We’ve heard countless testimonials of people living in tiny houses or motorhomes saying that adopting a minimalist lifestyle and embracing the freedom a mobile home can provide was the best decision of their life. The tiny house movement has rewired the way that we look at space, and for many, it proved to be a blessing in disguise, making house ownership accessible in a debt-strapped world.
If a few years back, living in a motorhome permanently was frowned upon and seen as a compromise solution, today, the nomadic lifestyle is not a niche movement anymore. And with remote work going mainstream, more and more people are considering investing in mobile homes.
Justin is a young man who has spent about five years backpacking across America and then decided to build his own motorhome. He ended up building not one, but several rigs that he sold even before they were finished. He currently lives full-time in a 2012 Chevy Duramax named the Mega Date that he converted into an incredible bachelor mobile home.
While mobile homes can be built using the same quality materials and custom features found in larger, more expensive buildings, Justin believes it is also important to use upcycled materials and used things and that minimalism and tiny living are not about the rig, but about the lifestyle they enable and the opportunities they provide.
The Chevy shuttle bus measures 28 feet (8.5 meters) long and just under 11.5 feet tall (3.5 meters), offering about 100 square feet (9.3 square meters) of livable interior space, which is quite enough for a single person. The outside is nothing extraordinary, as the man didn’t make major modifications to the exterior. It is painted a very light blue with some black decals on the side and back, representing mountain and tree silhouettes.
The shuttle bus’s big side doors, where the handicapped lift used to be, are a great way to connect the interior with the surroundings. He can just open them up and enjoy nature or hang out with friends over a glass of wine.
The moment you step inside, you realize this is not your ordinary bus conversion. It’s unique in every way and doesn’t follow the classic bus conversion layout, where there is some kind of compartmentalization and you can tell where the kitchen or the bedroom is. Instead, this is the ultimate bachelor pad, and besides its functionality as a mobile home, it was designed with a focus on creating a great entertaining space for social gatherings. It includes some surprising luxury amenities and a unique and inspiring sense of style.
As you enter the motorhome, you are in the living/kitchen/dining area, where Justin likes to hang out with his friends. The first thing you see is a stunning custom-made live edge wood table sitting in the center. A small sink to the side and a long cabinet have similar countertops.
The entertaining area also includes a bench with cushions and blankets, a fur rug on the floor for sitting around the long table, and a very old four-burner top wood-burning stove, which can be used for cooking or just warming up the space when the weather gets chilly. Justin also has a portable cooktop that he puts on the table when he cooks. There is also an ICECO portable fridge toward the front of the bus that also serves as seating space when he has friends over.
The long cabinet with live edge countertop kind of separates the living area from the sleeping quarters, which are at the back of the bus and include a king-size bed with tons of storage space underneath. As I said, this is an unusual build, so don’t act surprised to find out that right next to the bed sits a huge bathtub. It has its own 55-gallon water system with a four-stage recirculating filter.
Custom-made steps make ascending into the bathtub easier and conceal the composting toilet and the diesel heater.
Shuttle buses have lots of windows, and Justin hasn’t got rid of any of them during the renovations because he likes to keep them open when he’s in the woods or at the beach. Instead, he put in extra thick wool curtains for privacy and to reduce the amount of air exchange between the windows and the interior.
This motorhome is completely off-grid capable, with 850 watts of solar panels on the roof, a 400 Ah 12V battery pack and a propane tank concealed in the storage space underneath the bed, a composting toilet, and a gas-powered water heater.
It took Justin two months to finish the shuttle bus conversion, and he spent $35,000 on renovations, not including the price of the Chevy bus itself. He runs a custom RV conversion company called Custom Conversions in Nevada City, CA, specializing in personalized mobile homes on wheels with one-of-a-kind designs that reflect the owners’ personalities and preferences.
Justin is a young man who has spent about five years backpacking across America and then decided to build his own motorhome. He ended up building not one, but several rigs that he sold even before they were finished. He currently lives full-time in a 2012 Chevy Duramax named the Mega Date that he converted into an incredible bachelor mobile home.
While mobile homes can be built using the same quality materials and custom features found in larger, more expensive buildings, Justin believes it is also important to use upcycled materials and used things and that minimalism and tiny living are not about the rig, but about the lifestyle they enable and the opportunities they provide.
The shuttle bus’s big side doors, where the handicapped lift used to be, are a great way to connect the interior with the surroundings. He can just open them up and enjoy nature or hang out with friends over a glass of wine.
The moment you step inside, you realize this is not your ordinary bus conversion. It’s unique in every way and doesn’t follow the classic bus conversion layout, where there is some kind of compartmentalization and you can tell where the kitchen or the bedroom is. Instead, this is the ultimate bachelor pad, and besides its functionality as a mobile home, it was designed with a focus on creating a great entertaining space for social gatherings. It includes some surprising luxury amenities and a unique and inspiring sense of style.
The entertaining area also includes a bench with cushions and blankets, a fur rug on the floor for sitting around the long table, and a very old four-burner top wood-burning stove, which can be used for cooking or just warming up the space when the weather gets chilly. Justin also has a portable cooktop that he puts on the table when he cooks. There is also an ICECO portable fridge toward the front of the bus that also serves as seating space when he has friends over.
The long cabinet with live edge countertop kind of separates the living area from the sleeping quarters, which are at the back of the bus and include a king-size bed with tons of storage space underneath. As I said, this is an unusual build, so don’t act surprised to find out that right next to the bed sits a huge bathtub. It has its own 55-gallon water system with a four-stage recirculating filter.
Shuttle buses have lots of windows, and Justin hasn’t got rid of any of them during the renovations because he likes to keep them open when he’s in the woods or at the beach. Instead, he put in extra thick wool curtains for privacy and to reduce the amount of air exchange between the windows and the interior.
This motorhome is completely off-grid capable, with 850 watts of solar panels on the roof, a 400 Ah 12V battery pack and a propane tank concealed in the storage space underneath the bed, a composting toilet, and a gas-powered water heater.
It took Justin two months to finish the shuttle bus conversion, and he spent $35,000 on renovations, not including the price of the Chevy bus itself. He runs a custom RV conversion company called Custom Conversions in Nevada City, CA, specializing in personalized mobile homes on wheels with one-of-a-kind designs that reflect the owners’ personalities and preferences.