Like many people, I spent years living in different apartments paying way too much money for too little satisfaction from my living arrangements. I moved from Cincinnati to Colorado Springs at 22 years old in 2017 to try my hand at the burgeoning cannabis industry.

I intended to get into cultivation but after working as both a budtender and CBD production assistant for over a year to get my foot in the door and visit some grows, I realized living in the city made working with the plant very difficult. Commercial grows are normally found in very rural areas of Colorado, where there are little to no apartment options. The ever-increasing popularity of the state and subsequent rent hikes did NOT help the matter.

Into the story comes #VanLife. For years I’d been following a page called @soweboughtavan. Originally, I followed them because it was run by a retired professional scooter rider and his girlfriend. I first made my Instagram following almost exclusively scootering. I’ve always loved freestyle scootering (yes like razor scooters) to the point of obsession as a teenager. As the years went on my interests opened up and so did the variety of people I was following on social media.

The couple eventually broke up, but Katie Larsen continued to run the page, and I'm grateful that I kept following her posts. Through nomad pages like hers, I slowly became more interested in the idea of living out of a vehicle, even though I was working long hours just to afford to rent a studio in a shabby converted hotel room. However, I always thought this idea was impossible for me.

I became increasingly interested in the job opportunities that could arise from living anywhere, and I began researching the logistics of van life. How much would it cost? How long would it take? Where could I convert a van? Could I even build comfortable living quarters from scratch? One day, while mixing ingredients for some CBD lotions at work, I had a realization: Would I rather continue living as I was or bet on myself and pursue what I wanted to do?

Looking at it that way, the answer was easy as to what I should do moving forward. I started spending much of my free time researching the best vans for me before finally accepting that high-top vans do not come cheap, even used ones. But what were all these school bus builds I was seeing pop up on social media? “Well, that’s something to explore,” I thought. So, I did some googling. “Oh, damn I could buy a short bus for five grand right now???”

Suddenly a new world opened up to me. How could I possibly get more interior room, more power, and a stronger, safer, more reliable chassis for the price of a cheap used car? Finding insurance and lack of discretion would also pose challenges.  By lack of discretion, I mean that it’s nearly impossible to make a Skoolie blend into an urban environment, whereas with vans this can be more easily accomplished. These are downsides, sure. But not enough to make up for a higher roof being four times the price. I started watching every Skoolie Build video I could find on YouTube and looking all over the country for the bus I wanted. The hunt had begun.

 Fortunately for me, I didn’t have to go far. I found a fleet dealer near Denver who had been sold a bus as a last-minute deal from a fellow who had originally only gone to sell a trailer but felt like getting rid of the bus too while he was there. It was a 2001 Chevy Express 3500 with a 5.7L Vortec gasoline engine, with the body built by Thomas. It was converted in a very minor way; with rudimentary living quarters, you’d feel all right sleeping a night in it if you had to.

It had been used to tow his cars to racetracks where he would then stay until the next day. It came with a Honda generator, a table, a toolbox, a rear-mounted window A/C, some other minor goodies, and the oh-so-luxurious (large) handicap door with a lift already removed. I picked it up for $8,000 which I saw as a pretty good deal considering the extras and being from a dealer and not a private seller.

I had AAA tow the car I used to get there, to bring it back to my apartment while I drove the bus home. I can’t describe the level of excitement I felt at the time! It was a good thing I got Budd when I did because the next time, I went to drive my car, the subframe broke in half. After four years of food delivery in the Midwest, the rust had finally gotten to it, leaving the bus as my only transportation to work for the next month until I made the trek back to Kentucky to begin the conversion.

Once I broke my lease, I packed everything I owned into the bus and drove 1,100 miles to my dad’s property in the winter of 2019, which was a good thing as I had already planned to spend a year or two in isolation during COVID-19, right?

From the beginning, I knew I wanted to document the process in some way, but wouldn’t be willing to make an entire YouTube video series about it. A few daily progress photos and a short blurb about what I did would be fine, making Instagram the perfect medium.

I decided to track my progress in days since I began the conversion process, as well as a day for every eight hours of work. It ended up being 586 days and 139, 8-hour days, or “Skoolie days” as I called them from beginning to end. The first post with a bunch of random screws, bolts, and a few interior panels taken off.  Laying on the old furniture was the beginning of the hardest and most rewarding pursuit I’ve yet undertaken.

It took me about a month to get Budd taken apart to the point that I could start building things. I spent that time drilling out rivets, removing interior panels and seats, ripping up the floor, checking for rust, etc., all the normal bus demo stuff. There was so much spare hardware that I decided to sort and bag the good ones for reuse later, and doing so came in handy many times when I needed some heavy-duty hardware. This was only one of the ways I planned to recycle what I reasonably could during the build.

I also spent this time watching a plethora of YouTube Skoolie videos, as well as DIY instruction videos in general. There were quite a lot of trade skills I needed to learn, and I needed to learn how to do them right. I started with the insulation with put it back together. I wanted very good insulation without breaking the bank and was willing to take extra time to do it.

I decided on cutting pieces of R10 foam board from Lowes into pieces able to fit behind and between the chassis. Bars would be the way to go, and gaps between could be filled with can spray foam. In hindsight, I would use Reflectix tape instead as it would be cheaper and easier.

During the next month, I juggled several tasks. I removed all the sliding bus windows, measured and cut 2x4s to match each chassis bar for use as furring strips, installed the strips, sealed up any leaks I found, test painted the rub rails, replaced the rear door latches with easier-to-use deadbolts, painted and sealed the metal floor, removed any wiring and unused lighting, and installed a new subfloor. I am grateful to my friend Scott for his expertise and help, which saved my back.

I also reused the old metal ceiling as two window skins while using new metal for the rest of the windows. I bought a cheap (but ultimately untenable) Ace Hardware woodstove for which I began building a base to sit it on, with storage underneath for firewood (also ultimately untenable).

A hidden compartment was under the floor, so I put part of the subfloor on hinges over the compartment to make hidden storage. Because the box only has a metal floor in the compartment separating it from the outside, it doubles as a chill box in the winter for drinks and bread.

Things started to feel great when I had my roof painted with fresh paint, installed a beautiful roof deck, replaced my old front door with a new wooden one, and added a chimney. At first, I thought I would need an additional foot for the chimney to improve the draft, but I removed it and found that it was working just fine. Therefore, I decided against installing it for fairly obvious reasons.

The next month was very similar but with more of a focus on insulation and framing. I also installed the woodstove, the stove pipe, and finished my pine wood front door in linseed oil (later refinished with polyurethane) before installation. Placing a door with no window convinced me to install blind spot cameras on the passenger side and the rear later. One day I would like to upgrade to a fiberglass or steel door with a sizable window for better longevity and aesthetics. 

After the hole in the roof for the chimney was cut in, it seemed like a good time to coat the roof in liquid rubber brand RV reflective paint. I was fortunate enough to be able to use the barn of a family friend during this process because, without it, it would’ve been so much harder! Thank you again so much David! I was able to get it done in about five days thanks to the convenience of having a place to work inside.

Once that was finished it was time to build my roof deck! There were a lot of measurements that were difficult to figure out from both the inside and outside of the bus. The bus was finished, and the decision was made to build a deck out of all wood construction. Later, after noticing some rotting slats (only heartwood is weather-resistant enough), I figured out a way to get my hands on some surplus Trex composite decking to replace them with for an amazing price of $5 per 20-foot length of which I only needed four.

I left the support beams in place because they showed no signs of rot and are composed of heartwood cedar, unlike the slats, though I did later take them apart again to seal them with polyurethane. I also later added a border rail for the deck, with a triangular-shaped piece of cedar mounted in front of the deck to act as a wind dam/spoiler ensuring air wasn’t constantly pulling on the boards from underneath and helping to increase aerodynamics.

I had several goals in mind when building the bus including a full bathroom with shower, a toilet, and an open as possible floor plan able to accommodate air mattresses for guests. Although only equipped with the space of five windows, this was a difficult goal to achieve. I slept in a hammock several nights on the way back from Colorado and felt great the next day, so I did more research into its effect on the body long term. It seems that against common belief, hammocks reduce back pain considerably and force you to sleep in the healthiest sleeping position.

I try to be down for improving my physical and mental long-term health over my short-term comfort when I can stand it, and in conjunction with the tons of space I'd save over a traditional mattress, this convinced me a hammock was the only way to go. So, I drilled through the chassis of the bus, mounted heavy-duty eye hooks through the wall bolted from the outside, and attached carabiners to them. It’s very well kitted out with an underquilt, camping air pad, comforter, and pillows for my head and knees.

Over the next few months, I had to save up money, so I did some small jobs when I could, such as installing my Maxxair fan which had been lying around, installing new door seals, putting down some flooring I also bought at a steep discount, installing turf in the entryway, and finishing the installation of the insulation. I refrained from insulating the floor in exchange for more head space, but if I were to do it again, I would ABSOLUTELY put down a half inch of foam board under that subfloor so the floor is warmer.

Eventually, the money started coming in, and around seven months into the conversion process, I started working on the electrical systems. Since Budd came with a Honda EB3000C generator, I decided to build my solar system with only 12V power in mind and only 200 watts from two panels. The biggest draw is the fridge by far, but in a weird useful twist, the uninsulated floor does the work of the compressor in keeping the fridge cold in the winter. Ha-ha!

I decided to go with a 200Ah Renogy AGM battery for the price, it’s been almost three years now and it still works great, though I expect to replace it with 100Ah lithium in the next year or two. Unfortunately, in making excruciatingly efficient use of the driver’s overhead space for the electrical base I had to install the battery in a way that makes removal quite time-consuming.

It’s wedged behind the chassis bar, so it doesn’t budge even in rough riding and wreck circumstances since it’s placed directly over the driver’s head and weighs 140 lbs. It fits in snug, like it was meant to be there!

I wanted the system to be as safe as possible so every outlet, lighting fixture, fan, the two cameras, and water pump have their separate fuses in the fuse box and the fuse box goes through a 60-Amp main fuse before it gets to the battery.  The only breaker is between the charge controller and battery for ease of disconnection in case of an issue.

All my appliances/outlets fit into a universal 12V 12-block fuse box which was another cost-cutting measure to further simplify the build. I also found in my research that fuses are slightly safer than breakers, being that breakers first must heat up before breaking the circuit and fuses break as soon as overcurrent is achieved. Yet another safety measure helping me feel secure. 

Once the electrical wires were run, I could start putting up my walls. I went with faux brick as I REALLY love the look, almost like a Minecraft house or something! This combined with the heavy use of poly-sealed wood, open floor plan, and white ceiling makes the place feel cozy and secure without feeling encroaching at all as long as you are 6’ 1” or less. Everything but the brick was reused/discounted as unusable.

The wood in the front was originally the wood slats for the deck, repurposed as an unfinished cedar wall, and the shiplap was slightly water damaged at the store with no mold, so I offered to buy it for 75% off then simply reprimed and painted it. The even and perfect amount of light I had inside with the shiplap on and lights wired in really made me feel like I was on the right track.

I built my dresser and repurposed bus seat/storage box out of 2x4s, plywood, and faux brick and designed the seat to accommodate a seatbelt for passengers. I kept working on that, installing my electrical components into the system after putting up as much of the wall and ceiling as I could before the next step.

Eight and a half months into the build I began framing in the shower. To save space and to avoid the need for another water tank or additional plumbing, I designed it with an external 5-gallon water reservoir tank. using an intake hose from a 1 GPM, 12V water pump which then pumps the water in through the wall and then through an adjustable garden hose sprayer head. It makes better use of low water pressure than a traditional shower head.

I used my generator to power the induction stove top and boiled a pot of water before pouring it back into the reservoir. I do this, give or take one fill-up depending on elevation, roughly five times, which takes about 30 minutes. No time was wasted because this was time, I did other bathroom things like brushing my teeth, setting out clothes, and otherwise getting ready.

Once hot, I have five minutes before the water runs out (ten minutes with my military shower strategy), and plenty of time to get clean. There is no tank it drains into, being gray water and using only environmentally friendly soaps I can often just drain the water on the ground if allowed. If I’m somewhere that’s not allowed, I place a 5-gallon bucket (which doubles as my wood pellet bucket) under the drain outside then bring it in to pour down the sink drain and into my gray water tank.

This was the most unexpectedly involved project I took on by a long shot. The level of waterproofing a shower built from scratch one must undergo, especially working in such a tiny 2 x 2.5 ft footprint that I can’t stand fully up straight in, made for an exhausting on-and-off six months.

I took breaks from working on the shower to work on my kitchen, homemade composting toilet, and fold-down dining/living table suspended by chains now and then to make it easier on my body. The kitchen has a very complete feeling with the induction cooktop, large toaster oven capable of holding an 18 x 9 in. cooking pan, 16-gallon fresh and gray water tanks, and full-size sink with 0.75 GPM water pump.  The low-flow water pump is slow but sufficient and saves water when tank capacity is limited.

Again, I repurposed the top of the toolbox that came with the bus as the kitchen counter. In 15 months, I had all these projects finally finished as well as reinstalling the shelf that came with the bus, with a few modifications. I then built my kitchen cabinets in a week. The dresser, sink, and kitchen cabinets all close and lock in place via cut-up L-brackets, cut to length, with a receiving piece bent outwards to make a very cheap and easy-to-use latch.

I liked this idea because it seemed more secure than standard spring or magnet latches while also saving money and resources since I had plenty of unused L brackets lying around, the only downside being that you have to be sure they are all latched before driving. After the cabinet was done, I did a few other tweaks and add-ons in prep for my final step, the paint job.

I went with one coat of primer and one coat of paint for the body of the bus, both in Rustoleum white, all rolled on with a paint roller inside the same barn. I used paintbrushes for the nooks and crannies. The painting went so much faster than all the plastic prep, especially for the two-tone “white with metallic blue rub rails” a look I had dreamed of since the beginning. The rub rails were painted with a can of spray paint.

As a result, I wouldn’t call any of the paint job “professional grade”, but it’s more than good enough to make me proud to call it my fairly eye-pleasing home. I used the last of the Rustoleum to paint the shelf in the interior and called it a finished project.

Driving my newly finished, self-built Skoolie out of that barn, three weeks after driving in was unbelievably surreal. In fact, since that moment my life has had more “too good to be true” moments than I could’ve possibly imagined four years ago.

From the beginning of the project to the end, it took 586 days, or 139 Skoolie days, every one of which is documented on my Instagram page. That makes for a total time spent converting of 1,112 hours. What a busy and rewarding year and a half it was!

I spent the next six months saving up money working at an Amazon fulfillment center until I was ready to finally move back to Colorado, living out of a cozy bus I'd dreamed of for so long. I spent a couple of months meandering my way across the Midwest and southern border visiting friends and family along the way while taking in some beautiful locations on my way out to Colorado. It made me so happy to show my grandfather in Florida, a retired military electrician, the home his grandson had built for himself, and I hope I made him proud.

Since settling in Colorado, I’ve taken up about half of my deck with a storage bag to declutter the interior, added a cell phone signal extender, figured out how to turn my deck and interior into a usable gym, bought both a Buddy Heater and electric space heater so I have four heating options including the engine.  I also moved the generator to the front, put my motorcycle on the back, and did a few other things here and there that just made things with bus life run smoother.

I’ve worked as a marina attendant, and now a ski lift operator in the past year in absolutely breathtaking and expensive locations without financial worry and feeling far more like an independent and capable man. I even found the perfect place behind my spare tire to store an inflatable boat! I’ve visited several waterfalls, driven up many mountains, viewed amazing vistas from the chair on top of my deck, visited several national parks, and have finally been getting to explore all the beauty and nature that Colorado has to offer.

I’ve since fallen out of love with the cannabis industry and am generally unsure where life will take me from here. I will be going back to school once I can achieve in-state tuition status to try at a possible electrical or mechanical engineering degree as I think I’d like to learn a lot more.

I’ve always had a passion for designing and building things since I was a kid. Showing myself that I’m capable of achieving things I long thought impossible greatly improved the way I thought about myself.

Against common Instagram knowledge, building a bus and traveling wherever you want does not fix everything about who you are. However, I can always rest a little easier with physical proof that I’m capable of more than I know and living with the freedom I have.

I built Budd in hopes of making it my home for a decade, only time will tell whether I can make that happen, but I’m not going back to an apartment without kicking and screaming along the way! I’d really love to thank my father for putting me up for two years during the conversion process and being such an integral part of this project.

Even though he worked incredibly hard as a physical therapist, to the point of studying for and passing an intense geriatric exam and buying out the owners of his practice’s office during that time to start his own practice, he was always willing to help whenever and however he could. Even when all I would stubbornly allow him to offer were words of encouragement, those words went a long way. There’s no way I could’ve done this without him or his wife Becky’s wonderful dinners and support. Nothing but love to all the Skoolies and all the Skoolie lovers and thank you so much for taking an interest in my home!

To follow a video tour of this bus conversion, click  HERE

General

• Year: 2001
• Manufacturer: Chevy/Thomas
• Model: Express 3500 Cutaway
• Vehicle Weight: 10,500 lbs.
• Fuel Tank Capacity: 33 Gallons
• Miles Per Gallon: 10-12
• Engine: 5.7L Vortec V8
• Transmission: 4L80E
• Overall Length: 23 feet
• Overall Width: 7.5 feet
• Overall Height: 12 feet
• Raised Roof: None
• Solar Power:    
• Total Watts: 200
• House Batteries: 200Ah AGM
• Electrical System: 12V
• Shore Power: 15 Amps
• Inverter:            

            Size (Watts): 150 and 300W plugins

External Equipment

• Fresh Water Tank Capacity: 16 Gallons
• Black Water Tank Capacity: None
• Grey Water Tank Capacity: 16 Gallons
• Tank Material: Plastic
• Water Heater Type: Induction Cooktop
• Plumbing Materials Used: PEX Piping and Rubber Tubing
• Propane
  • Removable or Stationary or Both: Removable
  • Number of Tanks: One 20 lb. and Four 1 lb.
  • Total Capacity: 24 lbs.

Internal Equipment

• Stove: Induction Cooktop & Woodstove
• Oven: None
• Microwave, Convection Oven, Toaster Oven: Toaster Oven
• Refrigerator: Bouge RV 30 qt.
• Air Conditioning: 5,000 BTU Window Unit
• Heating: Primarily woodstove, Buddy Heater, electric space heater, and the bus engine.
• Ceiling Fans: None
• Generator: Honda EB3000C Cycloconverter
• TV: Laptop
• VCR, DVR, BLU-RAY, Satellite: None
• Bed(s) - How Many and What Size: (One) Two-person Hammock

Interior

• Wall Material: Faux Brick
• Ceiling Material: Shiplap wood
• Flooring Material: Vinyl Tile
• Type of Insulation: R10 Foam Board
• Cabinets: Plywood
• Countertop Material: Pine
• Window Coverings: Reflectix attached with Velcro
• Lighting Type: LED

Misc.

• How long have you owned your bus? Since 2019
• Did you do the conversion yourself? Yes
• How long did it take? 1.5 years
• How much did you spend on your bus and your conversion to complete it? $20,000
• Notable Features: Roof Deck, Wood Stove, Full Facilities, and a Hammock instead of a bed
• What would you do differently next time? Insulate the floor!