They Wanted More Time With Their Kids. So They Built a Bus

Their Social Media Links: https://linktr.ee/highwayhuckleberry Instagram: highwayhuckleberry TikTok: highwayhuckleberry @highwayhuckleberry Signature Solar (affiliate link): https://signaturesolar.com/?ref=N7ufi... Check out our other social media platforms! https://linktr.ee/tinyhometours Join our newsletter for all things living tiny! https://bit.ly/THT-Newsletter Take our quiz to find what tiny is right for you - https://bit.ly/tinyhomequiz Interested In Being Featured On The Channel? : https://bit.ly/THTTourApplication Check out our Podcast: https://bit.ly/tinyhometourspodcast THE DETAILS Home: 2003 Blue Bird, 8' x 40', about 320 sq ft Builder: Self-converted by Luka and David with help from family Bus purchase: $18,000, from AAA Bus in Phoenix, Arizona Conversion Cost: about $60,000, with all labor done themselves Solar and off-grid power: $16,000 Monthly cost of living: around $2,000 In 2021, Luka and David had what they call a perspective shift. They didn't want to wait until later in life to start living, and they wanted to own their own path. By April 2022 they had bought a 40-foot school bus, and after two and a half years of converting it (and two more kids), they moved in full time. David calls the build difficult and back breaking at times, but moving into it was the easiest decision they've made. With no building experience, Luka and David taught themselves nearly everything, with plenty of help from family. The biggest job was raising the roof 16 inches: they sliced the bus in half and lifted it, which opened up the living area and let them build much taller kitchen cabinets. Luka is honest that it's a demanding, time-consuming project, but says it makes the space really, really nice. The living room is where the family of five spends its days. A seven-foot couch has room for everyone, with restraint brackets so the kids can ride safely while the bus is moving and a second fridge hidden inside. A tiled bench beside the wood stove has car seat anchors welded to the bus frame. It's also the homeschool room, movie theater and the dog's favorite spot. Time in a small camper taught them what the kitchen needed most: counter space. Flip-up tables add more of it, and a 20-inch apartment-size stove replaced the RV stove that kept burning dinner. The range hood vents straight outside. Instead of a dishwasher, they chose a combo washer and dryer, a better fit for three kids who get dirty. Luka admits she still misses the dishwasher. The bathroom's angled shape was deliberate. Luka and David didn't want the classic skoolie hallway running through the bathroom and the kids' room. The shower is fully tiled with a heated floor and dips low enough to draw a bath for the little ones. David plumbed the composting toilet's liquid tank down to the basement, stretching it from a few days to about a week and a half. The kids' room sits out of sight from the front of the bus, which Luka loves, with bunks, bookshelves, toy cubbies and floor hatches that hold snow gear and holiday decorations. Their oldest loves anything with wheels, and the two youngest know no other normal. David wired the whole bus himself, more than a thousand feet of 12 volt and AC wiring. The solar system alone took him about nine months of studying schematics. With 1,200 amp hours of batteries, the family can go three or four days without sun and barely notice. For David, the real payoff is time. As a father of three, he gets to wake up and spend the day with his kids. Luka and David say they still work, just not as hard or as long, and that was the goal all along. HIS ADVICE "I would definitely recommend learning the skills yourself. You don't have to build it to the crazy level that we did. We talk about a lot of times, if you just got the seats out, hang a couple hammocks, you have a skoolie and you could start driving it like that weekend. But we really wanted to have the bus feel like a home. Something that we could live in full time and not get tired of it year after year." VIDEOGRAPHY BY: https://www.travelwestproductions.com/ EDITING BY: Instagram: filmbro_ TINY HOME TOURS LINKS: Business Inquiries - [email protected] Subscribe - tinyhometours Facebook - Facebook: Tinyhome.tours Instagram - Instagram: tinyhometours Newsletter : https://bit.ly/THT-Newsletter Podcast : https://bit.ly/tinyhometourspodcast Apply for a tour : https://bit.ly/THTTourApplication