New Future Skoolie Family!

[nation4711]

Hey there! Thought I would hop on an introduce myself and get some thoughts on my current floor plan. We started planning out a rough floor plan first because we had some super niche needs and wanted to make sure we would be able to make it work before diving in head first! I know it will likely change after we actually have a bus in hand but I have also never mad a floor plan before so all the tips and pointers would be great!

We are a family of three plus two fur babies that are hoping to buy and start renovating our first skoolie by the end of 2026! We will be primarily chained to Joliet IL until my wife can retire since she is an over the road regional truck driver and Joliet is her hub. Hoping to do a lot of our actual adventuring on weekends or vacations while doing more local adventures with just my son and I during the week while my wife is gone on the road M-F. Our son turns 3 early January and is nonverbal and autistic. He has a custom safety bed that we will have to make some modifications to for fitting into a skoolie since he is at a significantly high risk for elopement, entanglement, and self injury.

We want to be able to run pretty much off grid as much as possible since finding places near Joliet to park for extended stays seems to be almost impossible. No BLM near by, I hear most RV parks don’t allow bus conversions either.

Any thoughts of how to make this floor plan better? Any tips on adding solar to our future skoolie? Any tips on finding longer term parking where we can stay in or within 60 miles of Joliet?

 

[Mr. Beefy]

Welcome!

I won't fault you for creating floorplans... I know it's highly motivating... but realistically, until you get an actual bus, you won't have any idea of what can actually go where. Everything you have to work around and in-between will differ dramatically depending on the actual specifics of the bus you choose.

Off-grid... Use non-electric 'fuel' for everything you can (heating, cooking, etc), use DC over AC electric appliances / lights / fixtures everywhere you can, prioritize fresh water storage (and related grey water storage), and ideally... go big on solar panel square footage.

 

[nikitis]

Yup, my floor plan has changed 3 times in the last month. I realize we needed more room for something so we cancelled it, modified the layout, and then repeat. Floor plans are good for basic overall design, but expect some areas to be larger and smaller than expected once you get into it.

 

[nation4711]

Welcome!

I won't fault you for creating floorplans... I know it's highly motivating... but realistically, until you get an actual bus, you won't have any idea of what can actually go where. Everything you have to work around and in-between will differ dramatically depending on the actual specifics of the bus you choose.

Off-grid... Use non-electric 'fuel' for everything you can (heating, cooking, etc), use DC over AC electric appliances / lights / fixtures everywhere you can, prioritize fresh water storage (and related grey water storage), and ideally... go big on solar panel square footage.

We are hoping to use the entire roof for solar power and then diesel to power what we can especially in the winter via generator. Thankfully my wife racks up the fuel points at truck stops and always has a stock pile of free showers and diesel discounts at her disposal. Our biggest worry is solar power in the winter here since the days can be so short and cloudy for what feels like forever lol!

 

[nation4711]

Yup, my floor plan has changed 3 times in the last month. I realize we needed more room for something so we cancelled it, modified the layout, and then repeat. Floor plans are good for basic overall design, but expect some areas to be larger and smaller than expected once you get into it.

I swear, we made about 3 floor plans on Saturday alone just trying to make sure that my son’s safety bed would have room to fit lol! It was the only way I could convince my wife to go skoolie over an RV

 

[Bjorkinman]

I made a bunch of floor plans, but until you have the bus its hard to do. I would just prioritize what you can and cant live with and go from there. For me I wanted a dedicated master bedroom, shower and toilet area separate, and a full size fridge. Everything else was negotiable. For solar, just start with what you can fit on the roof first, then work backwards from there. The panels are relatively cheap if you look around on marketplace etc, but the batteries and components are what get expensive.