wow, so a couple I helped pick out a bus.....

[bansil]

Bombed on the Skoolie community

(disclaimer:I am not writing this to upset anyone, it is just an observation I can not understand by myself)

There is a couple here locally that think this site is stupid after I invited them here, yes I helped them pick a bus out, with the intention of building a Skoolie (they liked ours) only problems is apparently this site is poor people and hippies, we are not hippster enough

I guess I wasn't clear enough of what a Skoolie is and the reason behind buying and building one...it is a personal thought process that leads you on a journey as you cut/bend/tear/install/bleed etc...and mold your dream into an old school bus to enjoy life and friends with

SO....

Are they building a Skoolie? NO...they are building a "tiny home" I am not a fan of that scene personally.

Guess I will hit post...and then report myself

WHY?

1) First off it is driving the price of buses up, at least locally.

2) I can not wrap my head around 2 people and a couple dogs living in 280 sq feet or so, their choice tho'

They are young and are putting 40k to 50k into an old flatnose (this is not a rebuilt drive train...it is entirely on or in the old bus)

They are going green...yes..green to help the environment, they will have the roof covered in solar panels and have about 20 batteries! (the reason they wanted underbelly storage, when I heard that, I told them it will not be strong enough as it is)

custom built wood cabinets/cubby holes and a loft (roof raised) floor done in hardwood etc, outside covered in cedar type planks and plenty of insulation so the wood stove will keep it warm in the winter above 2500 ft

AND all of this supported by a composting toilet...yes..I said you mean a toilet that burns the refuse? NO a toilet that can be recycled into fertilizer for our garden.
"A garden? Ugh where?"
"We bought 15 acres and will live in "our tiny home" on it"


I don't agree...and definitely do not understand it...I just looked and said "WHY? You can build a small home and then can expand in the future a room at a time"

The response was "if it is attached to the ground we have to pay taxes on it, and we do not need building permits or inspections building a bus" (they don't want government messing with their lives)

.......I shook my head....I am not jealous...I just do not understand it

I am old I guess...just had to get this off my chest....feel free to explain to me the reasoning behind this growing thought process.

[RHOMBUS]

Hey, bansil. I guess I'll give a shot because my goal is sorta the same, but became a little more along the way.

I plan on getting land in the future, and the cost of buying and dragging a single-wide mobile home I'm guessing would be far more than what I can build my bus for. I plan on living in the bus fulltime when I get the land (a distant dream still) while I build a cabin and shop space. My budget is the same as theirs now because I keep thinking of new stuff I want. I plan on a composting toilet so I can save the space and weight of a blackwater tank. Right now it's just me and my rescue cat, so I don't have an overcrowding issue.

I then decided that I wanted to do more with the bus than have it be a temporary home. I wanted it to become my retirement RV (in 20 years or whatever) and would like to go a little crazy with the design because... why not? I have a self-propelled 40 foot long diesel powered platform of creative opportunity ^.^

I think a bus as a living platform is a LOT safer than some of the tinyhome flatbed trailers I've seen videos of, at least when it comes to moving them around.

I do think the skoolie-tiny-home trend is only going to increase, but that's because it's becoming kinda trendy. That's good news for the community I think, because with enough of a marketplace, we all could see new offerings and ideas, products and services that would make a lot of things easier, more efficient and more comfortable. Unfortunately, used bus sellers will raise their prices to match the perceived demand.

Personally, I'd really like it if A LOT of people built skoolies so we could get RV parks that will accept us.

As for being a "green" option, HAHAHA. I'd like to think so, but really, it's a diesel powered heavy vehicle. Not so green really in my opinion.

In my thinking, even if I became homeless in the future, I'd still have my bus to live in on some old farmer's land if it came to that. I don't know about all of the government stuff, but the highways are federal, and they can take a vehicle a lot quicker and with a lot less paperwork than land if they wanted to.

I do find it strange that they would refer to this particular community as a bunch of poor people and hippies when they are trying to get the most for the least money themselves, and going green, living off the land, making a minimal environmental impact, etc, would seem to be in line with hippies since their beginning.

Oh well. They will have an "elite" schoolbus to live in I suppose. Better than everyone elses. Hope it doesn't explode from the 20 batteries they are going to get.

[crazycal]

I just do not understand it

You said it yourself, YOU'RE JUST OLD! LOL. There is a show on one of the channels, don't remember which one, that was about tiny houses. I had a hard time containing my laughter. $50-90k and you couldn't sit up in bed or had to go wash your hands in the kitchen after taking a crap because there was no sink in the bathroom. All one guy cared about was a composting toilet. HE HAD TO HAVE A COMPOSTING TOILET! His sister was disgusted.

The way I see it is what ever floats your boat is fine by me. I don't care who you sleep with, what you sleep with, the fact that you want to use human poo to fertilize your dinner salad. JUST DON'T TRY TO CHANGE THE COUNTRY INTO YOUR TWISTED VIEW OF THE WORLD. Stay in your backyard and I will stay in mine and we will call it good.

[leadsled01]

I have to say.. the human manure thing is far beyond what I'm willing to do or even entertain the thought.
I know exactly the TV show crazycal mentioned. Its really a good laugh if you're hard up for entertainment.

[slaughridge85]

poor people and hippies huh? I'd like to think of myself more along the lines of a poor hillbilly... thank you very much...

[CaptSquid]

I'm more on the order of avante garde!

[bansil]

I reckon I am an Appalachian Hillbillian with front porch tendencies
+ + + =
.
.
.
.

[Scooternj]

Originally Posted by slaughridge85

poor people and hippies huh? I'd like to think of myself more along the lines of a poor hillbilly... thank you very much...

I consider myself a poor, middle aged college student...since that's what I am right now

[CaptSquid]

Poor and College Student are synonymous.

[M1031A1]

Originally Posted by slaughridge85

poor people and hippies huh? I'd like to think of myself more along the lines of a poor hillbilly... thank you very much...

I prefer Texas Redneck myself..........

[sdwarf36]

Thats ok-let the tiny house kick run its course. Soon there will be a bunch of over built buses for sale as soon as it becomes "un-trendy". (Pat. pending on the term.)
And think how much better off us hippies + po' folks are when we can change our own fuel filters-and how much a road call to their back 40 will be from a mobile diesel mechanic.
Bansil-maybe you should send a link to Offgr1d's build.

[bansil]

Originally Posted by sdwarf36

Bansil-maybe you should send a link to Offgr1d's build.

[EastCoastCB]

Guilty as charged here. A hippie who has no money.
I SCARE the hell outta yuppies!

The "tiny home" spectrum of "the scene" is admittedly my least favorite element. But to each their own.

[dan-fox]

I'm an effete snob, but I like it here.

[Hank's P-O-S]

I know we aren't really talking about tiny homes.
Any one building a tiny home in a bus or on a trailer is kinda dumb. Un less you plan on moving twice a year, why on earth wouldn't you use a 53 foot reefer trailer?
Pre insulated to R30, more room, higher ceilings, tones of room for custom under-body storage...
Any one living in under 200 sq. ft. is going to hate themselves if they ever break a leg or throw their back out.

[charles_m]

Well, I guess I am part of the problem. There was a cable TV show about my bus that is about Tiny Homes. Over the course of a year, I spent $30k on my bus, all told and did all the work myself except the custom sheetmetal on my roof raise and the fine-cabinetry. That's a lot, but I'd need 3x that for a downpayment on a home in the denver area, plus the monthly payments.....I can't do it.

I saved my money, worked full-time while I built it, lived rent-free for 6 months, and took out a smaller loan for $10k to cover the rest. A lot of sacrifice, but it all worked. This was my one shot to go big and make it how I'd always wanted to in my previous buses.

I am a busman, however. Not a tiny home person. Ive been living in buses (3 total) on and off for about 10 years. I chose to live a bus, because I love them and I live them and they have been very good to me. I liked sharing my bus as a viable alternative to a tiny home for less money. I'd never spend $50k on a bus. I mean, I would, if it wasn't my money... but I got all the bus I wanted for far less $$$. I still dont like a lot about tiny houses, but I do like some of the things we've been raggin on.

I like living with less ****, I like being mobile, I like having a steering wheel and gas pedals in my living space, I like a nicely finished interior. I dont like modern, I like nice with clever woodwork and I do like steel and copper, too. I guess the inside of my bus might be a little 'hipster' but whatever. Ive been into this for long before tiny house stuff ever hit me. I was inspired by the house trucks of the 60s and the gypsy wagons before them.

That said, school buses are a great platform. For a few grand, you get a lot of equipment that is very solidly built. I use a composting toilet for a lot of reasons--main one being that I am not on hookups, and dont want hookups inorder to drain my pooptank. That's a choice, that's what I chose.

I use a big solar system (not 20 batteries! lol) because I dont want hookups.

and I really dont need more than 200sqft to live comfortably. I dont work out of my bus--I have a shop and studio for that, so its plenty of room to sleep, ****, eat, screw, and have a few few guests and it never feels cramped. I also think that's a testament to good design, but I'll save the pats on the back for other people

I help other people build their own skoolies, too. I like that the DIY spirit is coming back and I think it is in a different style than what some of us are used to. I appreciate the creativity people have in their finish choices and I appreciate the idiots who dont know what they are doing but still want to try.

People are tired of being in debt for a home that's too big on land they dont love thats full of crap they dont need. I support anyone who decides to refine their living and get on with less of the excess. I bet most of us here feel the same. This is one awesome way that my generation is doing that and yes, it's encroaching on our turf, which I love and I have been a member of for many years before I joined this site, but I am glad that other people, even those in the mainstream are rethinking how they live.

The unexamined life is not worth living!

Most people dont know enough about buses to be good owners, but that is their expensive loss. I love knowing how to operate my machinery to its fullest.

I'm a lifer, and anyone who choses to take this journey can't be too different

[crazycal]

Originally Posted by charles_m

Well, I guess I am part of the problem. There was a cable TV show about my bus that is about Tiny Homes. Over the course of a year, I spent $30k on my bus, all told and did all the work myself except the custom sheetmetal on my roof raise and the fine-cabinetry. That's a lot, but I'd need 3x that for a downpayment on a home in the denver area, plus the monthly payments.....I can't do it.

I saved my money, worked full-time while I built it, lived rent-free for 6 months, and took out a smaller loan for $10k to cover the rest. A lot of sacrifice, but it all worked. This was my one shot to go big and make it how I'd always wanted to in my previous buses.

I am a busman, however. Not a tiny home person. Ive been living in buses (3 total) on and off for about 10 years. I chose to live a bus, because I love them and I live them and they have been very good to me. I liked sharing my bus as a viable alternative to a tiny home for less money. I'd never spend $50k on a bus. I mean, I would, if it wasn't my money... but I got all the bus I wanted for far less $$$. I still dont like a lot about tiny houses, but I do like some of the things we've been raggin on.

I like living with less ****, I like being mobile, I like having a steering wheel and gas pedals in my living space, I like a nicely finished interior. I dont like modern, I like nice with clever woodwork and I do like steel and copper, too. I guess the inside of my bus might be a little 'hipster' but whatever. Ive been into this for long before tiny house stuff ever hit me. I was inspired by the house trucks of the 60s and the gypsy wagons before them.

That said, school buses are a great platform. For a few grand, you get a lot of equipment that is very solidly built. I use a composting toilet for a lot of reasons--main one being that I am not on hookups, and dont want hookups inorder to drain my pooptank. That's a choice, that's what I chose.

I use a big solar system (not 20 batteries! lol) because I dont want hookups.

and I really dont need more than 200sqft to live comfortably. I dont work out of my bus--I have a shop and studio for that, so its plenty of room to sleep, ****, eat, screw, and have a few few guests and it never feels cramped. I also think that's a testament to good design, but I'll save the pats on the back for other people

I help other people build their own skoolies, too. I like that the DIY spirit is coming back and I think it is in a different style than what some of us are used to. I appreciate the creativity people have in their finish choices and I appreciate the idiots who dont know what they are doing but still want to try.

People are tired of being in debt for a home that's too big on land they dont love thats full of crap they dont need. I support anyone who decides to refine their living and get on with less of the excess. I bet most of us here feel the same. This is one awesome way that my generation is doing that and yes, it's encroaching on our turf, which I love and I have been a member of for many years before I joined this site, but I am glad that other people, even those in the mainstream are rethinking how they live.

The unexamined life is not worth living!

Most people dont know enough about buses to be good owners, but that is their expensive loss. I love knowing how to operate my machinery to its fullest.

I'm a lifer, and anyone who choses to take this journey can't be too different

You're part of the problem. Just kidding. I don't really have a problem with tiny houses per se. It just cracks me up when someone pays 80 grand for for some little piece of crap that might have cost 20k to build. They don't have sucker written on their forehead, they have dumbass tattooed on there. I am all for living modestly. I just get tired of people trying to shame me for not doing the same.

[charles_m]

I definitely hear you and I have mixed feelings about all of it. It makes me feel less special thats for sure which is a bruise to my ego, but what isn't?!

I think I spent more than I would have liked to on my bus. And I do feel silly for how much it was, but I'd feel a lot dumber if I was someone who was proud of myself for building a tiny house that only cost me $30,000 but then I spend another $20,000 on a new truck to tow it! That's a whole 'nother part of the crazy

[roach711]

Gun toting Republican here. How uncool is that?

I figure people should do what they want as long as they don't hurt anyone else while doing it. Just don't give me any flack when I do the same. What bugs me are those that think their way is the only way and want to force everyone else to do the same.

[crazycal]

Originally Posted by roach711

Gun toting Republican here. How uncool is that?

I figure people should do what they want as long as they don't hurt anyone else while doing it. Just don't give me any flack when I do the same. What bugs me are those that think their way is the only way and want to force everyone else to do the same.

That sounds like some members here.