Skoolie Bus Progress + The Desire for Something Different

5 hours ago
5 min read

"Ohhh that is so cool, I always wanted to do something like that!"

We've heard some variation of this phrase dozens of times over the course of this project, ever since purchasing our bus in the fall of 2025. It's delightfully fun to hear how many people have considered or dreamed of the idea of an alternative lifestyle or traveling the country and beyond in a way that worked for themselves. While we may not know of many who are currently converting a big yellow school bus into a fully functional motorhome, we have come across many who share the desire for something different.

My husband, Adam, and I watched a school bus conversion video the other night that felt familiar... only to realize we had watched that exact video on YouTube two or three years ago. At that point it was just for fun and novelty. We loved watching videos of people who chose to live differently. It fascinated us to learn of people who lived off grid in beautiful naturescapes, half underground in energy-efficient earthen homes, on houseboats along a river or ocean, and of course, in school buses that had been converted into tiny homes on wheels. This video stood out because they also were a family of four, traveling with two kids.

It gave us a refreshing hope of our hard work coming to life in unique ways.

While we originally watched this video just for fun, this time we were taking specific notes on layout for functionality and safety, such as the seating they used when traveling and the design of their small kitchen space. So far, we have made significant progress that feels sooooo good to celebrate, but we also have a ways to go for it to be fully functional as a home on wheels, and even further for it to have off-grid capabilities.

Here's what we've done so far:

We unbolted the many seats it came with, tore up the original flooring (thank goodness, as it was quite water logged and would have caused mold issues if we hadn't), buffed and sealed the metal floor. We took off the school bus insignia on the outside. We tore out the metal walls and cleaned many pounds of gravel dust out of the walls and floor.

Then came insulation and subfloor, and insulation on the walls, with wood casing to frame in and give structure for attaching the walls. Adam worked late into the evening this weekend to get the flooring laid in the back half of the bus, and we've begun putting up the cedar tongue and groove boards for our soothing scented walls in the "primary suite". As I type, he and a family friend are framing in a shelf above our bed for the mini split system which will provide both heat and air conditioning for the entire bus.

It's beginning to really look like the start of a traveling home!

Next will be finishing the flooring, which had to be ordered in, and completing the cedar wall installation. Then we will be framing up our queen size bed plus the kids' bunk bed as we work our way from the back to the front. After that will come framing in the walls for our bedroom in the back, and the bathroom.

We returned to this video being revisited to observe their design for bunk beds and how they chose to complete their shower installation. Amidst giving a tour of the layout, the husband and father said exactly what we've already come to hear many times. "Often I hear people say how they wish they could do something like this... so do it!"

Too often we let the little boxes we have accepted as our own limitations get in the way, until we are unknowingly forcing ourselves into a way of life that we never intentionally created in the first place. I remember feeling like life was something that happened to me, rather that something I co-created with the powers that be. This mindset made me a victim of circumstance rather than an empowered woman.

We hear this kind of talk all the time. People choosing to complain about the state of the world, rather than use that energy to contribute and make it better. People choosing to accept physical states of unwellness because they choose to use their diagnosis as an excuse not to try. People choosing to complain about how they can't afford the trip, the adventure, the experience they desire, while simultaneously spending the money it would take to do so on materialistic or completely unnecessary purchases. People choosing not to grow and explore something different for fear of leaving what is miserable but familiar.

Since we were children, many of us have been made to believe a picture of a life that was never ours. The picture perfect family with a big house and white picket fence. The idea that we should work the best years of our life to advance in companies that don't care one bit about us or our families. The newest car, the brand new technology, the latest trend that screams, "look at me, I am wealthy and successful." The illusion that children's days are better spent indoors doing hours of busy work rather than challenging their body and mind outdoors as they create and play. The acceptance of food products that don't contain any real food grown or raised under the sunshine.

Our bodies, minds, and spirit reject it wholeheartedly.

We treat migraines with over-the-counter medicine, despite them being created by intense stress levels and eight hours under fluorescent lights. We plug away at jobs we can barely tolerate, much less love, for a paycheck to purchase the things we've been told are required for life. Depression has skyrocketed higher than ever before, with young people facing the highest rates. Children who should be playing and exploring are instead being diagnosed with anxiety. Kids and adults alike who were wired to be explorers, hunters, and gatherers are instead being medicated in order to tolerate environments that simply don't work. And everywhere I go, I look into the eyes of people whose spirit seems to have been diminished so severely that their light is barely visible.

For us, the bus is more than just a fun project. It's a portal into a world that we desire... one that is different that what we've believed is possible.

Growing up in the nineties, we watched Ms. Frizzle call her students to board the Magic School Bus before going on epic adventures together. While we might not be able to shrink ourselves and enter the human body, we can explore in ways that challenge our thinking and encourage adventure. We can take this little tiny home on wheels to park in the most awe-inspiring "backyards" in our country, as we enjoy the journey of visiting as many National Parks as we are able. We can find new ways to connect and make new friends all around the continent as we visit beloved family and friends. We can learn as we travel with real life experience and living history, visiting science museums and historical sites beyond the textbooks. We can grow in closeness as we create memories rooted in peaceful exploration rather than stressed out over-productivity. We can explore what it feels like to be nomadic, while having loving roots to return home to.

From the many who have shared, we know we are not the only ones. And you don't have to build a bus to start thinking outside those boxes of limitation. Anytime you want to do something that feels inspired by your spirit and you hear your mental programming say, "I can't"... ask it why not?!

Let's seek out small ways of creating more wholeness, more togetherness, and more exploration of that which lights up our soul!