Adventuring with Lola (a converted school bus)
Thu, 1 Feb 2018
I love this. I wish I had the balls to do something like this, when I was 19, or now. Thank you Lexis for sharing your story with us.
Hello my name is Lexis, I am a 19 year old girl from Long Island, New York with a passion to travel and explore new places. My mother and I used to camp with our 1965 Serro Scotty Hilander travel trailer. It was so much fun to take it out to campsites and set up and enjoy the camping experience. My mom wanted something that didn’t need to be towed so she decided she wanted to start a bus conversion. Watching my mother build and complete hers made me realize how nice it would be to have my own little home on wheels. Since we have long, cold winters I felt a bus would be my best choice because it allowed me to have more space since I would be inside more than outside for four to five months depending on how bad the winters were. After months of searching the web and local ads for the right one, I found a little, pale blue, short bus with a ton of bus life potential. The name "Lola"came from the nickname my mother called me growing up. I figured the name would be cute for the bus and would bring along memories with my mom in my travels.
One important thing I wanted my bus interior to have were one of a kind pieces that you couldn't just go out and buy in stores. I receive so many comments about how unique my fabric accents are. Since my mother and grandmother have sewed all their lives, I decided it would be most meaningful to me if they both made me those pieces I wanted for Lola. All of my window and bathroom curtains, chair cushions, toilet skirt, driver seat cover, blankets, and tiny curtains to hide my wheel wells were handmade from scratch by both these amazing women.
I wanted to be able to fit the most I could for the small amount of space I had to work with. Putting the bed in the middle allowed me to fit a bathroom in the far left corner and an end table with storage in the far right corner. Putting the bed where I chose also gave me the option to not have the back door blocked. I wanted to be able to enter in and out of the back door, when parked to enjoy the Long Island coastline view.
The bed is arranged so that during the day I am able to set up two couches and have maximum floor space available. During the evening the couches are made into a full size bed.
The dining area was kept simple, yet sweet for dinners, including two chairs and a slate tiled, round table. The curtains in the dining room are split into two, so that while eating at the table I am able to look outdoors to watch nature at its best.
The bathroom has a combined toilet and a shower. The bathroom has a portable shower head, a drain in the floor, and hanging shower curtain that is stowed away when not in use for extra space utilization. The shower was made to be used both on and off-grid. While on-grid I am able to hookup to a campsites water source, and off-grid I have a 12V water pump that is connected to a battery bank which pumps water from my 10 gallon fresh water holding tank into my shower and sink.
In the kitchen, a fridge is in a storage space under the cabinet. For cooking, I have a variety of on grid/ off grid kitchen appliances. I also store two deep cell marine batteries that operates my off grid appliance use. My favorite go to kitchen appliance is the Coleman butane single burner stove top.
My baby Bella
Instagram: @adventuringwithlola
Facebook: Adventuring with Lola
Website : www.adventuringwithlola.com
Etsy: Escaping the Ordinary
Youtube : Adventuring with Lola
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