Living a life on the road is getting more and more popular in many regions around the world. You can find different builds with specifications that meet the requirements of people living in different areas – where the roads are narrower and there are more campsites, for example, you are more unlikely to see a giant bus capable of staying off-grid for several days. But in the United States, transforming an old school bus is now trendy as these giant machines provide enough room for comfortable equipment and more than enough water, energy, and supplies storage.
We’ve seen some great conversions so far – including a humble purple school bus with a posh cabin – but most of them lacked enough space for a proper working area. The yellow bus featured in the video at the top of this page has exactly that as one of its main highlights – two fully-functional offices for a young couple living alternatively. In the 19-minute clip, Josh and Emily talk about the camper they designed and built starting with a relatively cheap donor bus.
Awesome School Buses:
That is a 2004 International RE-300, which they bought for $7,000 (approx. £5,750) and got all the seats removed for just around a hundred more pounds. Almost all the equipment they needed for the conversion – the fixtures, appliances, materials, solar panels, etc. – was bought during Black Friday sales, saving them approximately 15 percent. Which, on such a huge project, is a lot. Once everything was bought, they loaded it onto a few trucks, took the bus to a heavy equipment shop, and started disassembling it.
The entire process from A to Z took the couple around two years, but most of the job was completed during the first 12 months. In the second year, they started actually living in the bus and continued the work during their free time and weekends. The total cost so far? Josh and Emily estimate it currently stands at around $80,000 (£65,700).
Thanks to the 2,400-watt solar panel system on the roof and the water and fuel tanks mounted within the floor of the bus, this camper can easily stay fully off-grid for about a week and even up to two weeks under certain circumstances.
And moving to our favourite part – this camper now has not one but two fully-equipped offices, one next to the kitchen and one at the back of the bus. We can finally say there’s a camper that can answer our own needs as Motor1.com editors. Too bad for us Josh and Emily own it but hats off for the work they've done and the way they are living.
Source: Tiny House Giant Journey on YouTube