Who We Are?
Meet the bus builders
Just a regular family like yours, who happened to buy a school Bus
We started this adventure in July of 2020. After 10+ years of living in Los Angeles, we had a child late in February 2020, and the whole world seemed to shut down due to covid. By May, we had both lost our jobs, and been unable to introduce our son to most of our family.
In June we took a camping trip with our new baby. He seemed to cry all the time in our apartment, but on this trip he was silent, calm, introspective. He looked at the trees, listened to the sound of bees and the rushing river, and for the first time since he was born, seemed actually happy. That is when we knew we needed to get out of the city and spend more time in nature.
Jenni told Stephen, “we have to leave our apartment.” Remembering a conversation they had had a year prior, he responded, “well, you told me if we left our apartment, that I could buy a bus.” She did remember this conversation. Crap! The last thing Jenni wants to be is a liar. So she acquiesced. “Ok, we are moving out July 15 and today is July 1. You have two weeks.”
Over the next two weeks Stephen searched online for buses and dragged his friend with to different locations in LA County to check out buses. He found one. She was located in Long Beach, was a 7.3L Diesel, and already had the interior bus seats ripped out. Jenni HATED the color. It was desert camouflage and added to her anxiety about being “unhoused” with a new child.
The bus was purchased July 12, and by July 15, all of their belongings moved from apartment to storage unit, with one 27 gallon tote per family member, they all drove to Venice Beach to wave goodbye to the Pacific. Stephen, Jenni, Cyrus, and Ras Leo were heading East, out of LA.
We thought we would finish our build in two months, with an infant, but quickly realized we were in over our heads. Our bus had rust on top, a leaky ceiling, and due to that we needed to fix the roof and rip out the ceiling. Read our guide to find more of what to look for and think about when purchasing a bus, and to gain a realistic perspective of what you need to do. If we can do it, you can too! We love how our bus turned out. It is the perfect family adventure vehicle.