Frequently Asked Questions

Below are a few of the most common questions we get about the bus. For additional questions feel free to leave a comment or ask us by posting on our facebook page!

Where did you get the bus? We bought the bus from BGA buses in Hudson, Florida. Conveniently, BGA is also a tax collector so they were able to retitle the bus as a motor home. This saved us the hassle and made insuring it a breeze. Luckily, our bus was the “spare” bus for the school district. It came with only 127,000 miles on it. Our engine has been to known to go over 1 million miles so she still has quite the life ahead of her.
Do you need a special drivers license to drive the bus? No, technically the bus is a motorhome and a standard drivers license is all that is needed.
Is the bus insured? Yes! We have insurance just like any other vehicle or RV. Our plan covers theft, fire, and collisions.
How much did it cost? We estimate the entire bus project cost us between $15,000 and $17,000. The bus by itself was $5,500.
Was this a real school bus? Yes! Our bus had school children on it less than a month before we bought it. The school district it came from outsourced their transportation to a private company and sold their entire fleet.
Did you build it all yourself? Yes, well sort of. We were very fortunate to have help from our friends and family. We also hired a licensed RV technician to assist with the electrical and some of the plumbing.
How long did it take you to build? We bought the bus in March, 2013 and moved in October 2013, so about 6 months. We continue to work on the bus regularly and still have a lot of ideas and plans to improve it. We joke that it will never be done until we’re ready to move out.
How long will you live in the bus? We lived in our bus for over two years but are no longer living in it permanently as of July 2016. We relocated to Minnesota for Chris' residency program and knew that it wasn't a comfortable climate to live in the bus full-time. We plant to keep the bus and use it for recreational trips around the country in the future.
Does living in a small space make you claustrophobic? We never feel claustrophobic in the bus but we do get agitated if it's messy. It's a good incentive to keep it clean and clean up after every project. Also, we do get "cabin fever" if we spend too many days at home without going out into the world, but who doesn't?
Do you entertain? We do entertain! In fact we serve dinner and hang out with friends often around the bus. Typically we eat outside on a patio but 5 people could comfortably eat or play a board game in the living room of the bus since our table expands.    
Is the bus off-grid capable? Yes, we have limited off-grid capability. The bus has 2 large 8D batteries and an inverter, which allow it to run electric for 512 amp hours or 6,144 watt hours. At the moment we can charge the batteries two different ways. We can “plug in” to a 50A, 30A or 20A outlet or we can use the bus’ alternator to charge when it’s running. We have designed our electrical system to allow for future solar power add-ons and hope to do this in the next few years. We also have a 70-gallon fresh water tank and water pump, an on-demand L10 Eccotemp hot water heater and use a composting toilet to eliminate black water.
What sort of items do you have for cooking? We have a Dometic Origo 6000 alcohol stove with an oven and an outdoor grill to cook and a Visani 10 cf standup refrigerator to store food. We kept many of the kitchen appliances we had before moving into the bus but did get rid of many redundant or single-use items.

You can read more about our kitchen appliances in the articles I wrote below:
Origo 6000 Alcohol Stove
Butcher block Countertops

How do you bathe?  We have a water trough bathtub with a claw foot tub handheld shower nozzle which we use for sitting showers. You can read more about our trough including a pro and con list in this article.

Do you have a washer and/or dryer? We put in a plug and spigots for a washer dryer combo in our closet. However, we have easy access to a washer and dryer where we are currently parked so we use that space for hanging clothes instead.



6 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. Did you make your own composting toilet? If so do you have any tips and did you use an existing tutorial

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  3. I am getting ready to purchase a school bus. Thanks for your great blog; so many inspiring ideas! What type of insulation did you choose to insulate the bus?

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  4. Has your horse trough rusted at all?

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  5. Has your horse trough rusted at all?

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