Konnichiwa from British Columbia!

[Kasumi]

Hello. I'm Kasumi from Japan. I live in British Columbia with my Texan huby. We are very much interested in both converting and living in a skoolie. (We're considering on keeping it stationary.) We've been watching various videos on Youtube. Many of them suggested this website so we're hoping to obtain some useful knowledge here from you guys!

Here're somethings that we would like to hash out:
- Can we really do a bus conversion without possessing any carpentry skills?
- Where should we work on the conversion? Canada? US?
- Which toilet option would be best suited for us? Since at times we can be lazy, we're considering going with the regular flash option, but not the composting one.
- Should we take into consideration which area the skoolie is from? I heard Southern buses are better than Northern ones, as the climate is dryer and sunnier.

Any advice would be appriciate!

Thanks.
Kasumi

[HazMatt]

Ohayo gozaimasu, Kasumi, and welcome to the hijoshina bomei!
I may not be the best resource, since I bought my bus in West Virginia later to bring to Texas...
(Speaking of Ohayo, there are a couple of members, Cadillackid & Johnny Mullet, who are from Ohio, & can be a huge help with nearly any questions mechanical you may have)

Originally Posted by Kasumi

Hello. I'm Kasumi from Japan. I live in British Columbia with my Texan huby. We are very much interested in both converting and living in a skoolie. (We're considering on keeping it stationary.) We've been watching various videos on Youtube. Many of them suggested this website so we're hoping to obtain some useful knowledge here from you guys!

Here're somethings that we would like to hash out:
- Can we really do a bus conversion without possessing any carpentry skills?
- Where should we work on the conversion? Canada? US?
- Which toilet option would be best suited for us? Since at times we can be lazy, we're considering going with the regular flash option, but not the composting one.
- Should we take into consideration which area the skoolie is from? I heard Southern buses are better than Northern ones, as the climate is dryer and sunnier.

Any advice would be appriciate!

Thanks.
Kasumi

You can certainly get by with limited carpentry skills. As you progress, you will learn. Some by trial & error, more by delving into the archives here, to see what has worked well for others.
We also have quite a few folx from Canada who are very knowledgeable about doing a conversion there; particularly concerning titling, registration, & insurance.
It depends on how lazy you are! Installing a septic system takes an incredible amount of work, when compared to the minor inconvenience of having to empty a composting toilet.
You definitely don't want a bus originating in an area where road salt is used in the Winter, due to the corrosion it causes!
Ganbarou!!!

[Yukon Cornelius]

Welcome....

To provide better feedback it would help for us to know whereabouts in BC you are, and if keeping it stationary are you at a year round campground? trailer park? plot of land? etc.
As that will change many things.
If your hubby is holding dual citizenship that's another huge variable.
for instance, virtually all things are going to be cheaper in the US. However importing "modified" vehicles into Canada is usually a PITA.
But if you're parking it for good once you get it here then.....it kinda doesn't matter, again depending on where you park it.

You don't necessarily need to be a master carpenter or cabinet maker to convert a bus, but having some background helps. between this forum, youtube, and classes offered at various places (simplest example is home depot) you can likely have a good idea of what is needed.

I don't like to "avoid" buses from a certain neighbourhood... however depending on your mechanical background, time available, funds to travel to look at buses, etc typically I would avoid buses used in locations that use salt on the roads. But for me narrowing to a location is usually more about what the standard "config" is for that area. As this increases the odds of finding the engine/tranny combo you want. But a bus parked on grass in the Prairies will have way more rust issues than a seasonal bus used in Ontario...

I can't even ball park the toilet options without the info from my initial question.

Again all this....is just how things would work for ME in a certain situation

[Sleddgracer]

welcome to the forum from another BC resident - we only need a few more bus owners from BC to take up the slack of Greyhound going out of business - lol

[Kasumi]

Hi guys it’s The hubby. Thank y’all for your advice. I don’t know much about plumbing but installing a septic tank won’t be necessary if we are on land that’s already ready to be hooked up no? I just assumed that installing a tank would be something we could altogether avoid.

[Kasumi]

Hi Matt. (Matt is correct?) It’s Kasumi! Thank you so much for your advice! My husband Asa replied to you regarding the toilet as he has better idea and specific question than I do. We are hoping to have our toilet life on the bus as easy and comfy as possible...

And thanks for the tip about the kind of area where we don't want the bus to be from. I'll def check when I look for the buses. I didn't even know salt is used in some roads. Very helpful.

Arigato gozaimashita

[Kasumi]

Yaaay, thank you!! I'm glad to meet someone from BC. Hope you find the best skoolie for you!!

Kasumi

[Kasumi]

We are currently living in East Vancouver and as to where we will park our bus we were thinking of a plot of land. Nothing is set in stone but we are considering a few options regarding where we want to end up settling. There are of course many variables to ponder not the least of which is the cost of land which is, as you know, very expensive depending on where we go especially in Vancouver. Having said that we were thinking possibly one of the islands here or if not then somewhere in Texas where it’s cheaper. We’re even considering making our build in the States cause it seems harder to find somewhere to work on the build here in Vancouver. It doesn’t seem to be a very Skoolie friendly city. We still aren’t concrete about many things but at the moment we’re very curious about this toilet situation.

-Asa