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That's a noble idea, but you must be joking thinking you are going to be able to build a sub $1000 trailer home with basic tools. The steel for the trailer alone will cost $1k on top of $200 for a decent welder. Factor in lumber, nails, windows, roofing, waterproofing, etc.

What total square footage are you aiming for?

I've already done the rough math. It'd use a Northern Tool 5x8 trailer that costs $550 or less on sale. The $1000 price point is for a basic box to sleep in and store possessions. There would be additional plans for larger builds and more amenities for people with a larger budget. No welding necessary, only basic wood construction.

That northern tools trailer is rated for 1000lbs - you won't be able to have 2 humans inside without breaking something.

It's rated for 1715lbs: https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200612541_20...

I stand corrected. There are many different trailer models (over the years), with slightly different specs...

The point that they are too light duty for this use I think still stands.

Excuse me if this is a stupid question, but why is 1000 lbs not enough? I weigh 150 lbs. My wife weighs about 130. What in the world is going to weigh 700 more pounds?

I’d assume 200 per person (a lot lot of people weight more)

Basic possession is 25-50 a person, and if you want to have anything beyond an empty unfurnished trailer bed/batteries/activity gear/food/water is going to start to add up fast.

For me I could easily add 75lb of climbing gear, 50lb of snowboarding. Basic Solar panel is 20, batter another 15 and so on.

The frame and insulation adds up, as do clothing and personal items.

Weren't they talking about living in it? The wood and hardware will weigh considerably more than 700 pounds.

The 1000lbs limit would be whilst moving?

You aren't likely to be driving about with 2 people in the trailer.

I think it's pretty safe to say that a tiny house on a trailer rated for 1000 (or 1715) pounds is not ever moving.

For comparison, the smallest, lightest travel trailers you can buy come in around 1500-2000 pounds dry. And they are not rated for full-time living. Anything more durable will quickly weigh a lot more than a 1715 pound trailer can safely handle.

That's not a trailer home, that's a dirtbag camper.

It's a fairly mature market, and FWIW basic wood builds tend to wind up being too heavy to tow with a small car.

What is a "dirtbag camper"?

Dirtbag is rock climber slang for someone living life on the road ultra-cheap.

Camper, i.e. RV, popup, teardrop, etc.

Thanks! I suspected it had some kind of niche connotation.

1. Pictures?

2. Did you use any guides on how to build your shuttle bus?

3. What do you do about external services (e.g. showering/toiletries)? I've heard at campsites there's valves to drain sewage into underground septic tanks, but I don't know how common that is in suburban or urban areas.

4. What do you do about insurance (break-ins, fires, etc.)?

5. Do you use public parking and move around or do you buy a parking spot somewhere?

6. Do you remote work / freelance? I'd imagine holding an office job may be difficult given the above constraints.

> Pictures?

https://www.instagram.com/driverdan/

> Did you use any guides on how to build your shuttle bus?

Nothing specific but I did about six months of research before I started, reading blogs, forums, reddit, and watching videos.

> What do you do about external services (e.g. showering/toiletries)?

I have a shower and a toilet. I also go to the gym at least once a week. Most campgrounds have a waste dump station. I have 42 gal fresh and waste tanks. I haven't had trouble finding places to dump.

> What do you do about insurance (break-ins, fires, etc.)?

I have insurance. It'd be the same as any vehicle having a break-in or fire.

> Do you use public parking and move around or do you buy a parking spot somewhere?

Public parking. I almost always move daily so as to not be an annoyance.

> Do you remote work / freelance?

I have a full time remote job. One reason I wanted to build my own instead of buying an RV is for a desk. I built a standing desk workstation with a 34" ultrawide monitor.

Looked through your IG, very cool. Who/what are you using for internet access while on the road? I'm interested in trying to travel more when working remote but trying to make sure I end up with a decent connection each day seems like it could be challenging.

I'm currently using AT&T Wireless Home Internet. It's about $120/m with 100GB of data.

https://www.att.com/cellphones/att/att-wireless-internet.htm...

I previously used an unlimited Sprint hotspot. It had more data but had poor coverage in many areas.

Have you considered Verizon's unlimited jetpack or AT&T's unlimited tablet plan for $30 a month? https://buyasession.att.com/sbd/Common/ShopRatePlans.action

There is no such thing as unlimited. They throttle you after 22GB. I paid extra for the 100GB plan so I would have guaranteed no throttling.

There is such a thing as unlimited, one of the people on our T-Mobile account is at 147GB of tethering with another week to go. People have successfully used both the plans I mentioned for home internet.

If your not in a very congested area, any of these plans should work just fine.

I'd also recommend the Calyx institutes unlimited plan for $500 but that is Sprint backed. https://www.calyxinstitute.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?r...

I used Calyx hotspots for 2 years. The hardware they offer is garbage and Sprint coverage is spotty.

The Franklin R850 is outdated and unreliable. I had one and hated it. The ZTE hotspot they had after that wasn't terrible but the charge controller was bad and would overcharge the batteries. Now they're back to the terrible R850 since ZTE is banned. I can't speak to the R910 but after my experience with the R850 I never want to own another Franklin product.

I may get another unlimited Sprint or T-Mobile hotspot since they're good for high bandwidth activities (eg streaming video) when the signal works.

Hey!

1. Is it weird inviting guests over? What extra steps do you do to make them feel more comfortable, especially if they're not used to the limited space?

2. How do you store your food, specifically perishables?

3. About how much do you spend on gas per month?

4. Do you ever feel unsafe, such as when you park the bus in a public lot? Do you carry a baseball bat/etc onboard?

5. How do you wash your clothes? Do you take them to a laundromat or wash them yourself?

Thanks!

> Is it weird inviting guests over?

A few people are fine but more than that and it's crowded. I usually visit others or meet friends other places, like at a restaurant. Going to a park or campground and having a cookout works great.

> How do you store your food, specifically perishables?

I have a fridge.

> About how much do you spend on gas per month?

It varies. If I'm not traveling it's in the range of $150-275/m. If I travel it's 10mpg so roughly $0.28/mi.

> Do you ever feel unsafe, such as when you park the bus in a public lot? Do you carry a baseball bat/etc onboard?

No. I don't park places I'd feel unsafe. I typically park on the street. I avoid bad areas. I have pepper spray, a stun gun, knives, and blunt objects I could use for personal defense if necessary.

> How do you wash your clothes? Do you take them to a laundromat or wash them yourself?

Laundromat. I may add a washer / drier combo at some point. I'd have to give up a decent amount of space for it though.

Unless it was for the sheer joy of doing the work yourself, is there any particular reason you didn't buy a gently used motorhome for $15-20k and upgrade as necessary (e.g. the solar array and lithium batteries)? You cite the $50k cost but that sounds excessive to me with considerably less work.

You cannot buy a good 25' motorhome for $15-20k. You might be able to find a 20+ year old one with an under powered gas engine. In that case everything will be outdated and need upgrading.

Most RVs are made out of low grade materials like particleboard and MDF. I used neither. They are not made to be lived in and fall apart quickly.

None of them have a work area either. You end up using a laptop on the dinette or turn it into a desk and lose an eating area. I built a dedicated standing desk with a large monitor.

I’d like to add that passenger buses are rollover-rated, as well. The “residential” area of a typical RV is balsa wood and paper* and a lot less safe.

* I kid, but they’re not much stronger than that.

Nearly all RVs are built for intermittent (recreational!) use and specifically not designed for full-time living. Of course some people do it anyway, and they fall apart quickly.

I'm also in the Austin area and I'm very curious about this. I understand your initial investment on your "RV" is $50k but what is an estimate of your monthly spend on spots for water/power/etc+? And then what % of the time are you boondocking?

+And whatever else would make it equivalent to an apartment/house. Do you have to hold any special insurance or have any other special recurring expenses?

I live in Austin area and I've been researching some spots in this area. Most of the campsites that are reasonable commute to downtown can run $600-$800 a month for a large pad to park in and typically you'll pay electric on top of this, but I believe in most cases water/sewage is included.

In other cities, it can be much cheaper.

I park on the street. I go to a campground for a night every 3-4 weeks (McKinney Falls when I'm in Austin) to refill my water and dump my waste tank.

In the summer I run a generator for AC when necessary which is expensive. It uses $10-12/day in gas when run 24/7. A better choice is to drive where it's not as hot which I wasn't able to do last summer.

No special insurance.

If you want to grab a coffee or beer let me know. My email is in my profile.

This is a dream of mine - you must hear that often, but what did you wish you knew before building your superior place of living? Anything you'd do differently or not do at all?

I wish I had planned everything better. Other than a loose floor plan and some components I knew I'd have (eg lithium batteries) I didn't plan much. It slowed the build and resulted in some areas that are suboptimal.

The main thing I'd change is using spray insulation instead of polyiso. Spray insulation would have taken a day, polyiso took me a month to cut out all the pieces and glue them up.

What do you use to heat/cool the bus? What range have you covered since you started living in it? Do you stay within a given city, State, or beyond? Thanks

I have an Espar diesel forced air heater and a Coleman RV rooftop AC. I can run the AC off my alternator when driving, off shore power, or a generator.

I've put over 20k miles on it. My home area is Austin, TX but I've traveled to the northeast a few times and to New Mexico. I'll be heading west again soon.

Can you get letters delivered? What address does the government think you live at? (If that's required for them to know where you're from.)

I've been using the same UPS Store box for my mail since 2011 so moving from a house to my bus didn't change how I deal with it.

What happened to the tools and workshop you needed to convert the bus?

I did it all at ATX Hackerspace, a makerspace with most of the tools I used. The only tools I bought myself were a good drill / driver set, a jigsaw, and some smaller specialty tools. I carry all of my tools on the bus.