Well, we’ve finally hit the most critical stage of bus conversion: painting and decorating.
Okay, okay, I’m not actually serious about this being the most critical stage of the whole process. However it is certainly the stage that I’ve been most anticipating. By the end of September, the interior of the bus was technically complete, however it remained quite rough. At the time, we dubbed it good enough. Since then, we’ve been engaged in performing engine diagnostics & improvements. Following the successful completion of some mechanical upgrades and a few equally successful road-tests to confirm the engine’s soundness, we’ve since switched gears. So far, the month of January has been about making the bus not just habitable, but homey.
Yes, this process includes the aforementioned painting and decorating (though currently, more of the former than the latter), and yes, I will include pictures. However it’s important to mention that it is also accompanied by an equally important, and somewhat more challenging task: downsizing.
When I first moved to Austin, all of my worldly possessions could be contained, quite literally, into a space half the size of my car. At the time, I had completely streamlined the material contents of my life to fit into either the trunk or the back seat of my car. Far from being austere, this minimalism was actually quite exhilarating. I had exactly what I needed and was free from the urge to accumulate more (and more, and more).
Of course, this didn’t last. As our lives in Austin changed shape over the years, the number of things acquired increased. And then of course, Ryan and I moved in together and our two individual streams of stuff merged into one large enough to fill up an 800 square foot duplex (plus two exterior storage sheds). So now, as we prepare to move into a space that is roughly 200 square feet, each of us is having to engage in a process of discarding what is no longer needed.
I’m specifically using the word “process” here in light of a the interesting realization of just how much emotional and psychological energy we can invest into the objects that surround us.
So far, the act of getting rid of things has been an interesting crash course in recognizing where, and quite literally in what, each of us has invested our individual psychic energy – and how the objects we’ve chosen to surround ourselves with relate to the inner lives we’ve each built for ourselves.Confronting our stuff, is in a sense, confronting past, present, and future versions of ourselves.
And now to deliver the previously promised photos! Here are some shots of us doing work on the bus. Most are quick snapshots, we’ll post nicer, more extensive ones soon.
Justine, your comments about why we hang on to certain objects really spoke to me, and may make it easier for me to let go of some things during my next attempt at downsizing. I know I can’t pass along stuff to you and Ryan anymore!
Like the pics. Especially the curtains!
I love the airy open feeling of your new home….downsizing…well…in my many moves I have given away so much and the universe sends new stuff. So even though I have been on a downward trend it is a slow large learning curve for me. But I keep moving toward toward the light and lightness of un attachment…looking forward to seeing you in your beautiful bus.
The bus is looking awesome! You two are so fortunate to have the same dream and the will to make it happen! Yea!!
You have not shown any pictures of the exterior, nor given any information on the size and model bus that you have. I see the one picture of the exterior here on the blog, but isn’t it illegal to leave a school bus yellow? From my understanding, as I am currently researching this issue as I am looking to buy a bus now, once the bus has been sold to the public/person, you must change the color and remove all decals, stop signs, and other markings that would mistake one into thinking it was still a working school bus. The information I have obtained thus far, says it is illegal in the majority of the states to leave it yellow. Are you guys not going to paint it?
Also love the layout, and the way that you have the bathroom is exactly how my bathroom is sketched out for when I find the right bus for me. I want to be able to close off the bedroom from the front of the bus, as well as close off the bathroom for some privacy. Awesome use of the space and by the way, any chance you can give me the name of the camp stove you have, I haven’t see one like that and I think that would be the perfect set up for me.
Thanks for the comment – glad you’ve enjoyed reading the blog and like of our interior layout 🙂 For reference our bus is an International and is 35′ long from nose to end. We have roughly 200sqft of living space in the interior.
When we first began researching bus conversions we came to similar conclusions regarding the exterior appearance of converted school buses. It is in fact illegal to impersonate an ‘official’ (re: operated by a school district) school bus in just about every state. However, depending on your state of residence, and/or where you intend to drive your bus, the requirements for altering the appearance can vary. We have satisfied the requirements for our state with respect to removing the stop sign, signature flashing lights, and all other insignia that would lead one to believe our bus is still an operating school bus. Since this post was published back in January, we have since painted the exterior of our bus, though we have not yet updated the blog with new pictures (don’t worry, this is coming soon!).
It’s really cool that you’re planning to convert your own school bus into an RV! We found skoolie.net to be a really helpful resource during our process. We bought our oven from Camp Chef and it’s worked out well for us so far. Ikea also offers some affordable cook-top options too if you’re looking for alternative kitchen ideas.
We appreciate your interest in our blog, thanks for reading!