Hello From Tennessee

[WoodenYouKnowIt]

Hello to everyone. I just found this forum the other day and I found it REALLY fun! I decided to join. This looks like community of fun loving like-minded people.
I do not currently have a bus to convert. I am 59 years old and currently responsible for the caregiving for my 84-year-old parents. If I show this forum to my parents, they would very likely join too. They are skoolies from way back when only hippies did this. They converted a 1951 GMC 4103 into a home a very long time ago. I remember one problem that the coach had was that there was a lot of body flex when traveling. Walls and partitions would break loose from their mounts, cabinet doors were constantly flying open, etc. My parents were not good carpenters but I thought that, at the time, their work wasn’t half bad. I have often wondered since if this is a common problem with newer buses and coaches.
Another common problem for my folks was their finding a campground that would allow an old bus conversion to stay. It seems that many campground owners didn’t want old hippie buses anywhere near them. Is this still a problem?
I drove a school bus for a while and so, became familiar with newer buses from Blue Bird, Thomas and Amtran. Every weekday morning, during the school year, I would have about 45 minutes to wait between delivering the middle school/high school students and the elementary school students. Of course, I would have already pre-tripped the bus each morning. This involved crawling around under the bus and into the engine compartment to check all vitals. I was always amazed at how well built the buses were ONLY where it counted. There was always a lot of quality where needed and pure junk where quality didn’t matter.
I often studied my bus to see how a conversation could be made that would completely eliminate the look of a school bus. I decided that the removal of all side windows except the driver’s window would be important. They would need to be replaced with sheet metal panels and a few strategically placed RV windows. The corrugated panels common to school buses would also need to be removed. This would create a bus with smooth sides. But, I digress.
Finding this forum has refueled a lot of emotions for me. So, I’m happy to be here, happy to meet everyone and happy to start looking for an old bus to convert.

[bansil]

Welcome from N.E. TN

[axis]

Welcome !! I am new here and new to owning a bus..I have a short bus that I just bought...

Good question as to how they feel about buses staying at camp grounds.. many have nice buses converted into campers and they must be staying someplace when they camp..

[johnbloem1974]

We don't want to give the private RV parks our money, it we are not "good enough" for them. We will be trying to use state and national parks whenever we can. Additionally, any US Forest Service land is great as well. They have a lot of "dispersed Camping" - basically can camp wherever you can find a spot out of the way of a road.

John

[dredman]

why do you need a "campground"? I have been living in mine since August, and can count on one hand the times I stayed in a campground?

Highly over-rated, and VERY expensive parking as far as I am concerned.

[WoodenYouKnowIt]

Wow! These are ALL good answers. Thank you all so much!

I just haven't thought about these things. I feel much better. Ok, so now I'm moving forward from here. You guys ROCK!

Originally Posted by johnbloem1974

...Additionally, any US Forest Service land is great as well. They have a lot of "dispersed Camping" - basically can camp wherever you can find a spot out of the way of a road...

I did not think about this because I don't really know how much this type of land is available here in Tennessee. How do I go about researching this - anyone?
And since we’re on this subject, let me explain something of a smallish problem.
I’ve just graduated college on December 11 with a degree in foreign languages. I have a Spanish specialization and speak it at a level 4 out of 5 – 5 is “native.” I also speak Mandarin. Ok, enough bragging. I hate when language students start bragging about how incredibly awesome their foreign language abilities make them so I don’t want to do that. Jeeze! Such Narcissism!
Even before the semester ended, I’m wading through numerous job offers. Most of them are with K-12 school systems. Nashville is desperate for Spanish teachers. I really find this appealing because if I take work in an economically depressed area, I get my student loans forgiven. That’s like adding $10,000 to my yearly income and that’s NOT Nashville. But OMG, finding a place to live – even renting an apartment in a new town is staggering to me. I REALLY want to find a bus that I can convert and take advantage of this small-space-off-grid social movement that seems to be sweeping the nation. It doesn’t seem to have invaded Tennessee just yet but I can assure you that Tennessee is a place where the anti-establishment mentality is alive and well. (God I love Tennessee!) Since I don’t want to live in Nashville and I’m very willing to work in a rural community, it seems right that I should look for some place to park my bus and begin the transformation.
So here is my opportunity to escape the cattle-drive that forces so many college grads into conformity – house in the ‘burbs, two kids, two cars yada yada.
Where does an absolutely naïve nube such as myself, begin to even research places to live?
Is anyone here familiar with what we Tennesseans call “The Cumberland Plateau?” I ask this because I am really looking to live up on the plateau somewhere between say … Smithville and the Smokies. This really is God’s country - east of the Mississippi anyway.
Am I rambling?

[adamlogix]

Originally Posted by WoodenYouKnowIt

Wow! These are ALL good answers. Thank you all so much!

I just haven't thought about these things. I feel much better. Ok, so now I'm moving forward from here. You guys ROCK!



I did not think about this because I don't really know how much this type of land is available here in Tennessee. How do I go about researching this - anyone?
And since we’re on this subject, let me explain something of a smallish problem.
I’ve just graduated college on December 11 with a degree in foreign languages. I have a Spanish specialization and speak it at a level 4 out of 5 – 5 is “native.” I also speak Mandarin. Ok, enough bragging. I hate when language students start bragging about how incredibly awesome their foreign language abilities make them so I don’t want to do that. Jeeze! Such Narcissism!
Even before the semester ended, I’m wading through numerous job offers. Most of them are with K-12 school systems. Nashville is desperate for Spanish teachers. I really find this appealing because if I take work in an economically depressed area, I get my student loans forgiven. That’s like adding $10,000 to my yearly income and that’s NOT Nashville. But OMG, finding a place to live – even renting an apartment in a new town is staggering to me. I REALLY want to find a bus that I can convert and take advantage of this small-space-off-grid social movement that seems to be sweeping the nation. It doesn’t seem to have invaded Tennessee just yet but I can assure you that Tennessee is a place where the anti-establishment mentality is alive and well. (God I love Tennessee!) Since I don’t want to live in Nashville and I’m very willing to work in a rural community, it seems right that I should look for some place to park my bus and begin the transformation.
So here is my opportunity to escape the cattle-drive that forces so many college grads into conformity – house in the ‘burbs, two kids, two cars yada yada.
Where does an absolutely naïve nube such as myself, begin to even research places to live?
Is anyone here familiar with what we Tennesseans call “The Cumberland Plateau?” I ask this because I am really looking to live up on the plateau somewhere between say … Smithville and the Smokies. This really is God’s country - east of the Mississippi anyway.
Am I rambling?

Did you ever find any resources about finding this "government land"?