I have another alternative housing post for you today… This is going to be another head scratch-er, at least it was for me… I remember seeing hippies back in the 1970′s living in retired school buses. Sometimes they were road worthy but mostly I recall them being semi-permanent on a piece of land.

 

   I try to check my local Craigslist everyday to stay on the look out for a screamin deal on another singlewide mobile to add to our BOL. As it turns out I haven’t been able to locate a good candidate yet… I’ll be watching though and timing is everything! I missed out on several when I was looking for the initial one to purchase.

   Anyway, it was on Craigslist that I found the ad we’ll be discussing today. It is for a “Converted School Bus”… Normally, I wouldn’t have clicked on this ad but something caught my interest enough to take a peek. You can see in the pictures, someone has done a good job turning this place into a comfortable and snug little cabin. It doesn’t have a bathroom but most everything else is there.

 

   What do you guys think, could you live in a school bus? What if the price was right? I don’t know either but I wouldn’t rule it out, especially for a BOL shelter. It wouldn’t be much different than living in something the size of a motor home, since this is basically what it is after you converted it.

 

   It appears from what I saw in the ad that the owners lived in the bus for the year that it took to build there new home. They have it rigged up to the electric grid and have running water to the kitchen sink. With the  large wood stove that’s in the pictures, heat wouldn’t be much of an issue at least as long as someone was there to keep the thing stoked up.

 

   So we have running water, heat and electric. Is there something that could be done to answer the issue of the bathroom? I envision this thing sitting on some one’s BOL, out in the countryside somewhere. I know if it were me I would just add an out building to use for a bathroom and laundry facility! It wouldn’t be difficult to come up with a simple design that could be finished to whatever level of grandeur the specific owner/user required.

 

   There are all sorts of people that live in RV’s of all different sizes. I’ve seen a number of articles that show entire families being raised in these close quarters. Some of them on the road traveling but mostly at a full time location… That wouldn’t have been my first choice for raising my daughter but I wasn’t faced with an economic need that required it either.

  My interpretation of this as a lifestyle would be for just a single or maybe a couple that got along real well… In the photos I see a kitchen area, small 2 seater dining table, sofa and bedroom area with a mounted television. The whole place couldn’t be more than 300-350 square feet total? It seems that all the necessities are covered. HEAT, WATER and some sort of cooking arrangement. This place actually appears to be warm and inviting, I particularly like the wood panelling throughout. 

 

   Let me remind everyone that I spend a good deal of my working life out seeing clients in there homes. I’ve seen it all, from chickens living inside with the family, to the old “cat lady”, to actual mansions. It would shock most people to see how there neighbors are really living! More times than I can count I’ve seen a high end luxury car in the driveway but found the living room with no furniture and second hand/garage sale furniture in other rooms. The kitchens are often so messy it would make a 20 year old bachelor blush.

 

   My point is that where we all live and our perceived standard of living, is subjective at best. I don’t hold this out as a GREAT option but it is an option. I see old school buses going for as little as FREE – just drag it away, on up to several thousands of dollars. I’d be more inclined to spend the money for a running unit or one that was in great shape.

 

   Looking at the pictures of the subject specimen and the asking price of $6500, it would appear that you would be getting a make shift home for a reasonable price, if you had the ability to put it to use. I have seen this ad running for the last few months and this is always an indicator of a motivated seller and with a little luck, you could get this bus for a couple thousand dollars. Add in the cost of the out building/bathroom and the towing bill to get it moved to your land and what do you have into it?

 

   No, this isn’t going to be for everyone but a shelter with all the usual requirments for under 10K? Ponderous! I know what your thinking, “I could get a good RV for less than that!” True, maybe that is a better route to take, only you could decide that. I like this idea as I’m a little off from the norm or at least thats what I’m told. This would allow room for the full sized wood stove and give more creative control than a traditional light duty RV… Who knows, maybe this wouldn’t be a good idea but is worth thinking about!

 

   Now more than anytime in our recent collective history, we have a populous that is going to need to think outside the box, when it comes to shelter. I hope to provide the stimulus to more creative ideas. These ideas will eventually lead many to a more freedom centered life or at least that’s my goal…

 

Prepper