Introduction of Stonestatue.

[stonestatue]

Hello everyone. I am Stonestatue and this is my first post which shall serve as a brief introduction.

I have always been interested in travel trailer/RV camping. Over the years I've entertained different means to achieve that end. The first I've considered is the most established which is a "traditional" choice. These options include travel trailers, fifth wheels, and RVs. RVs are typically at the high end of cost among these options and a I've never really been into fifth wheels because they require a certain type of truck, so I defaulted to the bumper pull travel trailer. I would fantasize about owning one and visit RV dealers to look at the inside picturing myself enjoying a campground in one of those.

Then as years passed and I researched it more, my preferences evolved. I've always had a fascination with big rigs, so that prompted me to get my CDL and do a one year stint as a truck driver. I thought it was pretty cool to drive one of these things, and wondered to myself "Why can't I own one of these to use as an alternative to a pickup truck"; which I know is a very impractical thought process. But I've never been known for being practical, ha. My desire for a semi and a travel trailer merged when I discovered there are actually people that DO use own and use semis for private, recreational use. There is an entire subsection of a forum just for this topic. That made me want to deviate from the "traditional" travel trailer route and get a semi specifically to tow a travel trailer. I did research on the subject and noted several issues. Among them are CDL requirements if you use a semi as a private vehicle, whether or not you're required to stop at weigh stations, what kind of insurance, etc. At first this did not deter me but after a while I begin to consider the practicality of driving such a large vehicle for the sole purpose of towing a trailer.

My current interest is converting a bus into an RV. I appreciate the ability to customize it exactly how I want, the increased durability of a bus chassis over an RV, and an overall much lower cost compared to a new RV. This forum has a wealth of knowledge and discussion on this subject and I look forward to one day getting and converting a bus to RV in.

[chev49]

You can get a lot of good information on this site for converting a bus into a great RV. Have fun.

[Skunky Bus]

I joined a couple years ago and still don't have a bus yet. I'm not sorry, because when I do get one, the conversion will be so much better 'cause of what I've learned here!

Welcome aboard!

[bus-bro]

I don't know, Skunky Bus. If I read this forum for a couple of years before I bought a bus, I think I'd buy one someone elses conversion. A quality school bus conversion with all the bells and whistles can be had for less than $15k. That is unless you like a project to work on. It would still cost the same, but you get all the joy of all those hundreds of hours of work.

[lornaschinske]

Several of the converted buses that are for sale on this forum have the conversion process documented here. Takes a lot of the guesswork out. Buying already converted saves a lot of time & $$. If you have the $$ to spend up front, buying already or partially converted makes the best use of your $$. Our plan for our daughter is to have her look for a full or partial conversion that comes close to suiting her needs. She would live in it for at least a year and figure out what minor changes need to be made. After that, we do a one time only remodel. She currently lives in our old Class C (since December 2011) and already knows that she does need certain things and doesn't want certain things. She has recently learned why David & I shun RV products so much... she had to order the bathroom diverter faucet (pull a lever and it shifts the water from the sink faucet to the hand held shower) from Amazon or drive 75+ miles up to Albuquerque and then back. Her Jeep would have added a lot of extra gas $$ to the price of the specialty faucet. I guess the high mineral content of the NM water built up to the point to where the lever would no longer move. The campground she is in does not have showers. So that meant she had to borrow her sister's (house) shower. Now she really dislikes RV specialty items.

We are converting because we have more skill than $$ and we had the bus purchased already (it was our moving van). I had seen a BlueBird skoolie conversion that I deeply regret not buying years ago. While it was set up for two people, we could have kept the hard sided popup and let the kids live in it (or bought a very small travel trailer for them) while David & I lived in the bus. Even on two sites, I think we would have been ahead $ wise. But you know what they say about hindsight being 20-20. We had the $$ then to have bought the bus with $$ left over. Instead, we sunk that money into our last house purchase. At the time, paying for two sites (included full hookups & cable) would have been cheaper than the monthly house payment plus utilities! Actually right now, two full-hookup sites in our current location is cheaper than our house payments plus water & electric... not taking into account our C-Band programming we eventually had to buy. And no yard to mow either!

For anyone with a few kids, if they are old enough (preteen) and trustworthy enough, you may want to consider a tag-a-long trailer to stuff the kids in while the parents are in the conversion. Does a few things... gives you a place for the kids to spread out in, gives the parents privacy and when the kids "age out" you simply get rid of the extra trailer (or one of the kids can inherit it). If you do a toyhauler cargo trailer type conversion you can stuff the alternative transportation devices (bikes/small motorcycles) in the rear of the cargo unit.... along with the little beasties... and pets.

Long term lack of privacy is wearing on everyone. I know from experience.

[Skunky Bus]

Originally Posted by bus-bro

I don't know, Skunky Bus. If I read this forum for a couple of years before I bought a bus, I think I'd buy one someone elses conversion. A quality school bus conversion with all the bells and whistles can be had for less than $15k. That is unless you like a project to work on. It would still cost the same, but you get all the joy of all those hundreds of hours of work.

Good points. Although I do want a blank canvas, someone else's conversion could be a shortcut to "skoolie-ing." A proto-Skunky Bus as it were. No rule dictates that my first bus has to be my lastbus. I've thought about bartering my 'Bago for one, perhaps via Craigslist. Anybody who's read my posts knows I'm as concerned as anyone here about the structural integrity of stix-n-staples RVs. Which means that putting the RV for trade in our Classifieds/Wish List may be a sure-fire way of getting laughed at: "Will trade my Styrofoam cooler on wheels for your steel-over-steel safety cage skoolie."

[ol trunt]

Well, you are a step ahead of where most of us start out---you already have a S&S to cut up for parts!