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View Poll Results: Age
under 25 8 12.50%
25-35 22 34.38%
36-45 16 25.00%
46-55 13 20.31%
56-65 5 7.81%
Voters: 64. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 08-08-2005, 12:14 PM   #1
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How old are you? -Age of school bus converters

I am pretty young compared (I think) to most people who convert school buses. My dad converted two -one in his late twenties and the other when he was in his late thirties.
So I was curious as to the average age of other converters out there...

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Old 08-08-2005, 04:22 PM   #2
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I did my first when I was around 24 I think... but It was just a Van. The reason why I started was Coz of my dad tho. He always converted vans because they were easier to drive and travel in, but he always wanted a short bus... the Legend lives on!!
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Old 08-08-2005, 11:37 PM   #3
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my dad had an old gas blue bluebird and then a diesel somethign or other. both were over 30' but we lived in alaska and there a lot more room there than san fransisco bay area.

the first bus eventually was pulled to the junkyard on a chain -except it didnt have anything except the beams of the chassis. and my dad had his friend strattle the driveshaft at 30mph to steer it. but thats another story in itself.

the second bus was sold when my dad build our house in ak. I had so much fun in it that year that i had always wanted one of my own.
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Old 08-08-2005, 11:50 PM   #4
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I am 24 but have wanted to take the plunge since I was 6. Maybe things will change soon and I will be able to finally get one. When I was a kid I always wanted to convert a bus. I loved riding the bus to school and espically on field trips. When I was 7 I built my first RV, well if you can call it that. It was a refergerator box attached to some plywood and my wagon. I used a aluminum turkey rosting tray for the sink and a water jug with a built in dispenser.

I got seriously intrested in a real bus about 2 years ago when my wife and I went camping with some friends. We planned to just visit for the day but we had so much fun we ended up spending the night. As I was trying to fall asleep on the hard ground in a tiny tent I thought about how comfortable it would be to have a small utility trailer to use as a steel tent.

After looking at the prices of them I had an idea pop into my head. I thought for the hell of it I would look at the price of an old bus. I was plesently surprised at how little I could get one for.

I have been hooked ever since. I first discovered the nazi group on yahoo and then when this group was formed I was very happy to join. I have been looking at and researchingn different types, makes, and models of buses ever since. It seems like every types has its good and bad points.

I have decided on a skoolie because they are usually in better shape and much newer thn transits or coaches. Where else can you find a 12 year old bus with a 4 stroke diesel in it with 100.000 or less miles for $2000 or less?
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Old 08-10-2005, 11:47 AM   #5
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Huck Finn

Chronologically I'm 43 (44 this month), but about 12 at heart. I had always been more of a boat person, and have dreamed of rafting down the Mississippi since I read Huck Finn at age 9 or 10. Circumstances in my life (corporate downsizing, marital seperation) have allowed me to go back to school, and I couldn't find any place decent to live in that I could afford without having to have 18 or 19 year old roommates... I had found Michael and Millie's site, http://www.mobilehomestead.com doing a google search for "homestead", and then I ended up on Arky's Yahoo! group (for about 2 months ), and then here...just dreaming... So...when I just happened to get a small lump sum of money I took the plunge.

Sure can't say I regret it!
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Old 08-11-2005, 09:15 PM   #6
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I celebrated the 4th anniversary of my 11th birthday last November (44), and this is my first bus conversion.

I had partially redone a gutted mini-motorhome before the walls closed in and I got The White Elephant at a bargain basement price.

Having my bus now, I don't know why it didn't occur to me in the first place when my life turned upside down and I had to find alternative living arrangements, especially since I have always liked busses from the first day I rode to school on one as a small child.
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Old 08-17-2005, 12:53 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by busone
When I was a kid I always wanted to convert a bus. I loved riding the bus to school and espically on field trips.
Same here, on the way to school every morning I would dream of how the layout would be & during school I would draw floor plans all the time. My friends would all help out and add things to the drawing, & tell me how crazy the idea was. I bought my bus last year when I was 22 from my old high school. My bus is very similar to the one I rode (same make/model/year ect..) the one I rode was junked a few years back - it would have been neat to have that one, but mine is very similar & some of my old freinds from school rode it.

Having the bus made house shopping last year a little tricky - I called the city to make sure it was within leagal limits of an RV, then I had to find a house with a large enough spot to park it. I got pritty lucky, I think I'm the only person in Wyoming Michigan (grand rapids) with a bus next to their garage.

http://www.skoolie.net/albums/phillbus9 ... .sized.jpg
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Old 08-18-2005, 10:35 PM   #8
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I know what you mean about cities and buses. When we look to buy a house someday that will be one of my top priorities.
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Old 08-25-2005, 12:01 PM   #9
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I've celebrated the 22nd anniversary of my 29th birthday this past spring (51, in other words).
I'll be converting a rig this winter, I've found one and am in negotiations for it. Fingers crossed!
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Old 08-27-2005, 08:29 AM   #10
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Well I am fourty eight and I always have liked working on things. It was about two years ago when the bus bug bit me. Well to date I have the out side done and I'm just starting on the inside. It fun when you get one of these things people think your nuts. It started out that I worked on it by myself then as I went along my freinds saw how much fun this was going to be and then I start getting help. When the bus hit the road they didn't want to be left behind. On August 13 of 2005 my daughter got married and she ask if the wedding party could take out the bus after the wedding.So there it sat out side of the church. You should have seen the people looking at it. You would have thought that it was the frist bus they ever saw. My mother that is now 73 years old was there and she drove a shool bus for years. She wanted to get in it a take it for a spin but she couldn't push in the clutch.... I am hooked........
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Old 12-12-2005, 07:52 AM   #11
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54 and it's All Good!
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Old 12-12-2005, 02:58 PM   #12
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Year: 1989
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HA, there's only 3 of us under 25.

Well, I'll be falling out of that age range in March '06 when i turn 25. Damn, quarter century already...
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Old 12-13-2005, 12:09 AM   #13
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dammitAndy, I know what you mean. I could not wait to be 21 now I would like to just stay at 24. Cheaper car insurance will be nice though when I hit 25.
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Old 12-13-2005, 05:51 AM   #14
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Wow, a lot of you guys seemed to be making so much sense. Now that I know that a bunch of you are just young whipper snappers I'll have to go back and re-evaluate your posts! LOL! I just think it's cool that busology is a study/vocation/hobby/and in some cases, lifestyle that appeals to all generations. I think a converted skoolie appeals to the gypsy in all of us, no matter what chronological age we are at the time cause that always keeps changing. What doesn't change is how it makes me feel when I go to fuel up my rig and complete strangers walk up with a semi-wistful, far away look on their face and say things like, "Wow, did you build this?" or "Man, I always wanted to do something like this!" It's like having instant friends whenever I pull over. Sure some people just don't "get it" but for the most part, a decked out skoolie appeals to the inner child in everyone. I love it. Sometimes I feel like I'm doing missionary work by bringing a little joy and inspiration to the overtrodden masses. People just need to know they have the option to break out of the everyday mold. I think we exemplify that for them.
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Old 12-13-2005, 10:05 AM   #15
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And the choir said "AMEN!"

By the way, now that I have turned 46, do we need to adjust the poll results?
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Old 12-13-2005, 03:42 PM   #16
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age n'stuff

I just turned 28 and have had the bus a year or so. It's great. My wife and I are seriously looking at it as an alternative to jerk landlords and high rent. I love the bus, however it is difficult to find a place to semi-perminanlty w/some hookups in the city limits. I still want to teach and My wife is in University for more degree's so the gypsie lifestyle doesn't work full time. It's funny that a thing as small as a bus (compared to traditional dwelling's) is so difficult to live in within the limits of a city.

Oh well, choices are good. I love that there are so many reasons for getting into skoolie's and that we can all find common ground here. The internet does do usefull things eh?

-Richard
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Old 12-27-2005, 07:31 AM   #17
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I'm 50. Married into a family of school bus drivers. Rest of the family have those X-pensive camper things (5th wheel & coaches). Just want to show them how well they could be traveling AND have some cash in the bank.
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Old 12-27-2005, 04:00 PM   #18
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34 years old. My kids are 3(girl) and 1(twin boys) my main motivation behind this is the fun I hope it will be for them. I've wanted to do this for a long time, as a motocrosser I always considered a skoolie, but a box van was just more feasible (spent many days and nights in an old U-haul packed with motorcycles and smelly friends) or was that smelly motorcycles and friends? probably the former. Anyway, I can't motocross anymore, so now I've finally got the bus, it's been fun so far and I hope it will bring many happy memories for my family. I do have a feeling that Big Blue will eventually have 2 motorcycles strapped to the "back porch". I'm all excited talking about it, I think I'll go outside and find something to work on until everyone gets home.
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Old 12-27-2005, 09:35 PM   #19
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. . . My kids are 3(girl) and 1(twin boys) my main motivation behind this is the fun I hope it will be for them. . .
If they're anything like mine, they'll LOVE it! Mine would ride all day & night if we could! Hope you have as much fun with yours as I'm having with mine! (And it's no where near finished.)
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Old 12-27-2005, 10:47 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rabiznick
I'm 50. Married into a family of school bus drivers. Rest of the family have those X-pensive camper things (5th wheel & coaches). Just want to show them how well they could be traveling AND have some cash in the bank.
Ha, still have cash in the bank huh... why don't ya send some of that my way so I can finish my skoolie;) I guess us youngsters just dont have the bank roll yet.
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