You may not be aware, but in the small house movement there’s
a big debate and that’s whether you should go with a tiny house or a
schooly or renovated school bus. Obviously I’m shooting this video in my
tiny house so you know which way I went on the debate. But in today’s video you’re going to
see an awesome renovated school bus that might just have you thinking
that a schooly is right for you. I’m Annie and this is Roman
and we live in little Groundhog This is Eugene. We named the bus a little Groundhog
mostly because my grandfather was a long haul furniture and freight trucker and
when I was eight years old I went on the road with him for the first time. We were traveling across the country and
he pulled his CB radio down and got on the mic and everybody listen up. I’ve got a special guest
with me all summer long. This is a little Groundhog and
he gave me the name and it stuck. Years ago when I was much younger. Um, I ended up homeless for a short period
of time and I climbed back out of it and got my stuff together. When I first decided that I wanted to
go tiny and then started talking to her about going tiny, my main drive was I never want to be in
a position where I’m ever going to be homeless again. And I also
wanted to have a vehicle. I wanted it to be accessible to a point
where if we were in one place and we just wanted to go in 20 minutes
flat, we’re driving on the road. So when he was like, I want to
live at a school bus, I said, okay, we can live in a cardboard box as long
as you’re there, I’m home. So we’re good. Buddied up. I told a friend of mine,
a very good friend of mine, Hey, so we’re going to buy a bus and
convert it into a tiny house. Hung up the phone. She called her mom
and said, I think Roman had a stroke. Now that friend has, since her boyfriend has bought a
bus and they are converting it. So I called her back and I said,
Hey, did you have a stroke? Little groundhog is 36 feet
long, 8 feet wide, gives us roughly 266 square
feet of living space. This is really it. I wanted
everything to be kind of built in. I didn’t want to do something that
was going to slide around or you know, you put the brakes on and everything
falls. I lucked out with my mom. I got her to actually make my pillows
for me, which is a lot of fun. There’s that personal touch. You just kind of having the family be
involved in it, which is really cool. Of course, right past the living room you ends up
in the kitchen and she had some very specific things about the
kitchen that she wanted. Doing dishes in a tiny home. A lot
of people struggle with adjusting going from having a dishwasher
to not having a dishwasher. My compromise was a big sink. We had to have a big sank so
that way I could wash dishes, but also I could leave dishes and
not feel as guilty. Let’s be honest. The second thing that had to take up
counter space was of course the coffee maker because you can’t, you
can’t live without coffee. Then we have an induction cooktop, so two
burner induction cooktop that we love. We’ve got a toaster convection oven that
works just like a regular oven does on like cooking and baking needs. Love it. Being able to cook and cook the way you
would in a conventional kitchen in a house. We wanted to
maintain that, you know, that was important and I
wanted a full size fridge. I did not want to do an RV fridge with this side. Again, we wanted more storage and we even
have this nifty pull out door. This is Bo. He’s got his own name tag. He is our four month old Minx tuxedo
cat that we adopted from some friends. So he likes to ride up on the dash or
sometimes Roman’s shoulder while we’re driving down the road. One of the things that was
really important to me was
having a full sized shower. Um, I kind of developed this thing a long
time ago that when I move into a new place and I moved a lot as a kid and
when I moved into a new place, nothing, it never felt like home until
I could actually take a shower in it. This was the very last thing that we put
into the rig and probably should have been the first thing we put in cause
it was so hard to get it in the blinds across the top. Getting those things
cut is really kind of a challenge. And then, you know, figuring out
the wheel well, this right here, that’s a lot of fun. Um, and
people ask me all the time, can you actually sit in there
and you know, and I can, it’s, it’s really comfortable.
And we did the, uh, the kind of faux stained
glass on the windows. Um, just to add that little extra level
of privacy when you’re in here, we get asked a lot as well.
Is it a composting toilet? Cause it looks like a composting
toilet and it’s actually not. It’s the porta-potty by Thedford I think the first festival we went to, we didn’t actually have the
closet doors on the front of it. She loves stickers. Um, we do the sticker swaps with everybody
all the time and one of the place to put them, but it not also be like, you
know, this big kind of menagerie of, of mess out in the middle of the bus.
So she put them all on the inside. When we actually moved into the
bus, we, we pared down a lot, um, and kind of organized, okay, this is what we can take and this
is what we might have to throw away. And we got everything that we had all
went in here and we didn’t lose out on any of our clothing, which was kinda fun. I didn’t think you could
put that much in a closet. When we first started building the bus, I wanted to go more of a blue
kind of feel, right? Teals, blues, things like that. And she with Disney and Mickey and
Minnie and all that kind of stuff, that color palette really spoke
to her. And she loved this. So we decided to kind of change that. So the
reds, the Crimson’s, the black and whites, the grays. My mom had
this kind of one demand. If I’m going to come over your house, I don’t want to feel like I’m in
this cigar tube. And so she said, make sure you keep windows. So when
you’re sitting down the windows, bring all of that kind of
big space into your world. Even though the wall physically stops
here, you feel like you’re in a much, much bigger space. I didn’t originally put this in and it
was a big deal for her because we use this as storage space. I wanted
to make sure that she could get. So this is our vanity area. This is actually over a wheel well and
which really struggled on what to do with the space. That wasn’t just
a box over the wheel well. So we ended up making vanity and
then we flip over to the other side. This is one of two TVs that we have.
It’s the smaller of the two. Well, with us going tiny. It wasn’t a sacrifice of going from modern
conveniences and having our X-Box and all of our electronics. We have two TVs. I’ve never seen another one that has two. We wanted to have a place
to work, a place to play, a place to eat, that kind of
thing. And I wanted a table, but I didn’t want to do the
kind of standard dinette
so we did a fold-up table, you know, pull up a chair. We
both eat dinner here sometimes, or I use it as kind of my office desk
and it really just kinda folds out of the way. And you have a lot
more space in the bus. We have storage in our ottoman
that was bought this way. And then we also built
in storage in our couch. A lot of people ask us if our couch
folds out to a bed, but it does not. However, it’s seven foot long
so anybody could sleep on it. And if we really, really
need the extra space, if we have friends that want to stay over, we have a twin air mattress that we can
inflate that sits right here in this space. We moved in in February of 2018
and we’re coming up on one year. The flexibility of having
this is tremendous. Don’t not do something because you’re
afraid. Get in there and get involved. A lot of people look for that excuse
not to do it. Find that reason to do it. Make sure you comment below, which you prefer a tiny house or a
school bus and subscribe to see more tiny house and travel videos.
I personally love them both
Bus
Leaning towards housebus idea. Convince me otherwise…
It’s funny, I like both but I like the loft options in a tiny house. My husband likes the school buses all the way.
Let me tell you guys something: You CAN live without coffee.
Beautiful cozy home, i would definately prefer a schoolie over tiny home. Roman and Annie did an amazing job on this home !!!
Definitely a skoolie
Ok I love watching the videos , some people do great conversions but tell me how do people support them selves living like this ? I only see people living in these tiny / bus / truck homes in very rural ares is there a reason for that ? Do people ever park or travel into big cities ? Or you only stay / park in mobile home parks ? Ive always been curious about this type of living , its like running away but having a new life in a different area every day .
I use to be loyal to the tiny house, but the bus idea is really growing on me.
But you have to keep drivin cuz ya cant park n live somewhere
Your moms pillows are lovely..the whole bus is♡
Love Romans shirt
Cool schoolie!
nice people!
I would opt for a school bus because it is a tiny house on wheels and I can move where ever I want and take my tiny house with me to camp grounds when I'm ready to take a vacation road trip.
nice job guys! happy trails!
Jack and Sally on the fridge!
I like to know how much everything cost them
Congratulations…….you built an RV. Why are you calling an RV a tiny home? 😛
Can you live in it if you have hot weather all year long like 40c
You have a lovely home and a very supportive wife. You are truly blessed.
I would love a tiny house for me and my daughter. I would love to travel the world and live life.
This is so bloody 😎
A school bus I prefer
Love both. Really love the feel of the bus
school bus all the way any lake can be your back yard. cheers
Skoolie all the way but the shorter one for me.
Personally I love the fact that they’re always in the cats home while they’re driving.
Gorgeous modern decor its not sloppy at all ! So bright ! I like the length you can get with a school bus and the windows! but I would want one with a brand new engine installed! But with a tiny house you can haul it with a truck but newer trucks are so expensive! But if your truck needs repairs you can still live in your home at an Rv park by having it towed to one or on the garage lot if they are willing to let you!
Don't pay the vehicle tax and see if your not homeless when the tags are expired for … sudden medical expenses or it becomes a maintenance issue because it's also a vehicle and can get costly … "Man plans and God laughs."- Some Yiddish proverb.
I love their attitude toward life as much as their home.
This video is awesome. When I was a kid , I rode the school bus for a couple of years and I thought back then this can be a house , with the right know how and of course proper finance . The bus looks great . looks like an actual home.
I want to see a tiny home made of cardboard boxes.
Love the bus idea but since im not a mechanic, I'd worry about losing my home because I couldn't afford to move it if I needed to. I lost my motor home that way.
Love it
I love this skoolie sooo much. I have been homelss b4 too and it not fun. I am trying to avoid this happening again to me and my kid but life keeps knocking us down. a skoolie would be the perfect solution. Especially off grid capable. Wish someone would make us one bcuz my dtr n I are pretty much homeless now and cant afford anything anywhere in us it seems. I and don't know what we are going to do. Prayin for a miracle. Thanks for the video. So happy for you.
Tiny house
A bus (old or new) is better than a van or tiny home or even a rig, as it has better space management and u dont need additional heavy duty truck, which adds limitation to home space. So for a bus along with driver seat u can have a 36 to 38 foot length living space.
I want both….tiny house to come home too after traveling in the bus 1 state at a time!
Well built, looks good and love it. School buses are solid, defendable and standardized (relatively). My friend's son fixed a slight mechanical issue on the Blue Bird we were riding to school. He was in sixth grade and the bus driver said dispatch would get a mechanic out in two hours, so Smith made the adjustment. Skoolie conversion makes sense. Mechanically easy to get parts (Rock Auto) and custom, semi custom or even almost standard conversion ideas seem to work. Looks like fun !
Bus for sure. Tiny homes just aren't roomy enough without a loft and I can't do stairs very well anymore. I love the way you did your bus and the decor is awesome. I like Mickey too.
you guys are the CUTEST couple EVER !
This video spoke to me because I too was homeless… Very nice video and build.. Ty so much.
Wow this bus seems more comforting and loving then some people's houses I've been to so much love and comfort in there I love it! I hope to do this one day 🙏🏽😍
I definitely prefer the school bus
This is the answer to the "housing crisis". The problem is not that there's not enough housing, the problem is that we in modern society have gotten a bit carried away. No, you don't need a 3000 ft.² house. You may want one, but you don't need one. Yet, the things that everybody aspires toward in our society is just ridiculous.
If you only need a beat up old bus that you can make comfortable, that costs $5000-$10,000 depending on how you do. So you're looking at one years rent at most to own something that will last many years. Such a basic need can be taken care of for cheap if we stupid modern people would listen to our ancestors from 500 years ago and just simplify everything!
Wow. Skoolie for me…
Having BOTH would be ideal for me, traveling about the country for 6-9 mths a yr, then a change of pace into a tiny house on my own land would be the greatest!
I would like a tiny house
That's an awesome build. I love their home!
Literally the first tiny house I'm actually impressed with…the biggest turnoff is the loft bed…I just don't care for the idea of banging your head every morni g or having to bend your spine a certain way to get up….these peeps did it right. 👍👍
Where's the litter box? And good God, I hope they scoop it several times a day or that bus will reek.
Out of all the videos I have watched, I feel that you both made the best, Genuine and honest, Pull you have real smiles, Congratulations on you build and many blessings on many more years together in Little Groundhog,
Schoolie, duh!
I love your home and story! Thank you for sharing both.
Totally Love your home! I drove a school bus for 38 years and believe me it was a blast! I wish I had one to live in. Drive safe you two!
Skoolie ALL the way…just makes more sense. Too many restrictions in the IS on tiny houses.
Anyone ever needs a place to stay for a night dm me. Nobody should be out in the cold.
The only thing you need is to paint your bus Brown so that it fits the name… Nice
Hi! Where did you find the folding table?
Awe she is so sweet willing to to do anything with him as long as she’s there
What a nice couple…wish them all the Best.
I would want a school bus you can move it when you need to get from point a to point b and you don't have to pay for your lights and you can get a General for your lights and heating
Schoolie!
I actually own my own home, but kind of long for the road because the only travel I've done is associated with the dog obedience trials I attend with my Sheltie. I just don't know where I would get the money to acquire a school bus in good enough condition to convert to at least a do-it-yourself RV. It would be great to find someone with the carpentry, electrical, and plumbing know-how to put together something I could just drive to obedience trial sites instead of staying at the nearest Motel 6. Well done, Roman and Annie!
Very awesome story. Thank you guys for sharing.
One of the best THs 😊
School bus converted to my first home, I am a disabled individual who needs a small homeownership that is accessible.
Skoolie after lots of deliberation!
That school bus was pretty nice!😊👍🏽
It kind of feels weird that Roman never refers to Annie by name. He only refers to her in the third person.
That ☝ is really well done. I like it a lot.
Brilliant conversion guys..love it!!👌😁💗
I love this home clean and big and bright
Very nice.
What do they do with the litter box?
A tiny house, I never would have to buy a new transmission lol
#TeamSkoolie
We went the skoolie way. We moved into our girl two weeks ago. Absolutely awesome choice. So homey and comfortable
I told my mum I wanna live inna tiny house cause i have too much stuff and it's taking over my room do imma live in a tiny house when I grow up
I think I have to go with school bus
sooooo cool!!!! love it!!!
I am startting to love the schoolies. But tiny houses are great too. Hmmmmm…….
I am leaning more towards a school bus I just like the versatility and being able to go anywhere with it.
I like both, both are mobile, thought I guess in winter a tiny house would stay morewarmer
Beautiful home
great job, though seeing him nearly hitting his head at every step makes it clear to me once again: the best skoolie conversions are those that start with lifting the roof – makes a WORLD of difference!
Someone hook her up with some braces
Great job on the bus guys!
I love them both. A bus would be more convenient as weight is not a huge issue and they are easier to move.
However, tiny houses definitely have pluses too like height.
I would be happy to live in either 👍🏻
Am I the only one who never grew up with a dish washer and still doesn't have one 😕, btw, I love this couple and this conversion 💜😁💜
How much do u pay for the lot or land you staying on
I know some county unfortunately they don’t allow RV on for more than 3 months in a year
Any idea which country allow to have RV ?
Love the kitty!
This video has everything – a well-designed skoolie and an adorable tuxedo kitten. Love them both!
They did a great job. I wonder where this community is where they park it?
I would love to live in a schoolie… however, there is no way I could drive it!! I have a grown daughter who lives with me (she does not drive due to life long medical issues) & she has the sweetest 13 yr old cat that lives with us (the cat does not drive 🐾 either) 😂😹🙄
Maybe… one day… we will figure something out.
Happy & safe travels to those of you who do live this wonderful life of traveling in your home…
May you always make the "bestest" memories ever!!
God Bless 💞
Like the stain glass
I have been binge watching converted busses. This is my favorite decor by far! So cute! Good job!
By far one of the nicest conversions I've seen in awhile. You guys did an amazing job
My late wife wanted a tiny house. At that time we didn't know anything about skoolies but I think, now that I have seen videos of many of them, and seen a number of them while on nation-wide roadtrips, I like the idea of a skoolie over a tiny house for many reasons and I think she would too.
Profoundly inspiring❤️ God bless🌸