Road trips and summer go hand in hand If you’re anything like my friends and I. Packing up our vehicles for the weekend and getting out into nature is how we like to live our lives as much as possible. More and more young people are starting to feel that way. Stories about people quitting their jobs, buying RV’s and traveling across the country are becoming more and more common. I know it’s something I would like to do at some point. Young people are becoming more and more adventurous and willing to put their dreams first. That’s what this young couple did and the results speak for themselves! Check out their story below!
Getting your hands on something like this would be pretty awesome. There are so many ways you can customize one of these into your own ultimate road trip bus.
This things definitely needed some TLC however. That much was very clear right from the beginning.
Before that could begin though, some things had to be taken care of. The bus was full of rust and rat droppings. Definitely things you don’t want in your home away from home.
The interior wasn’t the only problem either. The engine hadn’t been started in months.
Some electrical problems would need to be handled as well.
With all of these problems in mind, they bought the bus for $1,000 and took it home. Next up was drawing up some blueprints for the inside. That’s quite an ambitious plan right there.
They first went about removing the seats. You really get a sense of the amount of space that’s actually available when they are out.
This doesn’t look like a fun job. They had to use an ice scraper to remove the old floor matting.
While the floor scraping was being done, work on the engine was also commencing. I like that both of these people are getting their hands dirty with this project. They really are true DIYer’s.
Replacing the filters was an absolute necessity, considering some of them hadn’t been changed since the buyer was a mere 8 years old!
Fixing leaks and frayed wires was also part of the challenge of this project. Doing it all themselves really helped save some money though. The only big cost was rebuilding the transmission, which they couldn’t do themselves. That cost them around $3,500. Ouch.
Eventually they were able to get the leaks, groans, and creaks to stop.
One of the challenges in trying to tackle this project yourself is the lack of proper tools to get the job done. They needed to cut a hole in the side of the bus in order to run some wiring, plumbing and a solar fan vent. Without the proper tools however he settled for drilling holes in a circle pattern and then filing through the excess metal.
After laying some padding down, they started to install the floor. It was simple snap together pieces from Home Depot.
They decided to give the roof a little touch up paint after the floor was done.
After the floor was laid down and the roof painted it was time to start a new project. They decided to start building a storage box for the solar batteries that would fit right over the wheel well. A recycled piece of Ikea furniture was used for the material.
Reddit was a huge help in installing the solar panels themselves. There were definitely mistakes made though.
The first attempt at arranging the batteries was a complete and utter disaster. So much so that is almost destroyed the entire assembly!
After some trial and error however, things were back on track! Using solar power on this bus should add an incredible amount of energy efficiency.
You would never know the batteries were there either. It simply looks like a nice little seating area.
Now that looks comfortable! To create the bed frame, the couple purchased some cheap wooden cabinets and built a frame on top of them. This offers storage use in the actual cabinets themselves and underneath the bed.
Pre-made cabinets from Lowes were installed to provide some ample kitchen storage. They simply bolted them to the floors and the walls.
You can’t have cabinets without countertops. They recycled a piece of un-used flooring to create a nice back splash.
I really love what they did here. Instead of just throwing out the rest of the un-used flooring they decided to use it to create a wood panel effect on the walls. It really ties the whole place together in my opinion.
The builders tried to be economical at every point they could. Most of the wood was scrap and discount supplies were used for everything possible. The most expensive part of the interior were the cabinets.
Looking at these photos is making me want to buy an old bus so bad! If I could have a place like this to live instead of an apartment or a house I would take this in a heartbeat.
The couple now lives on the bus full-time! Their finances are very limited, so they use the bus as a mobile studio. The poster is an illustrator and uses his iPad for everything!
His girlfriend is an editor, so they make a great pair! They actually just released a book through Kickstarter that details the anatomy and biological history of mythical creatures!
It doesn’t look like they have any walls around the toilet at this point, which could prove to be a problem somewhere down the road… get it?
This lifestyle would definitely suit me though. The open road is where I belong.
These two have a lot to be incredibly proud of. Most people would never even attempt this by themselves, let alone be able to actually finish it and set out to chase their dreams!
More info: Christopher Stoll
This thing made me incredibly jealous. I feel like I should just take the leap and buy one of these old things and start fixing it up slowly. It may take a while, but the end result would be totally worth it if it turned out anything like this. It really can be inspiring watching two people who use what little they have to achieve a dream of theirs. No doubt they are enjoying their time on the road, and more importantly, with each other.