Destination Unknown

Tag: school bus conversion

  • 5 benefits of traveling with your family in an RV

    5 benefits of traveling with your family in an RV

    Why you should travel with your family in an RV

    5 benefits of traveling with your family in an RV

    We have discovered so much about us as a family since starting our journey. Here are our 5 benefits of traveling with your family in an RV.

    1. We have all we need as a family & in the RV
    2. We have strengthened our family ties
    3. We discover new interests together
    4. We learn when we need to be apart
    5. We save money

    We are the Hildebrand Family (“HildeFam” for short) and we moved our family of five into our dream tiny home on wheels in May 2021 to travel across North America. We spent 7 months converting an old retired school bus and turning her in the HildeBus we know and love today.

    At the time that we moved into our Skoolie, our children were 4 years old (Landon), 3 (Finley) and 1 (Madeleine). Our family of five consists of mom (Ingrid), dad (Eric), & our kiddos.

    We have all we need as a family & in the RV

    We have all we need as a family & in the RV. We live with less stuff on purpose but have a whole lot more family time.

    With everyone pitching in it’s easier to get everything done on the road. No one feels left out when they are not sitting behind a steering wheel or pushing buttons, instead we all interact together with what we have.

    We have strengthened our family ties

    Traveling with your family in an RV is a great way to build strong family bonds. When you are on the road together, spending long hours in the car or touring museums there isn’t much room for any one person to feel bored or left out.

    We spend 99.9% of our days together.

    We get to see our children develop, explore and grow every minute of the day. Before we hit the road, we would be lucky to see our kids more than 4 hours a day because we would drop them off to day care in the morning so we could go to work.

    We discover new interests together

    Traveling in an RV has allowed us to discover a lot of different interests. We spend our time outdoors when the weather is nice and, when it’s not, we stay inside learning about each other, drawing on coloring books, reading stories and baking cakes.

    Our son, Landon, loves to draw. He could draw for hours and hours and hours. Our daughter, Finley, loves learning and showing off her academic prowess. Madeleine loves to dance all the time. Would we have noticed these little things as much when we were living in a bigger space?

    We learn when we need time apart from each other

    Let’s be real! Life isn’t always “instagrammable.”

    Sometimes, it can be hard for everyone to get along all the time and it is good to have some personal space from your loved ones every once in awhile- even if you are still traveling with them at the end of the day!

    Whether that means dad takes the kids for a long walk so mom can repaint her nails, or mom takes the kids grocery shopping so dad can do yoga without interruption, we all need personal space. Even the little ones!

    Scheduling personal time didn’t work for us since we often lost track of time on the road. When we felt too much stress building up, we would just tell each other and then figure out a time that worked best for all parties, sooner rather than later. This scheduling worked best for us.

    Could you ever move your family into a tiny home on wheels for an extended period of time? Have you done it before? Let us know.

    We save money

    Traveling in an RV is cheaper than traveling by plane or train and we don’t have to worry about the time difference.

    RV living costs less than renting a house so your vacation becomes more affordable when you live on the road.

    It also allows us to save thousands of dollars by not having expenses for:

    • mortgage
    • utilities
    • daycare
    • car insurance (we are not towing a vehicle)
    • eating out as frequently

    Thanks for following our journey. – Ingrid & the HildeFam

  • 5 Easy Steps to Live Intentionally with Less in a Skoolie

    5 Easy Steps to Live Intentionally with Less in a Skoolie

    Live intentionally with less in a Skoolie

    Living with less is a way of life that many people are choosing for themselves these days. When you live in a skoolie, that choice can be tricky to accomplish. If you are looking to Live Intentionally with Less in a Skoolie or RV, then follow these 5 steps!

    1. Avoid single use items & packaging
    2. Reassess areas prone to clutter frequently
    3. Make a place for everything, and everything in its place
    4. Build a capsule wardrobe
    5. Buy concentrate and dried food items

    Avoid single use items & packaging

    Single use items are just that – one time.

    • If you need to use a plastic bag, try using it as many times as possible.
    • When you purchase groceries, have them put the groceries directly into the cart instead of bagging them.
    • Remove cardboard boxes around foods like cereal to reduce the waste inside your tiny home later.
    • Instead of buying paper towels, use dish towels and reusable paper towels.

    Reassess areas prone to clutter frequently

    Purge your closet and pantry regularly so nothing has room to build up and expire. If I decided I didn’t like the cut or style of a piece of clothing, I just got rid of it – why keep something that doesn’t flatter you?

    Do you have a junk drawer? Be brutal on that space.

    Do you have a habit of collecting paper mail or receipts? Scan them into your phone with GeniusApp (free PDF scanner) and toss the paper. Log onto every account and request paperless statements.

    Make a place for everything, and everything in its place

    Clutter stresses our family out, even more so when living in a small space! We make a habit of putting things away right after we used them, like instead of putting the milk on the counter when you’re done (because someone else will want some), we put it straight in the fridge until someone wants some.

    We have a designated area for shoes as you come in the door. Coats and bags go into a designated basket behind the driver’s seat or on a hook on the wall. Dirty laundry goes straight into the hamper.

    On days when the clutter builds up, we take 10 minutes to clean up our space. Sometimes this happens a few times a day, but we all participate and it goes by quickly.

    Buy concentrate and dried food items

    Try shopping for foods that are shelf-stable and do not need to be refrigerated. One of the biggest generators of trash in our skoolie was due to milk and milk alternative jugs. It felt like right after we went shopping, our trash can would be overflowing in a few hours.

    JOI Plank Milk Concentrate

    Ingrid loves oat milk, so she stumbled across a shelf-stable option that she has fallen in love with. JOI Plant Milk Concentrate is such a wonderful example of shelf-stable food choices. The small jar can make over 100 pitchers of plant-based milk, without any of the packaging. It’s so tasty too because you can make it how you want.

    Get 10% off your first order with the code: Destination Unknown on JOI’s website.

    Fresh Fruits & Veggies

    When you do shop for fresh foods like fruits and vegetables make sure to properly store them in the crisper drawers in your fridge! That way they will not go bad prematurely. Battling fruit flies isn’t fun!

    Choosing to living intentionally in a Skoolie

    The one thing to think about with intentional living – is intentional planning and design for what you want your home to look like and how your home will serve you while you live in it. If you are intentional about what things and items will be in your home, it can go a long way.

    There is a certain beauty and skill with living with less; however, there are headaches that come with it. It can definitely be overwhelming thinking of how you “have to get rid of ___” because there isn’t space in your tiny home.

    You really have to flip your mindset instead to be “I can design my home to tailor to my lifestyle today.”

    Ingrid Poole

    In my opinion, living intentionally with less in a skoolie has opened up more opportunity for travel and reduced my mental stress load. When we left our skoolie to move to Sweden on a week’s notice after Eric broke his leg, we checked two bags (included) and had our personal items. It was so easy to pack because we were already living with so little. Read that blog here.

    My mental stress was less because I didn’t have a huge space to clean up every night; on laundry days, we would do “wash & fold” (a luxury) so laundry came back to us folded. I would spend 10+ hours a week on domestic labor when we lived in a traditional home!

    Thanks for following our journey. – Ingrid & the HildeFam

  • Good Day Tampa Bay Fox 13 News Interview

    Good Day Tampa Bay Fox 13 News Interview

    Hildebrand family interview with Good Day Tampa Bay with Fox 13 News

    Watch the interview

    Our family had a lot of fun being interviewed by Good Day Tampa Bay with Fox 13 News in March 2021.

    Jason with the station came by the house and asked us questions like why we decided to convert a retired school bus into a recreational vehicle for our family of five (to travel affordably), where we were going first (Mile Marker 0 in Key West, baby!), and how long we will be on the road for in North America (2021-2022 is the current plan!).

    Interview posted on March 28, 2021

    If you like this content, then check out our blog on why we bought a school bus.

    Thanks for following our journey – Ingrid, Eric, Landon, Finley & Madeleine

  • Installing Car Seat Mounting Brackets in our Skoolie

    Installing Car Seat Mounting Brackets in our Skoolie

    In this blog, we share our process for installing car seat mounting brackets in our skoolie, including a diagram of our school bus conversion car seat latch system.

    Disclaimer: We are not professionals and, therefore, are not imparting any professional-level knowledge from the manufacturer to you. We are only sharing what we did. Please do your own research.

    How we installed our car seat mounting brackets in our school bus conversion

    We built a custom couch in our living room that was attached to the steel frame of the bus. 

    We decided to have three points of latch contact like a passenger vehicle’s car seat latch system. 

    Diagram showing the car seat latch system in our school bus conversion.

    Skoolie Car Seat Installation Tips

    Overall, the installation is simple. As with most projects, measure twice and cut once. We also installed the same brand car seat for each of our children, so there was no variation in how we would attach our latch points.

    Plan the attachment points

    Plan to attach the mounts to the steel ribs of the school bus. Since we had to accommodate 3 car seats, we first made sure every car seat would align along a rib of the bus.

    Drill the top tether mount

    To install the top tether eye bolt, Eric drilled through a rib of the bus to the exterior, between the windows. Install the top tether mounting bracket closer to the base of the couch, so the center of gravity on the mounts stay low. Drilling between the windows requires some steadiness, since a slip may cause the glass to break.

    He purchased these wall mounting eye nuts.

    Drill the two batch latch mounts

    To install the base latch mounting brackets, Eric drilled through the wood in our couch. He installed 2 base square brackets per car seat. He made 2 holes per mounting bracket, for a total of 4 holes.

    He purchased these square u bolts.

    What hardware quality did we use?

    Purchase bolts with a high shear rating (for example: Grade 8 bolts), so they are less likely to break in a collision.

    Man installing car seat to mounting brackets in school bus conversion.
    Car seat attached to mounting brackets in school bus conversion.
    Car seat attached to mounting brackets in school bus conversion.
    Car seat latched to mounting brackets in school bus conversion.

    Side-facing instead of forward-facing or rear-facing

    Due to the design of our couch, we had to install our car seats facing sideways instead of rear- or forward-facing.

    Car seats installed in Skoolie | 12 Hacks for Living in a Skoolie
    Three kids riding in a school bus conversion in car seats.

    The likelihood that car seat placement would affect the outcome of a crash is lessened given the construction of a school bus compared to a passenger vehicle. Most school buses do not have car seats, so our opinion is that a car seat facing any direction is better than none at all.

    We have 3 children who would otherwise be in car seats that are: 

    • 2 forward-facing 
    • 1 rear-facing

    Because of the size and construction of the bus, compared to that of a passenger vehicle, we do not feel that the issue of forward-, rear- or side-facing is as significant of a concern as it would be in that of a normal passenger vehicle. 

    • 2 at the base
    • 1 at the back, commonly called the “top tether strap”

    Car seat recommendation for Skoolie

    We purchased the Graco 4Ever DLX 4 in 1 from Amazon. We like how their base latches have a quick release feature with the press of a button, rather than depressing a lever.

    How to store a car seat in an RV when not in use

    We unclip the seats from the couch and store the three car seats in the shower and close the curtain. We then replace the couch cushions to have additional seating in our living room. Those couch cushions are typically stored under the rear bed when the car seats are installed, so they are also out of the way when not in use.

    Disclaimer

    We do not recommend traveling with any unsecured passenger in any moving vehicle, and we feel that this is the best and safest solution for our family since we do not tow another vehicle with us or drive separately anymore. Our suggestions do not follow the manufacturer guidelines. Please do your own due diligence.

    As Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases. The majority or all links are affiliate links. We thank you for shopping with them as a small commission may be paid to us if you purchase.

    Thanks for following along with our journey! – The HildeFam

  • Why we bought a retired school bus

    Why we bought a retired school bus

    In this blog, we discuss the major reasons why we bought a retired school bus to convert into our dream tiny home on wheels for our family of five during a global pandemic.

    Table of Contents

    This blog talks about what first got us hooked on the idea of doing a school bus conversion. If you want to see the end result of 7 months of work and how much we put into the HildeBus, then read this blog.

    Comprehensive Answers to Common Skoolie Myths

    We aim to bust the common myths you read about school bus conversions by providing solid resources and research from the skoolie community.

    Skoolie parked in a sunflower field in Pitts, Georgia

    Deciding against buying an RV

    In September 2020, my husband and I sat in the parking lot of a used RV lot to discuss the pros & cons of the dated RV that we toured. This RV offered state-of-the-art technology and finishes from 2005, and formerly retailed at the hefty price tag of $200,000. Now, 15 years older and 1 foreclosure sale later, the salesman was trying to pass this “land yacht” on to us for only $20,000. What a steal, right? We were crazy not to take it, right?


    As we sat in the car, checkbook laid out beside us, I did an online search for how to safely secure children into an RV while moving. As it turns out, there are sadly few passenger & child safety restraints required for RVs.

    Many states require children to be secured while driving a passenger vehicle; however, what are the rules for an RV?

    1. What are the seatbelts secured to in an RV? The comparatively (to a school bus) lesser strength vehicle frame.
    2. Are child seat latches built into RVs? They usually must be retrofitted if you need more than one car seat.
    3. How many seatbelts are available [we have 3 kids in carseats], or are any seatbelts available? Usually no additional passenger seat belts other than the captain chair, accompanying passenger and (optional) jump seat.
    4. Are RVs crash-rated? If you’ve ever seen RV crashes compared to school bus crashes, it’s easy to see which one fares much better in an accident.

    The answers we found didn’t make us feel confident about our family’s safety while driving in a traditional RV.

    Why we converted a school bus

    Later that night, my husband woke me up to tell me hear him out. At 2am in the morning, that’s the last thing I intended to do, but he sounded so hopeful.

    Why don’t we buy a school bus and convert it into an RV? They are made for transporting children and made of steel.

    Eric Hildebrand

    We researched and it turns out that purchasing a retired school bus “was a thing.” There is an entire sect of the tiny home community that own converted school buses — lovingly called “Skoolies.” Once we went down the rabbit hole of safety, costs, and ease of construction. We were hooked on building a school bus conversion.

    School buses are safe and solid construction

    School buses are made for protecting children in case of impact. School buses are made of metal: typically, a steel frame & ribs, aluminum sheet metal body. A “traditional” RV or other motorhome is usually constructed on a steel frame, framed with wood and wrapped with a fiberglass shell.

    As such, the quality of construction of a school bus is far superior to that of a Class A RV. A simple google search will show you which vehicle or motorhome fares better in an accident.

    A motorhome is not recommended to carry passengers while driving, besides those passengers found in the cockpit (driver & passenger seats with seatbelts).

    Bidding on a retired school bus

    Fast forward to one week later , we were bidding on our first school bus at government auction.

    We purchased our bus for about $4,250. We estimated the renovation will cost $25,000 in repairs and vehicle maintenance over a six month period. We will install solar panels on the roof, and a composting toilet.

    My husband will do the work predominantly on his own. He has no construction background. YouTube will be his teacher. I will help out when I can.

    Update: We spent between $45,000 to $50,000 on our renovation and repairs. Check at the breakdown of our skoolie features and upgrades in this blog.

    Moving through the pandemic

    2020 took a toll on all of us, but made us stronger as a family because we were forced to be around each other all the time. With job security and other factors being a concern in this strange world, what better way to stay close to your loved ones (literally in 280 sq.ft.), save money, and see the world?

    We’re going to change our lives for the better in 2021 and document the entire journey.

    THIS JOURNEY is our life by design.

    You can find our YouTube Channel “Destination Unknown” below. Thanks for watching & reading why we bought a school bus. – Ingrid & the HildeFam