This Short School Bus Is a Snug Cabin on Wheels With an XL Bathroom and a Full Kitchen

Meet Jaime and her school bus conversion. After her two daughters left home, she felt the need for something different, so she decided to try out the mobile lifestyle. She reached out to builders to see who could bring her mobile home vision to life. And that's how her wood cabin on wheels came to life.

What we have here is a 1998 International 3800 with a T444E 7.3-liter turbo engine. One significant why Jaime bought this rig was because it had only 115,000 miles (185,075 km) on it. By the way, if you're looking to buy a used school bus, check out a recent article I wrote about how to make sure you get a good deal.

This rig boasts a roof raise for extra headroom and RV windows instead of the original ones, which help insulate the bus much better. On the roof, you'll discover a rack holding 1,000 W solar panels and a wooden deck.

At the rear, you'll find a large ladder and a hitch-mounted bike rack. The latter can be lowered to make enough room for you to open the rear door. If you do that, you'll reveal the garage, where Jaime holds various items, including tools, a fishing pole, wood, and an inflatable kayak. That's also where you'll find the skoolie's power system – its highlight is a 400 Ah battery pack.

Now, let's step inside. Regarding design, Jaime chose a wood cabin aesthetic, with hardwood flooring, a wooden ceiling, and various decorative items that inspire a cozy mountain aesthetic. Furthermore, all of the wood used throughout the bus is reclaimed – most of it is cedar, but there's also some old barnwood at the rear of the interior.

Jaime kept the driver's cabin mostly original – she installed a sound system with two speakers, various decorations, and a fold-down passenger seat.

The next area inside this rig is the kitchen, which is split into two parts. It features an oven with a two-burner stove, beautiful butcher block countertops, a Breville coffee maker, a huge full-size fridge/freezer, and a deep stainless steel sink with a three-stage water filtering system. For storage, Jaime uses many drawers and cabinets, as well as a shelf that holds spices.

Walk deeper into the bus, and you'll pass by a sizeable wood stove. It's a 4 kW Dwarf Tiny Wood Stove – it's designed to heat up rooms smaller than 300 square feet (almost 28 square meters). Jaime explained that it can hold a lot of wood, enough to keep it running for an entire night.

Jaime wanted to have an extra heating option, so the rig is also equipped with radiant floor heating. That's powered by a hydronic diesel heater, which also gives off heat via a fan.

Opposite the wood stove, you'll find the bathroom, which is surprisingly spacious. It boasts a custom-made sliding door Jaime built, a composting toilet, a shower, and a cute tiny sink. There are some minor details that give this spot a nice aesthetic. The bathroom walls have white tiles and metal sheets, and water comes in through copper pipes.

By the way, a humongous insulated 200-gallon (757-liter) freshwater tank provides water in this skoolie. Furthermore, it ends up in a 100-gallon (379-liter) greywater tank. This is one of the largest water systems I've ever seen in a camper – Jaime explained it's enough to last her six to seven weeks if she's being conservative.

The remaining space until the rear bedroom is occupied by a long bench on the driver's side and a storage spot on the passenger side. The latter feature has three shelves, a closet, and a food and water station for Jaime's dog.

A slide-out table is integrated into the bed frame so Jaime can extend it and sit on the bench to work on her laptop or eat. Next to it, you'll find two long slide-out drawers, as well as a cubby that serves as a bedroom for the dog. Moreover, the bench can be transformed into a full bed, perfect for housing guests.

And finally, we have the bedroom. It boasts a short queen-size bed with an organic avocado mattress specifically built for RVs. Other notable details are a fan, two tiny shelves, a TV attached to a swivel mount, and hooks.

You're probably curious how much all this cost. Jaime paid a total of $80,000 (€73,728), significantly more than what she probably would've paid had she chosen to do the build herself. Most of the DIY projects I've written about cost about $30,000 to $40,000 (€27,648 to €36,864).

All in all, Jaime has everything she needs to enjoy a mobile lifestyle. She's got a large bathroom, proper utilities, more water than most other buses, and, to top it all off, a cozy and striking aesthetic.