Skoolie Life | Moving In To The Bus 

Dude.... keep the rocking chair. It’s cool.

I actually bought a 2003 E450 Ford super duty with 7.3 power stroke TODAY!! Thanks to you, I knew to look for a Collins body for the added height. I am so excited to see what you do to yours. Your previous conversion was one of my favorites. I look forward to meeting you. You are an inspiration to me and countless others. See you on the road.

This is a wonderful conversion! We converted a 2013 Ford E450 Turtle Odyssey Shuttle Bus in 2019 and started traveling the country in November and finishing up our conversion as we go. Living in a traveling tiny home is a lot of fun & we're always meeting great people and seeing new places.

Yesterday I bought a 2003 Ford minibus with a 7.3 diesel to convert. So today you got a new sub. Thanks for sharing!

I love how they have matching coats

Love this little bus way better than the big bus!

Maybe bolt bungie cords around the feet of the rocking chair to the ground. That way the chair can't slide all over the place, but can still be used as a rocking chair

So glad you are back to posting regularly! I look forward to your adventure of living on the quick-fix bus until you get to fully reno it.

Your excitement about your temporary build and heading out to Colorado is refreshing. As you know, your parents are amazing. It is wonderful to wacth someone who enjoys life and has a great realtionship with his family. Looking forward to the adventures out west, and the final build out. I do miss Dean in your videos though. Enjoy!

Seeing the excitement on your face through this whole video is so heartwarming. Thank you so very much for doing this video series to show us what it is like to convert a bus. I’m so excited and can’t wait to see more. I wish you nothing but the best and hope you have safe travels. Much love to you ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

I’m loving following your journey with this bus, I like the idea of living in it and then deciding your floor plan to figure out what you really want, I’ve been researching short busses for almost 3 years now and want to pull the trigger, the information you’re putting into this series as well as the instructions is so helpful, thank you so much and good luck in Colorado and AZ my friend!

This should be fun for you, going back to basic and deciding what you want for the long haul. It’s entertaining and inspiring to watch your process.

I love this idea so much of just using what you have. You have everything you need in 24 hours. Really excited to see the final build.

Bim bam.... and you’re off! Watching you do this IS going to be so much fun 🤗

Hey hope everyone has a good day ❤️

Awesome setup it will probably stay like that a little solar bam 💥 done lol. 🇨🇦🛠🇨🇦

Looking man. 24 hours and ready to rock and roll

Keep notes on what works, what your needs will be, stuff like that. Because it it a lot different living in a smaller space....No more full size appliances.....Good luck, this should be a great time.

Accolades for all the talent and creative thinking you have done to meet your goals! Way to go!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Using what you already have is awesome. You’ll get ideas or the feel for what you want as you go along. That’s what I’m talking about !!! 🤣🤣

Hope you have good heat. Colorado is cold. It’s funny my dad did a van build in the 80s now so many people are doing it. Funny.

Im so excited for this build!!! 🤩😁

Bro you should totally get a wood burning stove. If you spray foam insulated the whole build your mini bus is the perfect size to keep it warm throughout the winter

I have a Promaster 2500 I remodel houses out of. Put a bed on hinges and use cushions from an old couch. Blanket with Velcro to separate the back from the front seats. Throw a large cooler in and I can go for a few days. "Build" was about $150.

I think you’re gonna do great things you’re awesome we enjoy watching Your videos can’t wait to see what you do with little navi

I'm enjoying watch your build, I converted a Chevy van. The bus looks to be like a great way to go with more head room and length.

Can’t wait to see how your trip goes! I spent a couple of months in a unconverted Eurovan it was definitely cold but I had some of my best adventures in that thing!

Love it! You made the best out of the space in no time. Roam requested that you add a bounce house or ball pit inside 😎

Nate Keep Rockin that bus man it looks great

Picked up my bus today it's 99% converted I just gotta do some electrical and water tank &pump.

i'm out here after a mushroom trip taking bong rips and watching you renovate a bus but god damn, i never thought i'd be this entertained. oh, and for power, maybe solar panels and a battery? won't be crazy but you can charge small devices with it i'd imagine.

I bought an Alpicool refrigerator and freezer. All in one, from Amazon. Love it.

And maybe everything goes perfectly fine!!! 😄💚

So excited to follow along with this! I might have to move into my bus before I have time to do the full conversion RIGHT so I’m glad to see that it’s possible to still have working systems in the interim

1You're amazing. I can;t even fathom converting a van atm, let alone a bus!!

Awesome grow together. Electric and your there that quick.

Really enjoy your videos Michael. You sure are lucky to have parents who are so supportive. I find your videos very inspiring as I am a 60 year old disabled man who is saving to build my tiny home in a school bus. If I may, next time you attach the cleats to the side or attach furniture to the bus itself for stabilization would you please be so kind as to show what you are drilling into and how it attaches for us newbies? Have a safe trip filled with lots of fun, new adventures and new friends. Be well.

Looks awesome, will be a fun trip! Safe driving.

I might have heard you'd be in AZ doing a floor soon 😉 I'm extremely excited to FINALLY meet you. Ok I get it, it's weird lol but you and Navi are legitimately the reason I now live in a bus! Pretty inspiring! I'm dying to see what you end up doing for a layout. With all your bus building and living experience... Omg it's going to be awesome!

I can relate , I wasn’t planning on buying mine till months later, but a recreation bus became available 2 hours away and I couldn’t resist...Now it’s cold wet/ snowy and progress is slow..

I forgot to say, safe travels! 😁🙌👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

I noticed you said "windows for the velcro" instead of "velcro for the windows", lol. But we knew what you were saying. Thanks for the easy quick cheap ideas. I'm looking forwards to watching your conversion videos. Take care and YHVH bless.

Looks cozy! You have all the necessities covered!😉👍🏼

Gets you on the road. With LED tech, lighting can be low current and easily done cheap. You got the rest in there. Navi Lite is cool already.

Great videos. 👍 3 questions. 1. what's your floor space. (Living space) 2. What's a bus this size priced at ? 3. Where can/should I go to buy one ? (We're in Queens NY) Love your videos can't wait for the build. Thanks and God bless.

Nice quickie temporary build!

Love it and I subscribed keep up they great work

I love this adventure spontaneous bus Mike and love to follow your journey. Have a blessed trip. ❤️

You are my new hero! Very inspiring! I know you’re in a hurry to get to your other commitments, any thoughts on doing a quick install of a diesel cab heater that feeds from your tank? I have never tired one but I hear the new ones you can get online work well for small spaces. It would run from your existing tank too. Food for thought & y’all Rock! 🙌

Howdy, just wondering on your travel get different furniture from cool places, just an idea have a safe trip.

I enjoy your video's

This is so cool. Compared to the minivan I've been living out of for almost a year and a half, this is a mansion.

This is awesome! A starter bus conversion for 3500. Can you share a bit more about how you secured the sofa and furniture to the floor? Also, what stops the mattress from flying forwards if you hit the brakes?

Welcome to Colorado, I live in Denver! I have the same bus body - Collins 03 Ford E450, and am currently converting mine myself at a DIY space at Tiny Home Connection. Come stop by if you're interested and best of luck with all your projects!

Go Mikey Go..!! From NNJ, Butler/Kinnelon Area. Gonna have you help me convert a bus in 5 yrs when I retire..!! Great content & can't wait for the next vid.. 😉👍

Dang, Mike you and your brother really should have clean your room before you left home! Hoping to see mom and dad at the Swarm. Stay safe and have fun!

Been looking at a lot of short bus builds. From what I can gather with that size bus you either get a closet or bathroom. Looking forward to the build, good luck out there.

Being young has many advantages, ie the requirement for comfort is a big one

Congrats on the new place!! Have you eaten chips in it yet? 🥰 Rock on!

Fun fun fun. School buses can be / are fun. What always 'gets me' when I watch schoolie programs is how much American 'must have' stuff people are trying to pack into whatever available space (no, I'm not necessarily addressing this owner). It's clear that one can spend tens of thousands of dollars on a bus conversion and have the microwave, the dishwasher, the bath tub, the Cuisinart, not to mention all the electronic gadgetry we no longer seem to be able to live without. So what's happening with us? Simply put, we're professional consumers, if we admit it or not. For more details on that check George Carlin's gig on 'consumers'. My own fascination with buses relates to the fact, that such vehicles are routinely discarded for less than their actual value as a vehicle. Many of them end up being just junk because in spite of the fact that schools are required to 'service' them regularly, a good thing, because in spite of that, fleet mechanics often do a lousy job maintaining them properly, something potential buyers should be aware of. To the unassuming reader it's worth mentioning that most states and insurance companies don't take easily to buses and their conversions. And yet, the repurposing of a vehicle, which otherwise ends up in a landfill, should be seen with friendlier eyes by government agencies. Yes, they're bulky, but most folks don't use them to commute to work anyway. Like the guy in this clip, I once bought a bus in KY via Ebay, drove it to a friend there, removed all seats and continued all the way to Colorado, not knowing if it would make it. It did. The next year I flew from my home state (AK) to CO for a bus-road-trip that covered several thousand miles. Yes, the bus was empty, so I bought a small Honda generator, a few tools, saw horses and wood to make a floor, walls and bed platform. Every so often I pulled off the road to fabricate parts of the new interior and met all sorts of people along the way, even had a friendly interaction with cops, who thought I was stranded. Might even have saved a kids life when pulling up behind 'a real' school bus, whose lights were flashing red to let kids disembark. Because traffic behind me couldn't see the lights of the bus in front they tried to pass. To avoid a disaster I turned on my red lights, which made traffic stop behind me. Everyone was safe, but it took a couple of blocks of no one passing me before I figured out how to turn the flashing lights off again. A bus provides instant shelter and elicits respect from most motorists. Also, if you ever get 'boxed in', which happened once by some assholes, your intention to plow them out of the way, has real merit. I'm glad the schoolie movement is alive and well. My initial 6-row bus is now a 'guest cabin' in the Lower 48, a full-sized one served as hauler to build a cabin in Alaska. I find them incredibly useful and encourage others to view them in the same sense.

This is a cool build how about building a frame for the bed with drawers under it for storage.

The build you did would work if someone wanted to do weekend camping

Great job in little time ❤️

It wouldn’t be the prettiest but I would be tempted to install a utility sink. All in one on legs.

Stick a dollar store strainer in the top of your bucket and you wont have to worry about dropping things down to the bottom.

Nice brother

We just met your Dad a few months ago in Oaks PA, he was showing your old green bus at the Tiny Home show. Just got around to watching this video and we can't help but wonder why you don't just take your old bus to Co & AZ since its already done and insulated?

Iv got a place for you and you bus between Colorado to Florida in TX

I can safely say that the love seat will be much more comfortable than those home made couches that looks soo stiff and uncomfortable. plywood and a 3 in foam. not even close to the love seat.

What if you bought one of those cheap harbor fright 1oo watt solar panel kits for your power? They come with two lights and you can just use a inverter to run off the 12 volt batteries from the solar power. It is cheap and may not last very long but it would give you 110 volts, at least for a couple hours.

I would have done a pallet bed queen sized..in the rear

You could totally fit bunk beds in there if taking a friend. But really, I would have done the box spring too. A regular mattress set on a hard surface is not comfortable at all !! Been hoarding ideas about that in my head for awhile. I think if I was going to use my current mattress that I would set of some kind of strap system under the bed. You know , like ratchet strap set up. This way its lighter, can be adjusted and wouldn't take up the room of a box spring. Also, I am with everyone else. Keep the rocking chair for now. If its not strapped down permanently you can take it outside to chill in !

Where did you get that bus at that price, I've been searching for 1.5 years and everything I've seen anywhere near that price was a P.O.S. I've been searching W.V.,Md.,Pa., Va.,N.C., and Ohio is really a waste of time with the rust and all... Any information will be greatly appreciated...Thanks

Awesome!!!👠🚌👠

Brake a leg. waiting for more. and in emergence you can use the bucket for other things too. LOL

Loving the videos to say im jealous is an understatement if you are free to offer advice id be so grateful im in early stages of developing my 1969 raf bedford im just about to start painting and the interior is giving me a headache so thought id ask the people in the know ❤🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Figure out the space before you build may change from original idea you have

Cool

What do you use to prevent people from breaking in through the front door?

Unique! :)

Seriously I like simple!!!! 👍 Our fixer upper house in the middle of the woods, has a plywood counter top I built, after ripping the nasty old crappy cabinets/counters out. Did same simpleton set-up for the sink. All of the fancy skoolies I see on RU-vid, are ridiculous 😲 (to me ='s imho) and not my backwoods mountainman cavemanish-tomboyish- minimalist-style self. lol Our house is more simple than most of em 😂😂😂🤣 Simple gives you more time to enjoy life, less enslavement to pay for it!!!! I could care less about showing off some costly expansive status-oozing project for others to oogle. ha ha My living quarters need to feel like I can really live in it, not tippy-toe shoeless and worry about stains, spills, damaging something or a dog puking/accidentally losing control of his bowels in it , or .... Ya know, something you could easily butcher dinner in, right on the floor!!! 😉😜 Congrats, nice to see some simple quickie diy resolutions, until you rip apart/insulate/winterize and fix to your liking 👍 Have heaps of fun/enjoy life as it's short! 😃 M PS - I'm sure your Grandma is smiling 👼 Also, LOVE your POSITIVE attitude/creativity/ENTHUSIASM... enjoying the adventure/whatever happens. I'm very much like that (inspired creative diy type of person)... Life is so much more exciting that way!!!!!

Excited to watch your 2nd skoolie build. At what point do u have to paint the bus so its legally NOT a yellow school bus any more? Also, can u go over the process of having to have a CDL or not to carry passengers and insurance, whether commercial or RV.

*Are you selling the big bus? If not, what are your plans for it? Just wondering.*

Please turn the couch cushion around so we can't see the zipper... Lol!!

Get ya an Coleman LP stove....

I sure wished i could afford to buy your big bus if you was ever to sell it lol

That works in a pinch

Love

and TADA done

I'm a little disappointed, no duct tape. After all, it held the OG bus together. I'm pretty sure it would've worked. Hope all is going well in your travels.

Hay if it works 👍

What did you do for insurance? I am having issues getting it without the conversion being complete

Hey Mike what are you doing with NAVI?

What type of bus is this one

Dude! Less talking, and more building. Lol 😂

Rip the big best

Just wondering, how long does one small bottle of propane last you?

Good morning! Guess you’re on the road out to Colorado by now. Digging your temporary build, sending best wishes to you on your new adventure. I just thought I would add my two cents, maybe they’ll save you some hassles in this temporary build. 1: Did you add any bracing underneath on your countertop, around the bucket sink? Fill that sink up with gray water, that weighs, and there’s a knot on that plank close to where you cut the hole, yes? Might consider adding some bracing on either side of the bucket. 2: even though you created reflectics for all the windows, why not put a piece of pink rigid insulation board from the floor up to above top of mattress height, between your bed and the bus’s back wall, and two short pieces on the side walls. might make for a more comfortable sleep, on those cold Colorado nights.

I'm having a problem finding insurance for my shuttle bus, what company and type of policy do you have for your buses?? I dig Ol'Yeller👍

Throw the box spring on the fire it serves no purpose, raise the bed up high enough to put the dresser under it and create a garage space for your tools and equipment. You just lost half of your floor space you need to think vertically