Last Updated August 26th, 2020

As Emmett and I have been slowly but surely self-converting our bus into a tiny-home-on-wheels, we have been scouring the Internet for any and every source of information possible. Though we worked construction in Australia, we are nowhere close to expert builders. Starting from square one and building a home within the frames of a used bus is quite the challenge and keeps surprising us at every turn! Luckily, we are fortunate enough to live in a time where you can find do-it-yourself guides online for nearly any project imaginable. Anyway, let me thus present to you a round-up of the best school bus conversion resources.

1) YouTube Channels

Rolling Vistas

I love Rolling Vistas! Zac and Tiff seem super down to earth and their videos are incredibly well filmed and edited. One day a few months ago, I sat down and watched every video on their channel. They have thoroughly documented so many parts of their bus build as well as posting inspirational videos about trips they had taken since moving into their bus full time. Though they recently decided to make the switch to full time vanlife versus buslife, their bus build videos are still incredibly helpful. Whether you are starting to convert your own bus or just considering it, I highly recommend checking out their channel!

Gilligan Phantom

Not only is the family behind Gilligan Phantom super adorable but their bus build videos are honestly probably the most thorough. Justin, Val, and Nova have a video for every single aspect of their build which has been so valuable to us as we end up wanting to know every detail of every potential project that comes up for our own build. Also, their final build is just incredibly stunning and inspiring. No matter where you are at in your actual build or in your bus daydreams, there is bound to be a video on Gilligan Phantom’s channel to get you going!

Tío Aventura

Mariajose and Chase have possibly my favorite bus build of all time. I love Tio Aventura’s unconventional L-shaped kitchen (with full-sized fridge!) and they achieved their whole build for just $16,000 total which is significantly low considering how aesthetically pleasing their final build turned out. Tio Aventura’s YouTube channel is definitely the best for buslife inspiration. Their channel has a less instructional focus but more travel-specific videos about destinations they visited in their bus. Not only that but they have several Q&A style videos about buslife and a couple of story time videos that give you a real feel for life on the road. I’ve really enjoyed living vicariously through their travels.

2) Online Forums

Skoolie.net

I actually have somewhat mixed feelings about this forum. On the one hand, Skoolie.net has been around for ages and is absolutely jam-packed with information on bus builds for every possible budget and/or make and model. On the other hand, the site itself is quite antiquated and relatively difficult to navigate. I find it’s easiest to use Google to search for answers on Skoolie.net rather than try and deep dive into the forums or use the search engine onsite. Usually I will just type in a specific problem or question into google and then add skoolie.net and end up with several different discussions to peruse.

Skoolies Subreddit

Though the skoolies subreddit is newer than skoolie.net’s forums, it is definitely more user-friendly. Particularly if, like me, you are already a regular Reddit user. r/skoolies has an incredibly detailed and useful post on getting started with your skoolie conversion that is stickied at the top of the forum. I highly recommend taking some time to read through it as you plan your own bus build. Not only that, but the subreddit has quite a lot of active users. If you make a post, you are bound to get several prompt responses.

Skoolie Planet Facebook Group

The Skoolie Planet group is all about skoolies! Whether you’re just thinking about buying and want advice or you are deep into your conversion, this is the place for you to share or ask questions. This Facebook group is super active with seemingly dozens of posts a day! Try to be really specific when posting questions. Also, adding a picture or video to your post can really help it get some attention in an otherwise very busy Facebook group.

3) Instagram

#skoolieconversion

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Moreso than any one single account, I have found that following the skoolie conversion hashtag on Instagram has been a great way to connect with and see progress updates on the builds of other self-converters. I seem to find an interesting or inspiring new Buslife account about twice a week. It’s also fun to occasionally see several Australian passenger bus conversions on Instagram who also use this hashtag.

Specific Accounts

One of the best skoolie insta accounts, @sincewewokeup.

Which accounts you follow all depends on your own personal taste! There are a plethora of great skoolie accounts to choose from. The YouTubers I mentioned above all have their own equally inspirational Instagram accounts. (@rollingvistas, @tioaventurabus, @gilliganphantom). Another account I like to follow is @sincewewokeup - Tawny & Mike are super active on Instagram and are really quick to respond to any questions or comments I’ve had in the past.

4) Blogs/Websites

Not to be too self-promoting BUT this post is one of many to come regarding school bus conversions on my blog. I plan to have an entire dedicated section with tons of resources for anyone else self-converting a bus. I’m talking build recaps, resource roundups, budget breakdowns… the whole shebang! So please stay posted and keep Savvy Dispatches in mind as an information source.

Bus Life Adventure

Bus Life Adventure’s website is awesome! They have posts and articles about absolutely everything you would want to know about school bus conversions - short bus vs. long bus conversions, product reviews, tool recommendations, bus tours, and more! If you are even remotely interested in doing a bus build, this site is a fantastic resource.

The Wild Drive Life

Meag and Ben have a great blog tracking their own bus build. They’re also super budget-conscious and have a great post all about the costs of their bus conversion. When we were in the early days of merely dreaming about our own bus conversion, I found their site super helpful when it came to the cost-based realities of the build process. It was really humbling to see it all broken down. Their cost ($26,500) seems high when it’s all put together but the break down of each category of purchases really hammered home to me how affordable a skoolie is in the long-term. Imagine how expensive it would be to build a standard home from scratch! The fact that you can be a fully furnished homeowner for under 30k while also being able to live on the road - that’s amazing! And it’s exactly what led us to decide to embark on our own bus conversion.

Other Skoolie Blogs/Sites

Two of my favorite Skoolie YouTubers, Rolling Vistas and Tio Aventura, have websites that include just a bit more info than their YouTube channels. For instance, each of their sites features a little bit more info about the specific tools they used on their builds.

Mike and Tawny, of @sincewewokeup mentioned above, have a great skoolie blog where they round up some of their favorite examples of skoolie design as well as talk about the highs and lows of buslife. Definitely give their site a look or follow for ongoing skoolie content. (Unlike Rolling Vistas and Tio Aventura, Mike & Tawny actually still currently live in their skoolie)!

5) Pinterest

My “Inspirational School Bus Conversions” board on Pinterest.

As I’m sure you probably already know, Pinterest is a great tool for finding and organizing any ideas you might have about virtually anything you can imagine! Pinterest is especially helpful to use to organize ideas you find for DIY projects and that’s where it comes in handy as a resource for school bus builds. There are lots of inspiring skoolies featured on Pinterest and several blog posts to be found as well! Again, not to toot my own horn BUT I recently put together a couple of Skoolie boards on my Pinterest account - one for inspiring Skoolie builds and another for helpful posts and guides found online. Each board is also broken down into categories to make it even easier for you to find exactly what you are looking for. For instance, say you want to find articles about installing your subfloor. Go to Skoolie Resources and click on the flooring section! Thanks in advance for checking out anything I put together - I really just want to help any other eager skoolie builders out there!

6) Books

Skoolie!

This book by Will (@willbillys on Instagram) just came out a few months ago this year. My mom pre-ordered me a copy and I received Skoolie! right after it was released. I am a huge fan of this super comprehensive book! Emmett and I have already found ourselves turning to it for project-specific advice. Even though we’ve watched a ton of great YouTube videos, sometimes it’s just nice to have a book to flip through and guide you on your DIY projects. Skoolie! is a must-buy for anyone beginning their own bus conversion journey. Click here to find it at an independent bookstore near you!

7) Documentaries

Expedition Happiness

Felix and Mogli, a young German couple, created this documentary about their school bus conversion and travels throughout Canada, the US, and Mexico. Expedition Happiness does touch a bit on the build aspect but it’s a very short section of the film. That being said, I would definitely recommend watching this (it’s on Netflix last I checked) for inspiration and a glimpse into what it’s like to live the #buslife while you’re actively putting a lot of miles on the road.