You Won't Believe This Self Built Shuttle Bus

Chase what makes you feel alive that's been my motto one thing that I wish was better about this bus was just the windows I was essentially stuck in this new city with no friends or family and I just wasn't doing well mentally my favorite part about this bed is these bay doors open up what's up guys my name is Mike also wandering busted and today I'm going to give you guys a tour of my home and I can't wait to show you guys what's up alrighty guys so I first just want to say none of this build would be possible without one of my best friends from home Steve Steve and I you went at it for about seven months after one of my first buses was sold and so through my first boss I really figured out what I what I liked what were non-negotiables for me and so this is the result of a lot of thinking and hard work but none of this is possible without my friend Steve so shout out to you Steve but first this is my kitchen one of my favorite Parts about my kitchen and probably my whole build is this Skylight and the Skylight actually wasn't too intricate to get in there but for me I'm a big natural light guy I want to feel kind of awake at all times and just that natural light makes such a big difference it hangs right over the kitchen so I get to make some a really awesome meals underneath this all of this is Custom Cabinets so right here you're gonna see my fridge so what's awesome about this fridge it is truly hidden at all times fridge and freezer fridge was made made by iceco all of these are on struts as well got all my supplements all of my food we have a 17 inch furion stove top and I absolutely love having propane you know I could go through a 20 pound tank and it'll last me months I have an oven which is amazing I should probably be using it more but I am just not and then all of these again it's just all custom Cabinetry so I played around with a bunch of different layouts with this build you know I'm around like that 25 feet Mark and this was the most optimal way to do it kitchen I love to cook and so this was definitely having this whole setup was a huge priority of mine I really could not be happier with the kitchen itself I work pretty much more of a hybrid model some some months I'm working remotely some months in person and so having an ideal work set up was a was a huge priority of mine as well during my first build I realized that that part was extremely lacking I have a monitor that actually swings out which is super sweet if I I you know want to watch a movie and I'm just hanging down at the couch I can move this many different directions which is awesome this beam is actually really cool too it's a 100 year old beam that my buddy and I found it's super rustic looking and so I have one on this side and on this side as well so my partner in crime my travel buddy and my everything we've been through 40 States now together and this is Bailey my siberian husky that literally goes everywhere with me and truthfully I cannot imagine this experience without her she absolutely loves bus life like I said having a good work setup is was a huge priority of mine I have my my laptop but I definitely love having more of a a stationary work setup and so this iMac has been wonderful I actually got this right before I hit the road and I'm super happy with it one of the cons obviously is it's an iMac and so it's a little bit bigger but when I'm driving I essentially just remove the mac and put it into my bed bed this is my dinette it also forms a couch as well I could take this black pole out and then the Butcher Block will then sit underneath so then it can become a twin size bed and then either a couch as well which is super awesome and then underneath Bailey there is Storage here I'm not going to make her get up but I do have storage underneath which is also awesome you know one of the things and Tiny living is you have to be very intentional about all of the space and you have to figure out where you can still store things I've been super happy with this whole layout the dinette the bed it actually turns into a full-size bed as well there's a piece of plywood in the back that I can bring out that could fit another two people here as well one thing that I wish was better about this bus was just the windows um it is an old shuttle bus and so the windows are are great but unfortunately I can't bring these bottom windows down down you know right now I'm in Baja so it feels definitely very warm and definitely having those windows down would be would be wonderful but in every rig there's a lot of give and take right and so that is just one of the cons of the of the windows I have a storyboard I try to have a storyboard of my travels and people that I've met all of these pictures uh mean a lot to me and so it's been it's been a true ride it's been a true Journey but I'm so grateful for it all as you can see like interior Decor uh it means a lot to me like I said I always wanted this bus to feel like home and so a lot of the stuff you see I bought through Etsy but unfortunately these are not real I would be a terrible plant owner if they were because they fall everywhere and so my plants are not real so my journey to bus life is pretty intricate but uh long story short uh through covid um I was able to work remotely and I was working for BlackRock you know and finance asset manager and uh when we were able to work remotely I just moved down to the city of Atlanta as a transfer and I was essentially stuck in this new city with no friends or family and I just wasn't doing well mentally and the only way for me to kind of feel good again was to kind of just immerse myself in something different so long story short I started in the back of my Jeep Grand Cherokee with my dog Bailey and we just headed out west and throw two and a half years it's been an evolution of my Jeep to my travel trailer to my first bus and now finally my second bus and my final bus through this I just realized that life is incredibly short and I want to live it with purpose and passion and with full intention and that's what this life has given me last year I had to I was facing the decision of going back to the corporate world or continuing the Zone path and ultimately I knew that I had to continue this journey and so it's it's truly been the best experience of my life all right so we've made it all the way to the bathroom and the closet and the bed area super long walk to get here uh but I'm from outside of Philadelphia and so I left the Philadelphia area about 30 days ago and so we made it all the way down to Baja which has been super great but I've had to bring or I've had a pack like essentially all four seasons of clothes again you have to really think about what you need during your road trip whether you're full time or part-time and so this closet space has been awesome it's been totally ample for what I need I have hangers and then I have more of kind of a standard dresser I have about 35 gallons of fresh water which sits underneath the closet it's completely hidden and then I can access it from the out outside and I'll show you guys that in a little bit you know with the bus being insulated and the fresh water being on the inside it definitely really helps with freezing all right so now we have the shower and in my first bus I didn't have a shower inside I was constantly showering at Planet fitnesses and gyms and although that's great uh it's hard when you're living full time and so having a shower in my bus is a pure amenity that I absolutely love this is a nautilus space-saving RV door which I'm super happy with it's very light it's thin and it works great in this shower one of the things that I had to unfortunately um part ways with was what Nature's head composting toilet this is kind of a create your own composting toilet most composting toilets need some of that ventilation from the outside and this being an enclosed shower I had to find something that I could use for both you know having that shower and having a bathroom so I when I do take showers I have to remove my composting toilet and just either put it here underneath or in the hallway which is fine it then allows me to have a pretty much an open shower I have a nebula water saving shower head it saves a lot of water my shower has been awesome the water pressure is phenomenal as well I have an electric water heater as well which I'll show you guys in a little bit one of the things that I want to do is I want to add a skylight which I think will be super great having that natural light in showers is something that I definitely want so that's my shower and I couldn't be happier with it so we've made it to my bed I like to say This Is My Sanctuary my Nook it's honestly where I get my best sleeps of my life is back here I absolutely love it it feels super cozy and enclosed queen size bed has been awesome I have a mini split here that provides me with AC and heat I have 600 amp hours of lithium batteries that can support that unit so a mini split is awesome if you're looking for AC and heat and you have a ton of electricity then a mini split is a great option but a diesel heater is another great thing that I would recommend buying if you're looking for heat I have a surround sound system in this bus I have some really good music that plays back here and then also in other parts of the bus as well of course my favorite part about this bed is these bay doors open up right now we're on the beach in Baja and so I can't wait to to open those doors and to look out on the ocean and get to get some fresh air this artwork I love the mountains and I wanted to make it feel like home so those are just nice canvas that I bought online below the bed is where Bailey's home is at essentially when I'm sleeping the dog bed resides here and she sleeps right underneath me always keeping me company at night again storage is so important when thinking about your build and so I wanted to access my storage in two places one from underneath the bed and then once from the outside the entrance that I use the most is the one that's right underneath the bed and so know like things like dog food water photography equipment all that stuff sits underneath here and then I do have all of my electrical stuff underneath on the backhand side as well so all long-term storage is here and then I can access it from both here and the outside all right so this is the front of the bus to tell you a little bit more about the bus it is a 2000 E450 with the 7.3 powerstroke diesel motor that was the most enticing part about the purchase of this vehicle was having that 7-3 for those that don't know that it is the most reliable Ford motor and it only had 90 000 Miles when I first bought it so I've been so happy with just the chassis and the engine and and this bus and so hopefully God willing I have many thousands of miles to go with this bus to talk a little bit more about the front like I said I had the surround sound speakers so I have a speaker here I have a speaker here I have a speaker here a speaker over there and then the receiver having a good sound system was a priority of mine with all the road trips I'm doing and all the podcasts and all the music that I want to listen to having a good sound system was important having this extra space I really couldn't imagine not having it I mean as you can see I've I'm using it for so many different purposes whether that's dog treats up here whether it's the receiver where my hats are being stored my camera equipment I shoot a lot of travel photography I do a lot of portraits on the road as well and then books I read a lot a lot of downtime that I get out here and it's just been awesome to immerse myself in a bunch of different books as well photos from my travels my mom and I me in a random Road in Texas this part uh it was pretty challenging to make because we had to be very intentional and very specific with our Dimensions just because it's it's pretty funky and the dimensions are funky and so this has been awesome I just put random crap happen here honestly it's just stuff that I need quickly on the road with my wallet or my keys one of my big favorite Parts about the front of this is I have a shoe compartment down here where I have like six pairs of shoes between my Birkenstocks my running shoes my hiking shoes all of that is hidden down here so if you're thinking about where your shoes are going to go try to be intentional about the space that you're using up in the front of the bus because it's great to just take them off and to put them in there I'm super happy that I ended up doing that so my biggest advice for people that want to immerse themselves in this lifestyle whether that's bus life van life nomadic living being a back-to-backer just understand that it's going to be a journey right there's going to be so many hard things and challenges that present themselves throughout the way learn to expect those challenges look inside you're gonna have a lot of people that think you're crazy right it's just a product of living this way right going against the grain going against the norm if I stopped when people thought that I was crazy then I never would have been here and so just try to get away from the noise spend time alone spend time in solitude Journal do all of the things and make sure your intentions is pure with getting into this lifestyle because there's gonna be haters there's going to be people that think you're crazy and so my biggest advice is try not to listen to the noise you know don't conform to other people's expectations and standards for how you should live this is your life you have your own Vision Your Own Story your own reasons of why you want to live this lifestyle follow your intuition follow your heart are and I promise you it'll be the best thing that you've ever done all right so like I said I wanted my bus to feel homey and I took that a little bit too far but I'm so glad that I did we put a nine panel house door on my bus the beginning I bought ended up buying like a six panel window door but uh it didn't feel right and so having the nine panels was a huge priority and I'm so glad that I did because it really does add a lot of natural light coming in so we put an electronic keypad we got the ring set up and then one thing that I again love about this bus that I had in my first boss that I knew that I really wanted and this is I wanted to cook outside more although I love having my kitchen when I'm here in beautiful Baja I can whip out my Coleman portable stove and I could put it right here and I could also use this as a workstation as well my bus there's a lot of weight to it I mean between the roof deck all the wood inside and then this exterior kitchen um I have a lot of weight and so those are the negatives and having you know something like this and I'm sure it does get a lot of air resistance as well while I'm traveling but it's just kind of the way that it goes so outdoor kitchen super happy with it so we've made it to the back of the bus and so essentially now my bed is up here my long-term storage is underneath here I have my fresh water fill up right here so I can just take that off fill up my water that way I access the storage this way and then now I had these bay windows open up and so all of my like I said long-term storage my electric water heater is here I have my bike trainer here my Coleman stove dog food all the crap that I don't need on a daily basis is housed there and like I said having these windows open with my bed here is absolutely Majestic so we made it to the back of the bus as you can see I got some toys here I'm training for a full Ironman on the road and that is probably one of the hardest challenges being on the road is hard in itself but to put in about 20 hours of training while also being on the road presents its own difficulty so I have my road bike here once I get stationary and Todo Santos this will come off and I'll be enjoying some rides along the mountains and then I have my dual sport motorcycle these buses these rigs like they eat a lot a lot of gas and so having a second vehicle that gets me to town and moments where I just need small things or just kind of want to take a break from having the bus or God forbid something happens where I'm in you know in the middle of nowhere and the bus breaks down and I need something I luckily have this dual sport motorcycle to get me there what's also really cool about this bus is we extended the deck so we bought some sea Channel and we made this a really awesome platform to hold my compressor my dirt bike and then my road bike as well and the compressor for the mini split is hiding behind this motorcycle which is super sweet you know I wanted the compressor to be kind of hidden and so I didn't really want it exposed from the outside I've been on the road for about two and a half years now and so that has taken me to some of the most amazing places in North America and I've seen you know so much Beauty and so I have a lot of my National Park stickers from the road and that's kind of like my way of just remembering all the places that I've been to so these words Chase what makes you feel alive that's been my motto that I've been living by for the past two and a half years years you know my life has drastically changed through this lifestyle and bus life gave me life it provided this whole perspective and and challenges and growth that I'm just so happy that I've been able to experience this way of life and so I feel more alive than I ever did I feel I'm filled with so much joy and that's all because of the people that I've met the experiences shared the growth that I've had and just being able to live intentionally and with more purpose and so I used to work in Wall Street finance and I very much was I was struggling and I struggled mentally and and through this lifestyle and being on the road I never felt more alive and so through every decision that I've had and every um you know transition I've really have tried to keep this as my common denominator and my Foundation of my life and that's what I'm doing I'm just chasing what makes me feel alive all right we made it to the roof deck one of the most special things about my build and right now I am overlooking the Beautiful full ocean and in these moments I realized this is why I do bus life for moments like this I'm super happy with my roof deck it is an eight by eight roof deck it is Trex decking material so it is extremely weatherproof it's very sturdy the only con with Trex is it's heavy and so that's kind of the trade-off there but this decking material is really solid and I'm super happy with it as you can see we don't have too much solar which is kind of a bummer I only have 400 watts of solar but the roof deck was a huge priority of mine the natural light was a huge priority of mine and then as you can see I have the max air fan as well so only 400 watts of solar but I do have 600 amp hours of lithium battery to kind of trade off and so that's the deck space foreign well guys thank you so much for checking out my home it brings me so much joy to just show off uh this lifestyle because it's truly changed my life I'm so passionate about it so if you have any questions or you want to get into this lifestyle but you don't know where to start reach out to me I know what it's like to be in your shoes and so I'm on social at wandering bus dude on Instagram again I want to empower as many people as possible to live the life of their dreams whether if it's this lifestyle or something else you're in charge of your own dreams and you have a moral obligation to yourself to follow your dreams so that's all from for me uh Bailey and I are going to continue to enjoy Baja Mexico but if you want to follow wandering bus dude on Instagram [Music] all right [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Tiny Home Tours

Views: 80,214

Keywords: tiny house, tiny house on wheels, living big in a tiny house, tiny house england, tiny house uk, tiny house movement, tiny home, small house, small spaces, small house design, alternative living, architecture, affordable home, off the grid, small space living, tiny house life, tiny home uk, diy tiny house, diy home

Id: v6VtnZZTBQ8

Length: 20min 29sec (1229 seconds)

Published: Wed May 03 2023