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Old 06-05-2020, 11:32 AM   #1
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Hi Everybody!

My name is Pieter,

I'm a dutch guy born in '83 (you do the math ) and at the moment living a happy life on bonaire (dutch Caribbean) working as a dive instructor.
Relationship, 3 cats and a rental house.

From previous employment I picked up a "love" for school buses that are commonly used in the states, I used to work for a Diveshop on the island of Curacao where instead of a boat we owned a bus and dove from shore.

Now we are slowly trying to figure out if we have a realistic shot in buying, conversing and live in a schoolbus while we work/roadtrip our way through a country. (USA I'd guess)

I'll be doing a lot of reading, planning and learning from what everybody else has done and hope to actually get a step or two closer to fulfilling this new "dream"

Hope it'll be nice to meet you all!

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Old 06-05-2020, 12:03 PM   #2
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I'd wait for something to change in the US before coming here to take a big road trip. Most of the states aren't taking covid-19 very seriously. Florida for example.
Other than that folks do what you're describing.
A nice school bus here can be had for cheap if you know where to look.

I sure love Holland. I came for a visit about 15 years ago. I had a great time and the people were simply wonderful. We've had a few members in Europe ship American buses over to their home country. A few in Germany and at least one in Holland.

Good luck, and stay safe out there.
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Old 06-05-2020, 01:03 PM   #3
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Thanks!

When I say "we're figuring out" means we now have the idea, not the finances or plans or anything to go with.

We have given ourselves a time span for about a year to figure out everything we need, so this time next year we are hoping to have an actual plan instead of a dream.

By that time I hope the states have calmed down, Covid will be under control world wide and worldwide travel will be possible again.
And USA is now the plan because of the cheaper options of buying a bus and building materials.

Where we live now (Bonaire) everything is 10 to 20% more expensive and buses are not for sale on the island.
Also even traveling back to Europe would not be a cheaper option, because the price of bus there varies between 15 and 20K in Euros. Making it around 3 to 4 times more expensive then a bus in the states.
That's indeed one of the reasons people import them.
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Old 06-05-2020, 02:16 PM   #4
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Thanks!

When I say "we're figuring out" means we now have the idea, not the finances or plans or anything to go with.

We have given ourselves a time span for about a year to figure out everything we need, so this time next year we are hoping to have an actual plan instead of a dream.

By that time I hope the states have calmed down, Covid will be under control world wide and worldwide travel will be possible again.
And USA is now the plan because of the cheaper options of buying a bus and building materials.

Where we live now (Bonaire) everything is 10 to 20% more expensive and buses are not for sale on the island.
Also even traveling back to Europe would not be a cheaper option, because the price of bus there varies between 15 and 20K in Euros. Making it around 3 to 4 times more expensive then a bus in the states.
That's indeed one of the reasons people import them.
As a us citizen- when the rest of the world is done with covid we'll still be trying to convince people here its real.
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Old 06-05-2020, 02:24 PM   #5
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Haha, we'll have to go around and spread the word
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Old 06-05-2020, 02:30 PM   #6
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I'd sure love to be on a Dutch island right now. That sounds like paradise. been a long time since I've had vla. Would love a nice cup of vanilla vla on the beach!
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Old 06-05-2020, 07:13 PM   #7
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If you can hook me up with a Dutch woman desperate to get married, I'll give you my bus.
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Old 06-05-2020, 08:25 PM   #8
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If you can hook me up with a Dutch woman desperate to get married, I'll give you my bus.
Careful. She might be even more rusty.
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Old 06-05-2020, 08:26 PM   #9
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Welcome and good luck. It takes time to build a skoolie. Make sure you plan well on that as well as time to travel. Not sure how long a visa is good for here anymore.

Unless you can get a work visa. It's a possibility.
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Old 06-05-2020, 08:27 PM   #10
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Careful. She might be even more rusty.
I can fix her.
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Old 06-05-2020, 08:32 PM   #11
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Hi Pieter:


One of the interesting developments in the last few years is that classic aluminum GMC buses from the '40s and '50s are really catching on in Europe, much like finned American cars from the late '50s did 20 years ago. Dozens of these buses have made their way to Europe in just the last few years.



If you bought a GM PD4104/6 or especially a Silversides PD3751, and drove it around North America for a year or two fixing it up, you're probably one of the very few people who could take it home and sell it for more than the bus and the trip cost you.


Of course, I can't imagine anyone doing that and then being willing to part with it...
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Old 06-06-2020, 09:31 PM   #12
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Welcome and good luck. It takes time to build a skoolie. Make sure you plan well on that as well as time to travel. Not sure how long a visa is good for here anymore.

Unless you can get a work visa. It's a possibility.
Yes, that’s one of the things I’m slightly worried about. Time, we can do 90 days without a real visa. But I think this will probably be the time I need for the conversion.
If we really want to take the time to travel, we will need a working VISA too. I can’t go for 6 months without an income 😅

I do have a background in steel construction (welding) installation of small electric installations and plumbing. So I hope this will give me a slight advantage on the time I need.
I’m now guessing for 2 months fulltime with an extension to 3 for procrastination, laziness and troubleshooting. 😁
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Old 06-06-2020, 09:38 PM   #13
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Hi Pieter:


One of the interesting developments in the last few years is that classic aluminum GMC buses from the '40s and '50s are really catching on in Europe, much like finned American cars from the late '50s did 20 years ago. Dozens of these buses have made their way to Europe in just the last few years.



If you bought a GM PD4104/6 or especially a Silversides PD3751, and drove it around North America for a year or two fixing it up, you're probably one of the very few people who could take it home and sell it for more than the bus and the trip cost you.


Of course, I can't imagine anyone doing that and then being willing to part with it...
Though I love the idea, because we are working with VISA’s here I don’t see myself having the time (or the money) for a complete engine overhaul too.
For a classic I’d need an expensive well running start bus or do a complete rebuild. Something I see myself capable of doing, just not in this time and moneyframe for the first bus.
If this project comes to live, I might consider doing it again. With maybe a complete overhaul, who knows? 😊
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Old 06-06-2020, 09:41 PM   #14
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I'd sure love to be on a Dutch island right now. That sounds like paradise. been a long time since I've had vla. Would love a nice cup of vanilla vla on the beach!
Haha! Not even sure if we have vla here 😅 We are just a few hours flight underneath Florida, in front of Venezuela.
We’re closer to the USA then to any pace in europe 😉
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Old 06-06-2020, 09:41 PM   #15
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If you can hook me up with a Dutch woman desperate to get married, I'll give you my bus.

I’ll keep my eyes open 😉
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Old 06-07-2020, 05:43 AM   #16
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I’ll keep my eyes open 😉
It's fine if she's ugly, although ugly Dutch women are pretty hard to find in my experience.

Maybe somebody could rent you their skoolie for three months?
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Old 06-07-2020, 05:55 AM   #17
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Haha! Not even sure if we have vla here 😅 We are just a few hours flight underneath Florida, in front of Venezuela.
We’re closer to the USA then to any pace in europe 😉
oh, yeah probably hard to find vla.
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Old 06-07-2020, 05:58 AM   #18
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It's fine if she's ugly, although ugly Dutch women are pretty hard to find in my experience.

Maybe somebody could rent you their skoolie for three months?

Its extremely rare to find an ugly Dutch woman. I don't recall ANY.
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Old 06-07-2020, 06:53 AM   #19
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It's fine if she's ugly, although ugly Dutch women are pretty hard to find in my experience.

Maybe somebody could rent you their skoolie for three months?
Haha, I’ve seen a few in my lifetime ;)
We hook them up with the ugly dutch guys and hide them away from thenrest of the world.. ;)

Renting a bus would slightly defeat the purpose, I’m very much looking forward to the build.
Also I’d like to tour europe in one too, this one wuold the start of more projects.
Or I might see if we can ship it to europe.

So mamy options! ��
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