoards.

The sunset always lets me know when bed time is approaching. Which means time to read a book :)

Roof solar panels are awesome. The whole bus is powered by solar and I find that immensely gratifying. I have a little app where I can obsess over the Solar in and various power draws. Once my solar panels hit 110% efficiency, they can actually do that.

Misc FAQs

How do you cook? Deal with food?

Like regular people, but using camping equipment. It’s much more flexible than having a fixed cooking stove. Most of the food in the fridge is vegetarian/vegan, I’m not strict about any particular diet I just like the taste of tofu and these kinds of foods last for months which is really useful if I intend to stay somewhere for a long time. I cannot express how much I do not want to endure food poisoning in the woods. The bus has a nice sized fridge and a small freezer. It doesn’t take a lot of power (varies with the weather) but it is the most consistent power draw which takes most of the batteries because it runs on and off, an average I think of 12 hrs a day (again, depending on the weather).

Delicious soup!

Tofu eggs, rice and veg

Pancakes! A rare but enjoyable treat.

Cleanliness

The bus has a composting toilet which works very well, but if there are other toilets available I use those for obvious reasons.

The bus has a shower which works OK. But it uses a lot of water so it’s only used now and then. Some campsites have showers, which are a welcome treat. Mostly I swim in lakes. I don’t take body wash into them I just use a little afterwards. I find this works a lot better than I would have expected. This is likely because I cannot grow hair, so, YMMV. For those with hair, washing in the sink works quite well. Covering your head with water is extremely refreshing and not having it makes me quite miserable, lakes are the best for this, even if a bit chilly, but I have plenty of insulation so I don’t mind.

Power, heat etc.

The internal electrics run on 2x 3600 kwh lithium batteries connected to an array of 4 solar panels. This is largely sufficient for most of the year. I have 2x 400W portable panels which are really good for VERY hot days when the bus needs to be in the shade.

The bus works like a greenhouse, it heats up very well and gets cold very well. Realistically the temperature inside is the same as the outside. Certainly at night. At night a big duvet and blankets regulate the temperature, that works even at -4C ish.

When it gets cold enough that heaters are required I go stay at RV campgrounds that offer power. It’s not too expensive and means that I can stay comfy and warm. I use a little electric heater and have an AC/Heater unit which is very good at keeping too much moisture out of the air and keeping the bus toasty. There is also a diesel heater but I haven’t got that working as well or as clean as I’d like.

I do think that if I was going to brave more months of the year in the bus I’d work on better insulation, fix up the diesel heater and get more solar panels and I’d be just fine. But I’m not going to do that so I’ve no real need.

Where do you stay? How do you pick a route?

I just head in A direction and see how that goes, often it might be towards where a friend lives and I’ll leisurely make my way there. At some point I got used to having no schedule and nowhere to be which is quite freeing. You can’t be a control freak about this kind of stuff, you have to relinquish total control and just see what happens. That being said, Overlander is my best friend when finding places, and does allow for some planning. I gladly pay the optional yearly subscription because of how much they’ve saved me and stress. I also make sure to add places and check-in for others.

Usually I’ll create a map of all the places on the route I’m going and check out the top of my list and if that falls through, try option 2, 3, etc. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten past option 2, and even that’s rare. Rest stops are usually meh, (there’s usually not much to do) but very dependable and the backbone of some longer trips. Casinos are very convenient, all of them will let you stay 1 night in their car park, they ask no money and there’s no check-in or out times which for 1 night is perfect. They also have toilets which if not 24/7 will likely be 18/7, a coffee shop and restaurant which are often OK and fairly cheap (subsidised by gambled pensions). I’ll often pick them over a campsite for a one night stop just due to convenience. For your first visit all of them will also give you about $10-$20 of “have fun” money. I always take this, gamble it and you’re likely to win something back which I spend on lunch. I don’t gamble otherwise, not my thing.

No one has ever asked me to move or told me I can’t park somewhere when I was going to stay overnight. Someone once informed me I couldn’t park in a particular spot, I asked what will happen if I do, and they told me I’d get towed. I informed them that a tow truck for an 8 tonne bus takes a minimum of 3 hours to arrive so I can park anywhere for at least 2 hours. Surprisingly enough to me, most people find the converted bus very cool, and I think enjoyable rebellious, so most people are very accommodating, excited to ask about it, and even more excited to come aboard and look around.

Fuel

I get lots of questions about fuel, as if the bus is a space ship.

It takes Diesel, the fuel cap specifies unleaded which concerns me because I feel like that goes without saying?

The tank is 240L.

I don’t know exactly how fuel efficient it is because the fuel gauge is free spirited. I think it’s between 1000km and 1200km per tank.

Filling the tank costs ~ $400, So it’s roughly 40c p/km, maybe a bit less honestly, depends on fuel prices.

I don’t spend that much in fuel, for the last trip, which was 5ish months I think I spent about $1400 on fuel total, so 3.5 tanks. Considering I spent $2k p/m on Rent, I think that’s a bargain. I can also if I wish to, drive less and spend less which I think is very different than Rent which I can’t easily alter the cost of by changing my lifestyle.

Did you come here in the bus?

No, How? We’re in Denmark (or wherever you’re asking this), what kind of sway do you think I have with container ships or NASA?

I get asked this in the most crazy of places. It’s an American school bus, it can only exist (without the involvement of major complications, costs, large bribes, lawyers and city planners) on the North American plate.

How did you buy it? Where from?

Some bloke, it cost $18,000, was built in 2009 and had around 100,000 km on it. I was told the engine light only came on as it hadn’t been driven in a while. What a gullible chump. I’ve since spent maybe $10k in various repairs and improvements since I’ve owned it (for about 5 years, travelling for 2). You can actually buy them from schools, which is where this one came from (go figure).

Was it pre-converted?

Nope. I did everything. Largely because most options out there were half baked, done badly, or done VERY well and far exceeded my budget. To be fair even if I had the money I wouldn’t buy pre-built. Building it is very satisfying. If you live in it full time, you’re going to be fixing it and if it’s your un-handiwork you know how to fix it which is very helpful. Definitely worth keeping spare bits around, fuses, screws, straps, tools etc.

Wow you must be handy!

Nope. Nothing is straight, and I am a terrible plumber and it is not instagram-worthy. It does however work and I love my bus and my space. I will give credit to myself for the electrics, that stuff has worked without issue.

I do recall a friend coming to see me as I was working on the tiling and cutting it with a saw. He asked why I was using it without water. And pointed to the box where it said on the box “WET TILE SAW”. I thought that meant it was for wet tiles like a bathroom. Anyway after adding water it was MUCH easier. So yeah. Not so handy. Stubborn to a fault though which helps finish things.

That being said, I did take a welding course so I could weld the seats. I was quite proud of that. Welding is neato, my welds are very amateur but supposedly that doesn’t matter too much.

I spent probably $3000 to $4000 building the interior (sans electrics which were roughly $10k). All of the wood I got free (as offcuts) from my previous job. Insulation and flooring was donated by a good friend, lots of bits and bobs were thrifted. So all I really paid for was the sink, fridge, screws and some tools.

I will say if you ever plan to do this, having it be at your house would be infinitely easier, I did this near my house until I was told to move it, (quietly) at a U-Haul place until I had better options. I also stored all of the wood inside the bus as it was free and I needed it dry which was a huge pain in the arse.

Should I do this?

I would advise trying it first if you can before you commit. The first month low key sucks, but you’re learning to live in a completely different way which is frustrating. After that it’s glorious.

Build Pics

How I bought the bus, most of the seats were already taken out, which made insurance less complex. > 8 seats is a bus which means I can’t legally drive it, FUN FACT.

I was pleasantly surprised to find the floor was not 100% rust. I cleaned it all up then painted it in some VERY expensive chemical that I think will outlast the bus and the human race, it had 5 different chemical warnings on it.

I laid down some Damp proof membrane, insulation over top, a little wooden frame on the walls and floor and topped it off with some plywood. Did with a few friends too which was fun. The bed was mostly pieces of an IKEA bed I found free on Facebook Marketplace. I recall the man chuckling over a coffee as he watched me load this double bunk bed thing into a smart car. Jokes on him, it fit perfectly, and it was much too late to be drinking coffee, bet he slept like shit.

Shower! Agh! The first thing that felt like I was making a little house. It took 3 attempts until the hole I drilled in the floor didn’t hit an I beam of some kind.

Woodworking is very satisfying, even if you’re crap at it.

Bad plumbing, this leaked a lot, but I did fix it.

An actually not bad tile job. In retrospect, why did I pick hexagonal tiles for my first tile job, what was I thinking? That being said, I was so proud of this.

Me welding one of my little seats. Got both done in about 4 hours which was pretty swish I thought. Then they got painted and installed. FUN FACT - BC doesn’t seem to have seating regulations and whoever inspected the bus looked at them and said “looks fine” and legally I have 4 seats with seatbelts now. Wild.

Fridge has a little casing. Note the perforated wall, it’s so the wool insulation can breathe.

SEATS! YEEAHHS Seats.

Finished shower. So proud I included 2 pics.

The bus mostly done, painted etc.