one family. one bus.

big on adventure. small on stuff.

Hi! We're a family of 5 (sometimes 6 when we have our bonus child in the mix) on an epic journey to turn a retired school bus into a tiny house on wheels. We'll go from McMansion to Minimalist and you're invited along for the ride.

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The latest.

Blog
Busworthy: Silipints
Busworthy: Silipints
Reset.
Reset.
Better (Almost) Late Than Never.
Better (Almost) Late Than Never.
End of the School Year: How to Make a Clean Start for Summer in 6 Steps.
End of the School Year: How to Make a Clean Start for Summer in 6 Steps.
Mama Don't Need Your Crap: 5 Things to NOT Get This Mother's Day.
Mama Don't Need Your Crap: 5 Things to NOT Get This Mother's Day.
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bus stuff!

See the entire conversion from start to our current state.

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Swipe to see what our friend (and roof raise helper) @rcody86 saw this afternoon when he came to visit his favorite bus! . Side walls are all buttoned up and I am off to spend several hours looking at wallpaper (for the bathroom!) and tile (for the kitchen and the shower!) under my electric blanket because I’m officially southern now and I can’t deal with this 37 degree business. . Got any favorite places to shop for wallpaper and/or tile? Favorite Instas to follow for either? I’m looking to go big and fun in the bathroom and subtle and cozy in the kitchen. __________________________ #skoolie #skoolieconversion #skoolielife #skoolielove #skoolienation #skoolies #skooliekids #travelgoals #bucketlist #livesimple #minimalist #microhome #tinyhouseliving #buslife #travelwithkids #prioritize #dowhatyoulovemore #travelfamily #dreambiglivetiny #wallpapers #lookingforinspiration #tilebacksplash #wallsup #thepigeonbus #themeasureofus
We’ve got walls! . FYI, it’s crazy hard to take a photo of said walls without it looking like a, uh….wall. . Regardless, we couldn’t be more excited about the walls and getting all of the wiring tucked away. One step closer! . Going to finish out the other side tomorrow and get started on the back bedroom. Then...ceiling! ___________________________________ #skoolie #skoolieconversion #skoolielife #skoolielove #skoolienation #skoolies #skooliekids #travelgoals #bucketlist #livesimple #minimalist #microhome #tinyhouseliving #buslife #travelwithkids #prioritize #dowhatyoulovemore #travelfamily #dreambiglivetiny #schoolbusconversion #thepigeonbus #themeasureofus
Today, Jake and I celebrated 9 years of being together by going to the Home Depot and figuring out that I’m an idiot and it’s a miracle that he’s put up with me this long. . The saga that is this stack of panels couldn’t be a better example of our relationship and how amazing my better half is. . We went and looked at all of the options weeks ago and picked the one that seemed like it would work the best for the side walls of the bus. A week or two later, Jake had the truck in town, so he went ahead and picked up the sheets. . I said they weren’t the right thing when he brought them home. I insisted that he had gotten the wrong ones. Didn’t he remember? We (*cough* I *cough*) didn’t pick this! These are too layered! Too rough! Too chippy! Too wood-ish! Too not the thing that I remember us picking out!
. Jake agreed that he could have gotten the wrong thing, he didn’t think so, but that maybe it wasn’t the same. . And then it mostly dropped, but I stayed firm in my belief that there was a stack of the correct thing languishing away at the Home Depot and we were now stuck with this not right thing. . Today, knowing I still didn’t think they were right, Jake loaded all of those 8’ long by 4’ wide sheets back into the truck along with me and the kids and he took us all back to the Home Depot to “return” the wrong boards. . Damnit, y’all. Those were the right damn boards the whole damn time. . But he didn’t say a word. He didn’t rub it in. He didn’t gloat. He didn’t yell about how insistent I had been about his wrongness. Instead, he kissed me and asked if I wanted to look at flooring. Proving once again why he is absolutely the better half in this relationship. . (But you better believe we brought all that flooring home today. 😂😂😂 #nothappeningagain) ___________________________________ #skoolie #skoolieconversion #skoolielife #skoolielove #skoolienation #skoolies #skooliekids #travelgoals #bucketlist #livesimple #minimalist #microhome #tinyhouseliving #buslife #travelwithkids #prioritize #dowhatyoulovemore #travelfamily #dreambiglivetiny #relationshipgoals❤️ #happyanniversarytous #nineyears #husbandandwifeteam #hewasright #thepigeonbus #themeasureofus
I can never seem to say thank you enough when one of our friends comes to help with the bus. . It’s not like we make it an easy thing to help with either. . It always seems to be a get-here-early-don’t-leave-until-it’s-dark-there-might-be-pain-involved kind of a project, but we are humbled over and over again by those who have come to put their time, knowledge, and sweat into this crazy dream of ours. . Today it was Andy. A friend from Jake’s days as a police officer, Andy worked miracles with the electrical for the house side of the bus. He was equally patient with us and our lack of knowledge as he was with Eli’s million questions. Andy had it handled and I’m happy to report that as of tonight, (minus a bit more work at the circuit breaker) we’ve got a wired bus. . *insert all the high-pitched squeals of delight here* . Thanks, Andy! __________________ #skoolie #skoolieconversion #skoolielife #skoolielove #skoolienation #skoolies #skooliekids #travelgoals #bucketlist #livesimple #minimalist #microhome #tinyhouseliving #buslife #travelwithkids #prioritize #dowhatyoulovemore #travelfamily #dreambiglivetiny #ivegotfriendsinlowplaces #friendsmakelifebetter #thanksforthehelp #wiring #wevegotthepower #thepigeonbus #themeasureofus
It was a crummy day. . But this bus all lit up tonight (even if it’s only shop lights) gives me a tiny peek into the future. A hint of what will one day happen with the flip of a switch. . Just have to remember that it takes more than a little switch flipping to get there. _________________ #skoolie #skoolieconversion #skoolielife #skoolielove #skoolienation #skoolies #skooliekids #travelgoals #bucketlist #livesimple #minimalist #microhome #tinyhouseliving #buslife #travelwithkids #prioritize #dowhatyoulovemore #travelfamily #dreambiglivetiny #crummyday #baddayblues #ididntsayitwouldbeeasy #isaiditwouldbeworthit #thepigeonbus #themeasureofus
Sometimes, for the life of me, I just can’t justify “doing school.” . This is especially true on days like today. We spent the morning on the playground with friends, fully intending to settle into a typical school day after lunch, but then…life presented something far more interesting. . We came home to find the tree trimming crews were doing the annual cutting down of any limbs that are in danger of falling on the power lines. . Let’s see…we could all sit out in the sunshine and watch the saw truck, the wood chipper, the dump truck, and the bucket truck all working together right on our very own street or we could do school. . We could chat with the crew of workers and discuss how each machine works and get to check out the controls and offer everyone water refills or we could do school. . We could get a fresh pile of still hot from the chipper mulch to dig in and climb on or we could do school. . Yeah. No contest. School can wait. The annual trimming of the trees can’t. . Be still my wannabe unschooler heart…I never want school to get in the way of their education. _______________________ #homeschool #homeschooling #homeschoolmom #homeschoollife #homeschoolers #homeschoolrocks #homeschoolfamily #homeschoolmama #homeschoolife #homeschoolperks #homeschoolingboys #homeschoolersofinstagram #homeschooladventures #secularhomeschool #secularhomeschooling #momofboys #momofthreeboys #mightymachines #unschooling #unschool #schoolcanwait #letthembelittle #letthemplay #learnbydoing #themeasureofus
The morning challenge...what is the secret password to open the lock? . AKA How many 5 letter words can my 7 year old think of? He’s determined to crack the code! . And then I channeled @juliebravewriter and casually suggested he make a list of all the combinations that didn’t work. 🙌🏻 . Nothing like starting the day off with a win! Tell me about your win of the day so I can hand out some virtual high fives! _______________ #bravewriterlifestyle #homeschool #homeschooling #homeschoolmom #homeschoollife #homeschoolers #homeschoolrocks #homeschoolfamily #homeschoolmama #homeschoolife #homeschoolperks #homeschoolingboys #homeschoolersofinstagram #homeschooladventures #bravewriter #winningtuesday #letthemplay #playistheworkofchildhood #themeasureofus
It’s kumquat season here in South Georgia. . What’s a kumquat you ask? . Well it’s a small citrus fruit that tastes like a confused lemon and an angry orange had a baby. You can eat them peel and all and then be angry and confused yourself as to how you got talked into eating one. . My children are obsessed with them. . They like to pick them and suck on them. Chew them and see who can spit out the pulp the farthest. Stomp them. Squeeze out the juice and then bet who can drink the most. Mash them up with dirt, a la kumquat mud pie. Leave them in containers full of water to see what will happen. (The answer is they go from regular gross to soggy and extra gross.) Plant them in random places all over the yard to try and propagate more disgustingness. . But my children’s favorite thing is to pester me to make something official out of their harvest. . And I’ve tried! Because, well, this is the sort of thing homeschoolers do. We made kumquat cake. Pickled them. Attempted a candied kumquat rind. Tried to dry them to string alongside our festive grapefruit garland. All major failures. Even the kids agreed that maybe, just maybe, kumquats are best at being bright and orange when everything else is dead and gray. . Ever eaten a kumquat? Am I missing some wonderful recipe? ______________________ #kumquat #kumquattree #whattodowithkumquats #throwtheminthecompost #homeschoolers #homeschoolrocks #homeschoolfamily #homeschoolmama #homeschoolife #homeschoolperks #homeschoolingboys #homeschoolersofinstagram #homeschooladventures #seasonalproduce #southgeorgia #citrus #orangeaesthetic #freshness #angryorange #confusedlemon #themeasureofus
I am so annoyed with myself today.
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I’m on about the third round of purging the house to try to get everything down to what will realistically go on the bus, what is an absolute for the world’s smallest storage unit, and what has got to go. . I’ve been avoiding one particular closet that’s a mix of homeschool supplies, arts and crafts stuff, knitting-related paraphernalia, random things that could maybe come in handy one day, and the remaining bits and pieces of me having a professional life. There’s some emotion stored up in that closet that I haven’t wanted to deal with, but it was time today. (Check my stories for a few of the more random items and vote if they should stay or go!) (Spoiler alert…they have all got to go!) . Now, if you’d opened this closet yesterday, you likely would have oooo’ed and ahh’ed over how tidy it was. So neat! Look how everything is in matching boxes! And labeled! Are those coordinating file folders?! All the heart eyes! . But here’s the thing…. . An organized hoarder is still a hoarder. Too much stuff is still too much stuff, no matter how neatly all the things are kept. . What’s the point of having stuff if it’s going to be so organized and kept so tightly tucked away that you totally forget all about it and never use any of it? . And that’s what this picture is. There was an entire box worth of craft stuff and art supplies and school materials and things I WENT OUT AND BOUGHT AGAIN because I didn’t remember I had them. 🤦🏻‍♀️ . What a waste…of money, of resources, of time. . This is the person I was before I decided to let most of my belongings go…an organized hoarder. It seemed ok because it was neat, but was it really alright? Why have things that you can’t use or enjoy? . This is the way I’m striving not to be. I want to appreciate the things I have and put them to use...and I can’t do that with things that will never see the light of day. _______________
#minimalist #minimalisthome #organizedhoarder #tinyhouseliving #experiencesnotthings #declutteryourlife #letitallgo #storycubes #dontorganizeclutter #clutterfree #clutterfreewithkids #clutterfreeliving #themeasureofus #whatsimportant #livewithless #dontwasteyourlife
I was chatting with RV travel pal @wilsongrandadventures about stickers the other day, and apparently this is a skoolie kinda thing and not a nomadic life kinda thing. (But I want everyone to do it because STICKERS!! 😍)
. Lots of skoolies have their own sticker to trade with others along the way or to sell to help fill the tank. I hope to absolutely cover the entire backend of the our bus with an awesome collection! 🚌 . Who has a sticker and wants to trade? Send me a message! And you don’t have to be a bus…I’ve got stickers from all over and yours would be an excellent addition! .
Want to buy a sticker? $3 and I’ll tell you exactly what part of the build your dollars are contributing to. You are even free to tell your friends that you purchased a pack of zip ties that was used on the Pigeon Bus. #braggingrights 😆 _________________________
#skoolie #skoolieconversion #skoolielife #skoolielove #skoolienation #skoolies #skooliekids #travelgoals #bucketlist #livesimple #minimalist #microhome #tinyhouseliving #buslife #travelwithkids #prioritize #dowhatyoulovemore #travelfamily #dreambiglivetiny #stickertrade #travellifestyle #nomadic #stickersarecool #thepigeonbus #usedtobeagraphicdesigner #themeasureofus
Gameschoolers, assemble! . Give me all your least math-y math games and activities. They can’t be obviously math/adding/subtracting driven or my math adverse 7 year old will be wise to my sneaky schemes. 😆 . We do oodles of life math activities...baking, counting money, looking at prices, telling time, calendars, measuring on the bus, etc. We use @rightstartmathematics as our curriculum, but we have played their games to death (plus, he *knows* they are math and grumbles through them). . Any suggestions for games or activities that are mildly fun, don’t feel like 17 hours of agony (*cough* Yahtzee *cough*), and will help my guy not struggle with his math facts? ___________________ #gameschooling #gameschoolers #homeschool #homeschooling #homeschoolmom #homeschoollife #homeschoolers #homeschoolrocks #homeschoolfamily #homeschoolmama #homeschoolife #homeschoolperks #homeschoolingboys #homeschoolersofinstagram #homeschooladventures #mathproblems #mathgames #strugglingstudent #countingpennies #asktheinternet #themeasureofus
An update on all of our wiring woes. . After being stood up by multiple people, trying to uneff 25 years of wiring randomness ourselves, and lots of aggravation, the Pigeon Bus finally has a complete set of working lights!!! . Headlights! Turn signals! Backup lights! Brake lights! Clearance lights! Tag lights! Backup alarm! Hello street legal! . We’re lit up with all new LED lights like it’s Christmas come again, y’all! Go check out my Stories to see video from last night! . This was a major hold up in the process, but now we’ll be able to get the ceiling up! . A giant thanks to AJ at 180 Out Mobile Repair for being brave enough to take us on and patient enough to get it figured out. I’ve been feeling rather bad about the fact that I couldn’t make it happen myself. It’s such a huge part of Skoolie culture to be self taught and to learn as you go, but seeing the pro (who knew what he was doing) struggle to make sense of the bowl of wire spaghetti I gave him made me realize that I was right to call it. . So today I’ll be out in the bus getting a start on securing the crisscross of new wires so we will be ready to move forward with the house wiring and the ceiling. 😍 _____________________ #skoolie #skoolieconversion #skoolielife #skoolielove #skoolienation #skoolies #skooliekids #travelgoals #bucketlist #livesimple #minimalist #microhome #tinyhouseliving #buslife #travelwithkids #prioritize #dowhatyoulovemore #travelfamily #dreambiglivetiny #buildityourself #wiring #busupdate #thepigeonbus #themeasureofus