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$14,000 Skoolie Conversion Is the Best Way to Live Rent-Free, Off-Grid and On the Road

When most influencers on social media are striving to paint the rosiest, most glamorous picture of their life, one couple from London, currently traveling in the U.S., aims to keep it real. In the process, they hope to assist and inspire others who might be thinking of giving the much-publicized vanlife a try.
Harri and Nicky converted a Chevy Express skoolie into their dream home on wheels 14 photos
Photo: Instagram / TheVanbitiousProject
Harri and Nicky converted a Chevy Express skoolie into their dream home on wheelsHarri and Nicky converted a Chevy Express skoolie into their dream home on wheelsHarri and Nicky converted a Chevy Express skoolie into their dream home on wheelsHarri and Nicky converted a Chevy Express skoolie into their dream home on wheelsHarri and Nicky converted a Chevy Express skoolie into their dream home on wheelsHarri and Nicky converted a Chevy Express skoolie into their dream home on wheelsHarri and Nicky converted a Chevy Express skoolie into their dream home on wheelsHarri and Nicky converted a Chevy Express skoolie into their dream home on wheelsHarri and Nicky converted a Chevy Express skoolie into their dream home on wheelsHarri and Nicky converted a Chevy Express skoolie into their dream home on wheelsHarri and Nicky converted a Chevy Express skoolie into their dream home on wheelsHarri and Nicky converted a Chevy Express skoolie into their dream home on wheelsHarri and Nicky converted a Chevy Express skoolie into their dream home on wheels
Harri Cook and Nicky Horsley are a young couple from London who relocated to San Diego so they could build their first skoolie conversion. They’re currently using it at their home as they travel the coast between San Diego and Los Angeles, having the time of their life and making money off it.

Harri and Nicky boast of the fact that they're living rent-free, off-grid, and in complete freedom while making enough money so they can support themselves and have fun without having to worry about getting 9-to-5 jobs. This seems like a dream (and quite an impossible scenario), but it's possible thanks to careful planning, their increasing experience in van conversions, careful spending, and, last but not least, their youth.

The duo are not new to converting vehicles into RVs; in fact, the skoolie they’re currently using in the U.S. is their third project. They first got bit by the traveling bug after they toured Europe in a self-converted Ford Transit; during the lockdowns of 2020, they converted a Peugeot Boxer and, with the money they raised from the sale, financed their current skoolie conversion.

Harri and Nicky converted a Chevy Express skoolie into their dream home on wheels
Photo: Instagram / TheVanbitiousProject
It is, so far, their most ambitious project, if only because it involved moving to another country, working against the clock, and by a very strict budget. The skoolie, a 2012 Chevrolet Express with 96,000 miles (15,4497 km) on the odo at the time of the purchase, cost them $10,000 with all expenses included, and they came across it on Facebook Marketplace. That only left them $4,500 for the actual conversion, which meant they had to get creative and dirty.

Some compromises were made, they explain on social media, where they also detail every aspect of the build, down to every bit of purchase they made. For instance, they only have a solar shower onboard, they chose smaller solar panels in favor of a bigger battery, and they opted for a heavier Ikea pre-built kitchen to cut expenses. But these compromises work for them: they take showers at the gym since they both have monthly subscriptions, and the weight of the kitchen is offset by many other light items they built themselves.

A breakdown of the project includes under $1,500 spent on electrics, $1,820 on raw materials from Home Depot, and the rest on smaller stuff, like accessories, linens, and decorations. The result is nice-looking but, most importantly, functional: the skoolie conversion has a bedroom area at the rear, a curtained bathroom, a dinette, and the kitchen. It’s small and, by most standards, basic in terms of creature comforts, but when you’re 20, and you get to travel so much because of it, it’s more than enough.

The conversion took a little over a month and was done in the driveway of the Airbnb they lived at during this time. To their luck, the host was kind enough to allow them to work there and even lent them his own tools for the job. As Harri says in one of their videos, their entire adventure on U.S. soil has been a giant stroke of luck from one day to another.

Harri and Nicky converted a Chevy Express skoolie into their dream home on wheels
Photo: Instagram / TheVanbitiousProject
Harri and Nicky say that the best part about the conversion is the thought that they did it themselves. This is why they’re documenting every aspect of their project online, to help others do it, too. Well, that and because they need the money to keep doing it: unlike most vanlifers, they’re keeping it real about that too, even detailing how much money they make and where they monetize their content.

If you were looking for vanlife inspiration, here’s what living rent-free, off-grid, and completely free looks like.



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About the author: Elena Gorgan
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Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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