It all started with one YouTube video….
It was about 5 years ago when we saw our first YouTube video that showed how a regular person turned a retired school bus into a beautiful home on wheels. It was amazing. We spoke about it and decided that it was an endeavor that most people wouldn't be able to afford, I mean, c'mon, buying a school bus? A brand new one could cost anywhere from $60K to $106k depending on the make and model. Well, that was out of the question. But, our curiosity from that first video really kicked in so we continued to search for videos of “skoolies”, that catchy name that is now a way of life.
Start your journey going down the YouTube rabbit hole
Our searches brought great results and for about the next 2 years we watched every single video created by probably every single skoolie build imaginable…we were hooked. It was incredible how so many people were renovating these huge machines that were built to haul children. A facet that many people often overlook when admiring someone's home. It was built to keep children safe. That's a plus in my book.
Buying a Bus!
When we finally made up our minds to begin a search for a possible purchase we were absolutely astonished at the affordability of a used bus remembering we needed to be wise and intelligent when making our choice. For many months we followed bus postings on EBAY, we searched Craigslist, looked for personal sales posts on social media and even reached out to local bus barns to talk about their resale policies. As it was, in 2019, we made the decision to purchase a bus we found on EBAY. We offered a deposit, talked on the phone with the seller and struck up a deal.
I flew to Delaware, that's where the bus was located, but when I got there things changed. Now look, I know you think when someone makes that statement it means something negative or nefarious is going to happen. In this case it's just the opposite. Something great happened. While I was there to purchase a certain bus, the seller had received in another bus that was actually much better for our needs. Not only was it better, it was newer, had much lower mileage and it ran great. All for the same price…astonishing.
I took the bus on a test drive, crawled underneath it and scoped out bumper to bumper, lifted the hood, made a nuisance of myself pushing every button and switch on the inside, just about driving the seller nuts. However, 20 minutes later I had temp plates on the front and back of the bus and I was pulling out of the lot for my maiden voyage and trip home…a 10 hour drive in a full size school bus…something I'd never done before.
Driving a Bus!
Now look, I'm a great driver, I've driven a bus before but not this size. I took it easy, stopped for fuel a couple of miles down the road, that's when I realized I had a 100 gallon diesel tank, something I forgot to ask about from the seller. I was thrilled and not thrilled at the same time. The tank was half full when I stopped, so I filled up. When I realized that I just spent an enormous amount of money on just under a half tank I thought it was very expensive but understood very quickly that a tank that size could come in handy.
The trip home was exciting and trying and long. But, I made it without incident and pulled right into my driveway with a smile on my face and all the plans of how this bus build was going to happen stuck inside my head… Things have changed a lot since then, and this blog series will show and record those changes so you can see what it took for us to renovate our 2008 Thomas Saf-T-Liner C2 into a beautiful RV that can travel just about anywhere (reasonable) and be self contained for almost a month at a time.
We're not planning on living in the bus full time, but to use it as a vacation RV. Albeit, when we travel it will be for months at a time. We're looking at that retirement date which is right around the corner, and we feel this project will allow us to do what we want, when we want to do it. All in the name of Freedom, which is something we also believe in.
More To Come
Stay tuned for our series, which will be coming out soon - FredVentures. Our bus has a name, his name is Fred, and we'll be Finding Roads Every Day. More about the name in another post but for now, we unveil our project. Wish us luck and join us as we continue the process of building our dream vacation skoolie, and become at least part time members of this growing community of insanely cool people, who in our minds… get it…