As many of you may know by now, we’ve begun work on a bus conversion! A little over a week ago, we drove to Yuma, Arizona where we purchased a 1992 Bluebird International school bus with intentions to turn it into the WOW WAGON, our tiny home on wheels.

I’ve been taking inventory of my life and sincerely contemplating how I want to spend the remainder of my days. I learned a long time ago that life is short and if Covid has done us any favors, it certainly demonstrated just how important our connections with one another and Mother Earth are.

My partner and I began doing research on tiny home living, even toying with the idea of buying a house and building a tiny home on that property. One of the things that was missing from that scenario was the ease of mobility, however. I wasn’t comfortable with the idea of picking a place to live and having a debt so large in the form of a mortgage. It was a commitment I’m just not ready to make. When we learned about converting buses into tiny homes, our hearts soared and our creative minds exploded with glee! That resonated with our nomadic, traveling spirits. We could do that! And so we have!

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FROM ARIZONA TO CALIFORNIA IN THE WOW WAGON

The ride home from Yuma was nothing short of eventful. We were pulled over by Imperial County cops for an expired registration and spent a good fifteen miles with the hazard lights on in the vehicle I drove behind so that the WOW WAGON could conquer the hills at twenty-five miles per hour. Thankfully, we made it to the WOW WAGON’s current home base without a ticket and zero encounters with impatient drivers.

Driving the bus 250 miles or so was actually beneficial in that it allowed us to pinpoint the mechanical and logistical issues that we need to address prior to living in it full time. For starters, we need to replace the left blinker, install hazard lights, and install a backup camera. We’re thinking of this one for the backup camera due to its 60 day money-back guarantee and 36-month replacement warranty. The four and a half stars are also promising. I’ll keep everyone posted on which products and route we actually end up going with all of the above as there is more research to be conducted.

Our research has been endless. I’ve never watched so much YouTube in my life. My Pinterest and Instagram accounts now have new collections specifically dedicated to “Skoolie” life. One of my favorite accounts to follow, Trail and Summit, explains exactly what a skoolie is here.

WOW WAGON DEMOLITION

We are currently in the process of gutting and cleaning the WOW WAGON. This past Sunday, we managed to rid the interior of the remaining seats and strip up the flooring. Next up is stripping the ceiling and the walls of their metal sheets which is proving to be quite the feat. The bolts are sealed and the standard drill bit was only serving to strip them. My boyfriend and his father have figured out the best way to tackle the issue, thankfully. We’ll definitely share this once the demolition is complete for others who have found this to be particularly difficult.

We’ll then be removing the handicap lift before painting the outside. Speaking of, below are a few of the spray paint colors from Rust-oleum that we’re currently considering. Please let me know which is your favorite in the comments and stay tuned for many more adventures from the WOW WAGON – our tiny home on wheels!

Also, be sure to follow along for more photos and videos of the WOW WAGON @The_Road_Linds_Travels on Instagram.