Hey guys, Jenna here, as many of you know, I love a good female empowerment story. And so in today's video I'm going to
show you how one young woman decided to convert a shuttle bus into a tiny rolling
home and then after living in it for some time, started her own business, converting vans for other people. The inside of Gloria's shuttle bus is
simply gorgeous and you'll be able to see firsthand how she was able to expand
the space to feel alike a lot more than just a tiny home. So let's take a tour. I'm Gloria and this is the lavender moon bus. Living in the bus was really incredible
because it gave me the flexibility to move where I wanted to be. So shuttle bus was the great
option for me, number one, because they're a lot cheaper than vans
and number two because there are a lot wider and taller, so you're getting so much more
space for what you're paying for. When I bought this bus, it was an
electronic mobile shop basically. So the guy had it all set up with
walls and cabinets and things to sell electronics at it. I tore everything
out, gutted it. I put everything in here, the shower, the kitchen, the
plumbing, the electronics. Completely gutted it and made it what
it is now. My dad's a contractor, so we had done an RV remodel before as
one of the first places I ever lived in when I moved out from living with them. So getting into a shuttle bus
was actually really exciting. I feel like for all of my friends
and families to witness me, like transforming another space. So at first when I lived in the bus, I was just living at my parents' house
in the driveway and then I expanded to my friend's house driveway. It was in a really beautiful
space surrounded by nature. And then after that I started
parking all around San Diego. So right now I'm not living in the
bus because after converting this bus, I loved it so much that
I opened up my business. And so I've really been tied down to
working at my warehouse and my shuttle bus just became basically
a bed in a parking lot. And I'm not sure what my
plans are for the future. I feel like my life
changes every three months. So I just evaluate when that comes up
and see what's best fit for my lifestyle. So my work right now is converting vans
and buses and essentially what I do is take any shell, van, bus, trailer, whatever kind of space that people want
and I turn it into a luxury off-grid living space. You have the sustainability
features built into your living space, that means you're using
less water, less electric, which is going to be a huge part of,
I believe, our future moving forward. So being able to do it now and have less
of a carbon footprint on our planet, I think is a really huge
thing to be a part of. I took my daily living style and put
it into the space and made sure that everything I wanted and like a normal
space I could have accommodate me in, in a shuttle bus. So it really shifted by mindset
when it comes to like buying things. Also like what's really important
to me and what I actually need. Welcome to the lavender
moon best come on in so this is the front of the bus. We
kept the majority of this original. Uh, the only thing I really did up here
was paint this and put a new panel over this. Basically everything
else is original, the seat
front console and things. And over here we have the
control panel for the lights, the battery monitor
and a power on and off. So right behind the seat is where I
put my water jug for drinking water. I also have my curtains that I
hang up for privacy and you know, broom for cleaning So this is the bathroom and shower
area. This shower fits me perfectly. I'm 5'2. So as you can
tell, I fit great in here. This jar was actually really unique. I couldn't find a lot on
what people did for shower. So we built this out of plywood. We put a rubber coating on it
and then some poly wall paneling, which is what they use in commercial
kitchens and then we also put a porcelain mosaic tile on the floor, so the bathroom situation, which
everyone wants to know about. I have an emergency bucket that I put a
trashcan liner in and I use cat litter if I want to use that. It works for about three days if
I'm using this space consistently, but for the most part I'm parked usually
around facilities, so I just use those Moving on, we have the kitchen
area, it's six feet long, which is a pretty good size. It's
got the frigerator under here, just lift up the countertop. We put this on here so it
could hold up when I wanted to open the fridge and it's a 65 court fridge so it
holds more than what I need for myself. I have the knife rack, which is
great just to grab nice and go. We have storage up here that
wraps all the way around the bus. It's 10 inches wide and it's just a really
great and simple way to have storage in the upper space. And then down here I have the propane
and butane depending on what I want to cook with or what I
have fuel for that day. And then under here I actually have
more space and what I did was put these boxes that turned into chairs and then we have extra seating for guests. And then around here I put this tile
back splash and it was actually really simple. I didn't use any grout or any
a thin set to adhere it to the wall. I actually just use fuse it, which
is a really strong glue, glued it on. And then I cocked all the seams and
moving on. Over here we have the sink. It's a really large deep sink. That's what I wanted to be able to
wash all my cutting boards and dishes. I have a diverting valve on my faucet
so I can switch back and forth if I want to just spray stuff. And I also have a soap pump
right here that's built in. I didn't want like soap dishes
falling around when I was moving. Then over here we have the trashcan, so I usually just pull this out when
I'm cooking so I don't have to like open this in and out more storage toe
kick under there and then up. Here's my utensil and junk drawer
and I have multiple drawers. I put all my dishes and
cookware in as well. And then here we have the pony wall
and I use this for two purposes. I have an outlet on this side
and an outlet on this side, so I needed somewhere
to have a box for that. And then I also went ahead and made
this into an extra storage space where I could have a table for cooking or eating there you have it this is my living room, little nook area. My original intention with this was
actually to have it be a foldout sleeping area and then as I started building it, I realized it's mostly
going to be a space for me. So I just hang out here when I'm drinking
tea or reading my books and it's a comfy space. A lot of the time actually guests use
it or this is where people sit when they're riding in the bus
with me as the passenger area. So a super nice to have
the windows everywhere, one because each one of them
has like two vents on the top. So when I have the fan on, I got a lot of breeze and
there's a ton of natural light, so I'm barely using my lighting
in here unless it's nighttime. And I usually only use like very
low, like ambient style lighting. So I love having the windows because
basically everywhere I go I can see where I'm at and enjoy the scenery and
just take it all in within my space. And next we'll move on to one of my
favorite spaces where I didn't want to compromise because the girls got
a lot of clothing, so the closet I moved out. But you can see I was able to store all
of my clothing in here as well as my jewelry. I wanted to be able
to have easy access to that. It's one of the great parts
about customization is
whatever lifestyle needs or desires that you have, you can really
create it in a small space. Like this. Up here we have the fan, it's a
three speed, simple, fantastic fan. And on the ceiling we
put the paneling across. It was definitely a pain in the butt to
screw everything into this deal with, you know, your arms hanging up here. And then I put the led puck lights in
all the way down as well as the ambient lighting, which is led strips that wrap all the
way around and everything is dimmable. So I like to have mood
lighting in the evenings So this is the bedroom and storage
area. I have a six inch mattress, it's four inches of high density
and then two inches of memory foam. One of my favorite mattresses
that I've ever owned so far. And then some of the other creative
features that I wanted in here was an easy space to view things. But I
didn't want to build an a TV. So I put this screen in here so
that when I'm sitting on my bed, I could have the projector
over here. Now, yeah, of course it will only work at
night, but if I want to, you know, watch something in the day, I just use my laptop and then over here
on the bed I have my reading lights and I always have loved the look of sconces. So I put these in and I also have a
headboard right here that lifts up. There was a couple of purposes for this, but what it's turned into
now is my laundry shoot. So a lot of people I think don't think
about where they're going to put all their dirty laundry, where
they're going to store that. And so I just lift this up and throw
things down there and then underneath I have a tote in that I pull out
when I want to do my laundry, so all goes away. Then I also put a Sprocket on this window
so that it would hold itself up when I opened it. So I just push
it open and holds itself up. I like to back up into the beach
and have the breeze come in here. It creates a really great flow as well. So it's awesome having all these windows
and being able to utilize them all. I have window covers that I
created to fit these custom. So on one side they're tan on
the other side, they're black. At nighttime you can't tell there
anything's going on in here. So I put Velcro all around
and it just sticks up there and it's insulated. So it makes a huge difference. Um, like when I'm anywhere cold
when these are on or not, like the temperature is much more
bearable in a cold place with these on and so under here we have all this
storage. There's a 42 gallon water tank, a four gallon electric water heater.
Here's where I put all my clothes, extra shoes, seasonal clothing. Living tiny has changed my perspective
on life because now I can live with less wherever I go. And it's really changed my mindset moving
forward with all of the things that I accumulate. Everything that I use daily,
I'm able to live on like so much less, have the same quality of life,
but I just feel so much better, like not having the weight of stuff. And so that's a huge part of this that
I'm taking into my life moving forward. Thanks for watching this week's video. Make sure to give it a thumbs up and
share with your friends and subscribe so that you can see more
stories similar to this one.
