complextinction
New Member
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2014
- Posts
- 5
My wife and I are heavily considering buying our first bus to convert into a permanent yet mobile living space.
In November of last year, we thought we finally succeeding in attaining what we always wanting, a family home. Instead, we attained the reality of owning home, crippling debt and to be honest, boredom. Due to the limitations of our budget, we can't afford to do anything fun. Vacations? Yea, maybe in 30 years after the mortgage is paid off. I'm done with that already. I've looked into tiny houses but land in our area is very pricey, around 40k for a paper street lot just large enough to build. It would cost us around 80-90k to build a tiny home because of the land situation (damn you new jersey!)
That's when we stumbled across bus, camper and RV living. Naturally I was skeptical at first but after looking at some of the projects... wow. You guys are seriously inspiring!
I do have some questions for those of you that have converted buses though.
We do have 2 kids (and a dog but she might go live with my parents for this adventure). One is 3 and the other is only 5 months old. Now, obviously we're not going to get a bus tomorrow and move right in. Work needs to be done. A realistic window is at least a year for the work that needs to be done. Either way, I do have a question because of this.
Has anyone here moved into the bus with small children? If so how did it go? Any suggestions for laying things out with small children? I was thinking we would lay it out so that it was essentially, kids bunks, bathroom, our bedroom, towards the back of the bus. This is a popular layout from the families I have seen living in a bus.
Outside of that, i have a few other questions and likely many more if this project does occur. I want to use solar panels for all electricity needs. We would have AC, fridge, microwave, coffee pot, a TV and a computer, plus various lights around the bus. What am I realistically looking at as far as setup for this? I already plan on outfitting the roof with a deck, so I could build the solar panels towards the front of the bus, with the deck towards the rear. How many panels would I likely need and what would the outright cost of something like this be? I don't need a true figure just an estimate of cost, at least in your experience. And once we outfit the bus with Solar and layout the interior, how mobile will this thing realistically be? I feel like its a lot of weight for the poor diesel engine. I want to be able to pick up and move at a moments notice. Am I crazy to think that is possible?
Can one tow a small car behind a bus? I would love to get a smart-car or something tiny so that when we pull up in a city, we don't HAVE to drive the bus everywhere. Obviously, driving the bus everywhere is part of the fun but there are just some places where it can be annoying, like major cities where parking is at a premium.
Lastly, money. Now, I know this number will swing greatly depending upon the condition/cost of the bus, type of bus, type of materials used, etc. We are simple people, we don't like fancy things, its part of the appeal to the bus living concept. How much in your experience, does retrofitting a bus cost? This can be an extreme range, showing us the bare minimum vs the high end. Thats okay, I know we'd likely fall somewhere towards the middle. And also, with that figure in mind, how do many of you go about with the finances of renovating/retrofitting, while still having a home? I want to sell our home but I cant put my family on the street and selling a home does take time. I know its generally considered, well, scumbaggy, but has anyone just stopped paying their mortgage knowing the hit to their credit wont matter once they are off the grid? This would obviously net huge savings. Or would it make more sense to borrow money from a family member that we could pay back over time. We do have some deep pocket family members that could likely write us a large check.
I know its a lot, but I have a lot to consider. Its not just me and my wife, but my 2 children and they are more important than anything else. I want this to work for all of us. In fact, they are really the inspiration for this whole thing. I want them to experience so much more than they can ever experience now. I would love my kids to graduate high school saying they've been to every continental US state, canada, mexico, etc. I feel as though it would really round them out for their future and give them an opportunity to really determine, what they want to do in life.
In November of last year, we thought we finally succeeding in attaining what we always wanting, a family home. Instead, we attained the reality of owning home, crippling debt and to be honest, boredom. Due to the limitations of our budget, we can't afford to do anything fun. Vacations? Yea, maybe in 30 years after the mortgage is paid off. I'm done with that already. I've looked into tiny houses but land in our area is very pricey, around 40k for a paper street lot just large enough to build. It would cost us around 80-90k to build a tiny home because of the land situation (damn you new jersey!)
That's when we stumbled across bus, camper and RV living. Naturally I was skeptical at first but after looking at some of the projects... wow. You guys are seriously inspiring!
I do have some questions for those of you that have converted buses though.
We do have 2 kids (and a dog but she might go live with my parents for this adventure). One is 3 and the other is only 5 months old. Now, obviously we're not going to get a bus tomorrow and move right in. Work needs to be done. A realistic window is at least a year for the work that needs to be done. Either way, I do have a question because of this.
Has anyone here moved into the bus with small children? If so how did it go? Any suggestions for laying things out with small children? I was thinking we would lay it out so that it was essentially, kids bunks, bathroom, our bedroom, towards the back of the bus. This is a popular layout from the families I have seen living in a bus.
Outside of that, i have a few other questions and likely many more if this project does occur. I want to use solar panels for all electricity needs. We would have AC, fridge, microwave, coffee pot, a TV and a computer, plus various lights around the bus. What am I realistically looking at as far as setup for this? I already plan on outfitting the roof with a deck, so I could build the solar panels towards the front of the bus, with the deck towards the rear. How many panels would I likely need and what would the outright cost of something like this be? I don't need a true figure just an estimate of cost, at least in your experience. And once we outfit the bus with Solar and layout the interior, how mobile will this thing realistically be? I feel like its a lot of weight for the poor diesel engine. I want to be able to pick up and move at a moments notice. Am I crazy to think that is possible?
Can one tow a small car behind a bus? I would love to get a smart-car or something tiny so that when we pull up in a city, we don't HAVE to drive the bus everywhere. Obviously, driving the bus everywhere is part of the fun but there are just some places where it can be annoying, like major cities where parking is at a premium.
Lastly, money. Now, I know this number will swing greatly depending upon the condition/cost of the bus, type of bus, type of materials used, etc. We are simple people, we don't like fancy things, its part of the appeal to the bus living concept. How much in your experience, does retrofitting a bus cost? This can be an extreme range, showing us the bare minimum vs the high end. Thats okay, I know we'd likely fall somewhere towards the middle. And also, with that figure in mind, how do many of you go about with the finances of renovating/retrofitting, while still having a home? I want to sell our home but I cant put my family on the street and selling a home does take time. I know its generally considered, well, scumbaggy, but has anyone just stopped paying their mortgage knowing the hit to their credit wont matter once they are off the grid? This would obviously net huge savings. Or would it make more sense to borrow money from a family member that we could pay back over time. We do have some deep pocket family members that could likely write us a large check.
I know its a lot, but I have a lot to consider. Its not just me and my wife, but my 2 children and they are more important than anything else. I want this to work for all of us. In fact, they are really the inspiration for this whole thing. I want them to experience so much more than they can ever experience now. I would love my kids to graduate high school saying they've been to every continental US state, canada, mexico, etc. I feel as though it would really round them out for their future and give them an opportunity to really determine, what they want to do in life.
), it gives us plenty of space if we want to take friends, other family members, or even just ditch a permanent building and go full time. (Final build plan 
