Teacher Builds 5 Window Skoolie Into Her Full Time Tiny Home (Bus Tour)

[Music] do [Music] [Applause] [Music] do [Music] hey i'm deanna i'm from michigan i'm traveling in my five window gmc with my dog honcho we're gonna do a tour so let's go check it out we're gonna start with the exterior i hand rolled all the paint on the bus it took a couple of days to do and then the mural i found like a sticker from rei and so i really loved it so i free handed it onto the side of my bus that took about another day and then on the top i put tropical to kind of help with some of the heat and i liked the white on top so that's what i did for paint on my bus on the back of my bus i went ahead and installed a hitch i knew i really wanted a second vehicle some smaller wheels so i got a hitch installed on the back and a carrier that's super great so it holds i have a yamaha zuma moped on the back and then i've also got behind here two propane tanks one is set up for my oven in my heater and then the other one i hook up to a generator that's on the other side that powers my mini split on the back so on this side of the bus i have my water inlet that feeds the fresh water tank underneath my bed which is 46 gallons up on top i have a roof deck i got the plans from art we there yet it was really super simple to follow and then also on my deck i have a wii boost mounted up there that's been really helpful helping me get better service and areas where i would be limited and then underneath down here i have a 25 gallon water tank for gray water that's it for the exterior let's go inside and i'll show you what's going on in there i really liked the bus doors and i wanted to be able to keep it as one door so i bolted the two doors together and then i also went ahead and added a keypad lock so i'm able to leave the bus without having to worry about the keys and i'm able to just easily unlock it and it has a deadbolt on it to help keep me safe a little bit as soon as we come in we have the entryway i went ahead and tiled kind of the backsplash of the stairs and then i just cut a welcome mat in half for my steps just which makes it super easy to be able to take out and shake out when they get dirty the front of the bus i kept pretty original only thing that i really added up here was this cabinet space when i took out the door handle latch i had a lot of extra space but i wanted to utilize that as best i could so i went ahead and built a really deep cabinet space that just stores all my extra shoes and things like that also up here i have a sound bar so i'm able to listen to music while i'm driving my jackery also sits up here that powers my soundbar for the front of the bus i just went ahead and painted it the same color as the exterior wanted to keep the neutral tones in here and then i added a curtain for privacy so when i'm sleeping or camping i can close this off for some privacy so the first thing you see when you come in is my shower for the tile i used doomer wall interlocking tile it's really simple to install my shower pan is from camping world it was a 24 by 24 inch shower pan so super small but perfect for just what i need and then i got a extendable handle that's super long so it makes it easy to shower in this tight space and then i can also put it out my window for an outdoor shower if i'm ever at the beach and i need to rinse off or things like that i split my kitchen into two separate sections over here i have a firion 21 inch range it has three burners on top as well as an oven down below and then underneath i installed a really big cabinet that kind of just holds all my pots and pans down there so that's super helpful and i still have a little bit of counter space to prep kind of things over here my main countertop space though is over here i have a nice deep sink that works just for me and then lots of prep space for cooking and more storage of course down below on this side i have a couch and it's pretty handy for me actually i eat dinner here i work here i have a table i can pull out as well as this pulls out into a small guest bed that i can use there as well and then next to it i have another cabinet that just stores all my work laptops my table that i can pull out there so that's super handy to just have nice and close and then the kind of final piece of my kitchen i have a avanti side-by-side fridge or freezer so this whole side is a fridge and this whole side is a freezer and then up above lots of storage space for dry goods and things like that i chose a bus from the beginning one because it's cool and two because it's what i could afford the starting cost to get a bus compared to like a van or anything like that is a dramatic difference so that's why i chose a bus to start with now being on the road i love my bus i would there are some times when i'm in like a city or something like that where i would prefer a van just for the ease of parking and things like that but living in the bus full time i feel like i'd be much more happier in the bus than i would in a van so i don't think i would change that my closet i have almost a three foot wide closet so i have lots of storage space in here i have a full length mirror that i'm able to use i have lots of hanging space as well as i put a cube storage so i can organize my folding clothes i've got all my toiletries and other baskets in here the other thing that's in here is the gas tank for my diesel heater which is down below that cabinet the fuel line just kind of goes through there so i store that in here out of the way as well on my ceiling i just have some tongue and groove boards up there i did also re-insulate my ceiling with inch and a half foam board as well as using just the can spray foam to fill in the gaps there and then for lighting i just have some led strip lights that are wired on one side which made it super simple for me and then i also do have two skylights that's where i had some emergency hatches before so since i already had a hole in my ceiling i decided to add some skylights there this front one does open up and gives me access to my roof deck on top underneath my bed i have a space uh for my dog so his dog bed's down there his toys are also stored down there kind of just a space for all of his things out of the way and then for my bed i have a full-size bed up here that i built and i also have a headboard that has lots of great drop-down storage i store all my dirty clothes there as well as i have access to the switch for my water pump and my battery monitor is also in there so i can easily check those things and then back here i have a sunville mini split it runs off of a generator that's on the back of my hitch there it works for ac as well as heat but mostly for heat i use my diesel heater so that way i don't have to get out and kind of hook up the generator every time i need to get warm so a lot of people have toilets that was one thing that i decided not to do right away i thought i would give it a month and see if it was something i really needed currently it hasn't been a problem so i've been making it work without a toilet and i will continue to do that until i need one so for my backsplash i just use some peel and stick tile something super simple super lightweight as well as this accent wall is peel and stick wallpaper other decorations i have i had some curtains custom made for in here they are black out so they do give a little bit of thermal regulation which is nice and then the other thing i did was i added some rope trim because i am not the best carpenter this is my first build and so it was just something that looked nice that kind of fit the theme and was really easy just to super glue on there for my electrical system i have three 175 watt renegy flexible panels on my roof and then underneath my bed is kind of my whole electrical system i have two or three 200 amp battery bank as well as a 3000 watt inverter down there and that kind of powers everything in the bus besides the mini split i am a solo female that has been traveling for just about three months now i do have my dog with me which is super helpful to keep me company as well as also help me keep me safe another thing that i installed just kind of as an extra layer of security is the simply safe system so i have a keypad over by the door with the home base here and the safety features that i've added with that is just a door alarm so if the door is open it'll make a noise or if the alarm is on as well as back in that back corner is a glass breaking sensor so if any of the glass broke on the windows the alarm would go off so that's kind of helped give me a little bit of peace of mind as well being on the road by myself don't let like fear get in the way of doing it there's something you want to do there's ways to do it and be safe you know just trusting your instinct is a really big thing there's been times where i haven't been able to settle into a place and i listen to my gut and i maybe move just don't let your fear of being safe on the road or just making the jump get in the way of being able to experience his life from start to finish on my bus i paid about thirty uh to do this and it was including the bus cost as well as a little bit of maintenance before i got on the road i have spent a little bit more of maintenance on the road with other issues that have come up but the initial cost was about 30 000 and it took me 11 months from start to finish to do the whole build i am a teacher and luckily for me i'm able to do virtual teaching so my school was virtual even before the pandemic which was super nice so i'm able to teach from the road as long as i have wi-fi connection i'm able to do my job initially when i got the bus i thought this is something i would just do for a year because it took me 11 months to convert it so i at least wanted to live in it for that long i'm only about three months in so i'm liking it so far i'm loving it actually but you know i'll kind of cross that bridge and kind of decide what i want to do when i get to that year point i don't think i see myself living in it full-time forever but i do i would be open to still having the bus and doing summer trips or weekend trips and things like that one thing that kind of makes me a little bit unique is being african-american i'm kind of like a minority in the world but especially kind of in the nomad community and so i just want to kind of highlight that as well just showing other people that you know if you don't feel like you fit in this world there still is a space for you in this community and this community has been awesome i've met so many people along the road and just having amazing stories and so it's kind of cool to bring my perspective and my culture and teaching other people about it and learning from other people so if you're someone that wants to get into this and you don't look like the typical of what you think this community is don't be afraid to just jump in and try it as well and have this experience because it's great i'm diana and this is my five window short school bus you can find me on instagram tiktok and youtube all at the dot schooly dot teacher thanks for watching my tour bye [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Isaac Turner

Views: 548,348

Keywords: bus conversion, van life, school bus conversion, skoolie conversion, bus life, diy home, off the grid, skoolie tour, diy skoolie, bus conversion tour, skoolie build, van tour, school bus tiny home, tiny home tour, off grid, bus conversion build, bus conversion to tiny home, bus conversion to home, van life solo female traveler, solo female, school bus conversion tour, school bus conversion build, school bus conversion diy, skoolie conversion tour, 5 window, short bus

Id: TjG75aKgHj4

Length: 12min 59sec (779 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 31 2022