Skool Beans Café – A 1996 Thomas Vista American School Bus
I’m Holly. I live in a remote part of Iceland, and you might remember me from an article that I wrote back in 2024 about my Skool Beans Café. I own a 1996 Thomas Vista American school bus. Now, I know what you’re about to ask! How did I get an American school bus in Iceland?
Well, we had an American military base near the airport in Keflavik that closed down in the early 2000s, and when it did, the 11 buses the base had imported were scattered across Iceland. About five remained, and I have one of them! In 2018, I managed to get my hands on one only moments before it was destined for the junk yard. With a very handy friend and a sprinkle of hope, we drove it away, laughing all the way to my village three hours away!
After a couple of years of hard grafting (See previous article for all the deets), I finally opened my dream cafe in 2020, Skool Beans…. During a global pandemic, which wasn’t exactly part of the plan!
Needless to say, as I sit here now writing this handy troubleshooting guide, we are still going strong against all the odds. So, what’s happened since we last locked eyes?
Problem solving mostly! Iceland is EXPENSIVE, lacks American school bus supplies, and, where I am located, is fairly tough to repair. Import fees are astronomical, and many countries won’t ship to Iceland for reasons I still don’t fully understand! The closest big hardware store is still a 6-hour round trip, and the local shop charges over 27 dollars for a box of screws. So how do I make it work? Let’s start with some of the most common issues I've come across.
I stand by my first point about owning a bus: “Learn to love your leaks!”
Iceland is a country where nature wins. Whether it’s an erupting volcano, a glacier flooding, an earthquake, hurricane winds, or a sand storm, you’re going to need to expect at least one of these a month. As a consequence, the bus moves. It expands and retracts with the temperature changes, and leaks pop up here and there. Windows smash all sides of the bus in the storms, and the roof hatches are tested to their limits.
Hatching a plan!
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Holly is the eternal optimist. She takes challenges as opportunities and when she moved to Iceland from Australia, she had an itch she had to scratch! Which is exactly how she ended up building Iceland's first micro roaster, tea lab’ and chocolate mixologist converted Skoolie!
She just didn’t plan on the pandemic rules hitting on opening day!!! She believed in her business and stood strong, fueling herself with cheap food and low-cost living to fight to survive financially, never losing hope or optimism.
Four years later, she is now Iceland's best-known cafe and was just awarded ‘Iceland's best specialty cafe’ by the prestigious European Coffee Trip!
“Being part of the Skoolie family was such an unexpected surprise. I’ve felt supported from day one with an endless supply of happy, knowledgeable people, willing to give advice. I’ve made friends around the world through our love of Skoolies and the fun they bring”
to open the company's website.
