future fulltimers checking in

[themoreweexplore]

Hello everyone. We are a couple in our early 30s looking to build a skoolie for full-time mobile living. This forum have been invaluable as we research bus builds.

We are avid backpackers and mountain bikers. Here is our wish list for our bus. We realize we won't get all of these ans that they're a bit optimistic.

- rear garage (or at least a side garage) is a must to keep our 2 mountain bikes safe, secure, and out of the way.
- reliable, strong, low maintenance drivetrain (we can dream)
- rust free
- able to cruise at 70mph comfortably
- high ground clearance is a plus, since we travel on a lot of dirt roads

plans:
- we will be towing a 4,000 lb 4x4 toad
- no blackwater tank, we will use a composting toilet
- lots of solar panels and batteries
- induction burner and solar oven for cooking (no propane or microwave)
- heavily insulated
- small fridge, we dont need a full size fridge

ideas that are still up in the air:
- propane free?
- wood burning stove?
- length? 32 feet seems great


We will be doing a video documentary and build thread of our research, purchase, build, and travel process.

Steve has a decent mechanical background with a good amount of welding and fabrication experience. Tess is a hair stylist with an eye for design and she has exceptional sewing skills. We have a lot to learn about framing, electrical, propane and plumbing among many many more topics.

We are also stuck making the transition from salaried employees to mobile employees. Steve does Instructional Design and eLearning professionally, with a good dose of video production as well.

[themoreweexplore]

this past week we rented our first RV to educate ourselves. This is what followed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEV4rfnGIKk

[crazycal]

Love the video. Cool dog.

[themoreweexplore]

Thanks, he's the best. Day 2 video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9KcPIMGOYE

[EastCoastCB]

Very smart. I see lots of folks that want to jump in with both feet. Very few try out an rv for a week or two before such drastic measures.

[themoreweexplore]

We still have a lot to learn, that's for sure. I wish I could take a test-ride in a skoolie, it's been a few years.

Is there a skoolie roundup or meetup? That'd be pretty cool to attend.

[EastCoastCB]

lol me and some friends "meet up" at my bus every weekend. Come on over. I'll take you for a spin in it.
We have some nice warm weather going right now!

[family wagon]

It was fun watching your first video, mostly because as I watched the highway scenery all of the sudden I had this jarring "hey wait! I've been there, I just know it!" response. That happened at the wind farm at the mouth of the canyon, by the way. That with a few other data points, like the "300 East" highway sign (so far as I can tell, there's only one state in the nation that names their roads like that!) totally confirmed it. I'll send you a PM.

[themoreweexplore]

Very cool! Small world. I'm not going to lie, we're not in a hurry to leave Utah, we love this state. But we are in a hurry to leave our house.

[themoreweexplore]

Day 3 video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ph7FlGqRWh8

[themoreweexplore]

We sold our house last week, and we're 95% ready to take the plunge.

[crazycal]

Excellent job on the video.

[themoreweexplore]

Thanks. It was pretty informal, but sometimes informal is fun. We'll do some pretty videos one day.

[family wagon]

I have to admit I'm a little surprised you found so much non-functional stuff on that RV. I would have expected better. But in any case the purpose was to get your feet wet and have a taste of living in an RV, and it looks like it did a great job of filling that need! I'm glad you had fun. It's a bummer this has been the soggiest May in Utah I can remember.... I'm not so fond of being outdoors when it's all muddy day after day.

[themoreweexplore]

yeah, it looked good on the outside, and we made do with what we had, but we were disappointed to say the least.

[juliol]

Originally Posted by themoreweexplore

Thanks. It was pretty informal, but sometimes informal is fun. We'll do some pretty videos one day.

What camera did you use to make the video?

J

[themoreweexplore]

This series was shot with a hero 4 black and a hero 3 black @ 1080p. I have a handful of cameras I film with. For my clients I use my DSLRs, but for our backpacking trips, quick documentaries, and run and gun style shots I use the GoPros.

The LED lights inside the RV are horrid for filming, but it is what it is. I wanted to focus more time on learning about the RV experience than filming (planning each shot, adjusting the lighting, etc.)

[themoreweexplore]

Originally Posted by family wagon

I have to admit I'm a little surprised you found so much non-functional stuff on that RV. I would have expected better.

Cruise America called me today and thanked me for my video/review. They tracked down the vehicle we rented and gave them a list of maintenance tasks to repair on that unit. I was really impressed with the person I spoke with, and my opinion of them as a company really rose a lot. I have a lot of respect for them for following up with me to explain how this isn't the norm and that they're sorry I didn't have a better experience. Top notch guys.

[crazycal]

Originally Posted by themoreweexplore

Cruise America called me today and thanked me for my video/review. They tracked down the vehicle we rented and gave them a list of maintenance tasks to repair on that unit. I was really impressed with the person I spoke with, and my opinion of them as a company really rose a lot. I have a lot of respect for them for following up with me to explain how this isn't the norm and that they're sorry I didn't have a better experience. Top notch guys.

Not top notch unless they offered a partial refund. They acted because of your video and the potential of 7 billion people seeing it.

[themoreweexplore]

I won't go into details, but they made sure we were happy and they hooked us up. I didn't demand anything, but they were super understanding. The man I spoke to was extremely sympathetic and extremely sincere. They went to great lengths to make sure we were taken care of.