Who is making money with their skoolie?

[john61ct-SKO]

Yes, that only applies to **driving** for profit.

But as mentioned, local land-use issues can get nasty if it's in a residential area.

 

[CruznWesInaBus]

I have been thinking about this too, my wife and I are still a ways out from even buying a bus, but I have wondered about if there are any ideas kicking around out there on how to make money consistently while traveling.

obviously there are craft ideas (etsy) but being on a bus has limited space thus limiting your options.

I have worked day work all over the world and have a lot of experience. but its not always nice, easy or rewarding to do day work. its just a nice backup.

we have talked about doing an Airbnb with it when we are done in many years but I would love to have some ideas for while we are rolling on the road, or stopped for a time.

 

[Sleddgracer]

I have been thinking about this too, my wife and I are still a ways out from even buying a bus, but I have wondered about if there are any ideas kicking around out there on how to make money consistently while traveling.

obviously there are craft ideas (etsy) but being on a bus has limited space thus limiting your options.

I have worked day work all over the world and have a lot of experience. but its not always nice, easy or rewarding to do day work. its just a nice backup.

we have talked about doing an Airbnb with it when we are done in many years but I would love to have some ideas for while we are rolling on the road, or stopped for a time.

I think the best ideas I saw for earning a living while on the road came from people who earn their living on the internet

 

[john61ct-SKO]

Amazon sites, but that's hard work

Camp site host, super easy but. . .

Personally I'd make a legal Food Truck, then the living part of the buildout would need to be very modular, more like camping except you'd have a great big & clean kitchen!

 

[MacC-SKO]

We need a committee to talk to some of the big retailers for part time work for nomads. When isn't Dollar General looking for help? All the big convenience stores, truck stops. I personally want to roam between just a few places. 3 or 4 months in each locale. Every mile your home is on the road your odds of a breakdown or an accident go up. I am sure if all these smart people I read posts from put our heads together we might just be able to remedy our problem. Just thinking out loud.

 

[cadillackid]

the problem with nomads is training... i work in the hotel business... and turnover is a huge issue amoingst hotels and retailers.. while it seems pretty simplistic to stand behind a desk and bleep items and take $$ but its apparently not since training is one of the biggest concerns that comes up.. procedures and laws in various areas.. as well as need of permenent addresses for some of these companies to base tax witholdings on and such... its a neat idea if you can pull it off.. though I wonder about being able to fund a lifestyle where bus insurance, fuel, place to park (most dollar stores around here are tight on parking), shower, etc on a minimum wage retail job pay..

 

[MacC-SKO]

Obviously you have put way more thought into this than me. You are correct! 30 years ago, maybe. Now it would be a logistics nightmare. My kids live here in Missouri, my mom is Florida. I can come up with an address. But those big companies have a bevy of lawyers making sure they have as little liability as possible.

 

[EastCoastCB]

the problem with nomads is training... i work in the hotel business... and turnover is a huge issue amoingst hotels and retailers.. while it seems pretty simplistic to stand behind a desk and bleep items and take $$ but its apparently not since training is one of the biggest concerns that comes up.. procedures and laws in various areas.. as well as need of permenent addresses for some of these companies to base tax witholdings on and such... its a neat idea if you can pull it off.. though I wonder about being able to fund a lifestyle where bus insurance, fuel, place to park (most dollar stores around here are tight on parking), shower, etc on a minimum wage retail job pay..

You're right. It would be **** trying to maintain a bus nomad lifestyle working a minimum wage retail job.

 

[john61ct-SKO]

Try doing it paying rent in a big city, eliminating just that bit pays for a mobile living space pretty quickly.

It's doing a lot of miles per month makes the lifestyle expensive.

Not that I'd use a skoolie as an urban full-timing platform. . .

 

[PNW_Steve]

About this time of the year you can work and make bank. Then move on to Amazon fulfillment followed by a summer camp host gig.

Google "workamping"

Oh, I missed oil field gate guard. Another one that will feed the traveling kitty well.

 

[gritzngreenz]

Gritz N Greenz

I hope to make money. I’m in Tallahassee Fl building a food truck out of my 1998 International Handy Bus. I’m not mechanically inclined and it’s been difficult finding people to work. My target launch is January 2020. Been lurking here for about a year but haven’t seen much similar to my project. But, it’s been encouraging nonetheless.
Chef Lance

 

[Allisonsartbus]

My wife and I converted our bus into a mobile art studio. We go around to local schools and do after school programs. We also do paint parties and birthday parties. It's been an adventure for sure over the last 4 years!

I have a friend who is doing something similar except with legos. He's in the rebuild phase but it should be pretty awesome when he gets it done.

 

[john61ct-SKO]

Ooh a bus conversion so it looks like it's all made outta Lego' would be very cool.

Bit of googling shows hasn't been done yet. . .

 

[nativegyrl57]

Once I finish my build, I may go back to retail reset merchandising. There are always a few companies looking experienced traveling merchandisers. That way I can avoid the bedbugs at the motels they set you up in.:biggrin:

 

[Magzilla]

We are in the middle of our build & our son wants to have a shortie like ours.
On our skoolie hubby is making a folding "workbench" for him to do repairs & such & then designing it, I got an idea... since our son has just finished welding school, what we're looking to do is make the back half of his bus into a weld shop it's just him so he doesn't need a lot of space which could give him a good amount of space for his tools.
We are running a 24v solar system on ours but we'll do a small 12v for his with a genny for his welder which will be mounted on the back of the bus next to his "workbench".

Since welders are needed everywhere & he's been doing 'travel work' since he got out of school in May & averages almost $2k/week (60hrs) so if he does the traveling & saves his $, he's looking at buying 10+acres in the states he likes working (4-5 states)
We're in Florida now but we want to make Michigan our "home base" & travel in the winter months...so if baby boy buys his land... Mom & dad will have free places to stay with our skoolie....
Our daughter(also a welder) is thinking about doing it also but she prefers doing small metal artwork & traveling to festivals & such where she can back her bus up to her booth & do some metal working in front of customers.

So if you ever see a caravan (Bus-a-van) of Shorties going down the road... It could be us!

 

[Kegger-SKO]

We just moved from the city to the country and as we fix up the farm decided this summer to rent out the bus on AirBnB. We did AirBnB at our city home so we have experience with the platform (and are superhosts).

We rented it from Aug to Mid Oct and it was busy almost every weekend. Compost toilet seems to be the biggest challenge and water conservation. We've had scratches and water stains on our beautiful solid walnut counter tops which kind of sucks but easily fixed. The space will get run down faster then you using it alone, and you'll have to decide if this is worth it for you. We do not allow guests to move or ride in the bus for insurance reasons.

We asked why our guests booked, most said because they wanted the experience, others were looking at doing a conversion and again wanted to see if its something they could live in. Its not cost free to do an AirBNB so take that into consideration - your time to setup, AirBNB Fee, cleaning sheets and the bus after every visit, filling water, propane and provide an outstanding experience. For us, we travel in the fall in the bus so we love that we can provide a cool experience for others, while helping pay insurance and reno costs.

On a side note, we did originally have the idea of putting the bus on RVEEZY and such as you can make some really good cash, but after reading some truly terrifying owner experience (crazy external and internal damage), we decided the rewards just weren't worth the risk and went the AirBnB route instead.

Hope this helps you.

 

[Tall Grass]

Absolutely!


I have a good construction background and have flipped a few homes, so build quality/finish is not a concern. I should be able to build a pretty nice skoolie with a 40k budget (I hope! lol) I agree with it having to be a full time thing. Which is why I want to be able to make it profitable so I can do more than 1 build. My background is in building and design so that is the aspect I enjoy most.



I have played with the idea of tours (Not sure what it would be) I am in the PNW so wine tours, weed tours, events?

I have thought about taking retired people fishing. At some retirement places you get a bus load.

 

[Tall Grass]

How much per night.

 

[RickG-SKO]

Thank you for this! These were not all factors I was aware of! Which is why I asked. I wonder if I would be able to avoid the CDL regulations if it was a stationary over night rental.

In order to avoid federal regulations the "stationary" would have to be permanent. Moving it from site to site makes it a commercial vehicle. You would be subject to inspections at scales. The required posting of DOT number and company name would also make it stand out as a CMV. Any vehicle used for profit with a GVWR over 10,000 lbs. is a CMV. That includes motorhomes used to bring items to flea markets for sale although there is not much enforcement of that.

 

[PNW_Steve]

In order to avoid federal regulations the "stationary" would have to be permanent. Moving it from site to site makes it a commercial vehicle. You would be subject to inspections at scales. The required posting of DOT number and company name would also make it stand out as a CMV. Any vehicle used for profit with a GVWR over 10,000 lbs. is a CMV. That includes motorhomes used to bring items to flea markets for sale although there is not much enforcement of that.

That makes sense. However, it doesn't appear to be enforced.

Looking over Craigslist is see ads offering just that.