While some of us may have bid goodbye to school buses after graduating from high school, one man in California had an insatiable desire to live in one.
With the help of his father, Patrick Schmidt transformed a powder blue school bus from the 1990s into a mobile home and took it on a 10,000-mile road trip from Long Beach, California, to Florida -- making some stops along the way.
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Schmidt bought the bus for $4,500 from a church. "No need to take off any of the School Bus gear," he wrote on Imgur.
A photo posted by Skoolie Love (@skoolielove) on Mar 19, 2015 at 5:49pm PDT
Schmidt and his dad then began the process of taking out the bus seats and converting it into a livable space.
First day of work is complete and we made a ton of progress. Those seats were a pain to remove but so proud of our progress. Tomorrow to conquer the roof and those pesky rivets. #skoolieconversion #skoolie #busconversion #hardwork #diy #wedidit #homeiswhereyouparkit #sotired A photo posted by Skoolie Love (@skoolielove) on Mar 24, 2015 at 7:51pm PDT
Schmidt documented the transformation on his Instagram account.
A photo posted by Skoolie Love (@skoolielove) on Apr 23, 2015 at 2:22pm PDT
Taking out the ceiling was "by far the hardest and most difficult part of the build," Schmidt wrote.
A photo posted by Skoolie Love (@skoolielove) on May 14, 2015 at 7:16pm PDT
Then came the flooring...
A photo posted by Skoolie Love (@skoolielove) on Jun 6, 2015 at 9:26pm PDT
...and the cabinetry.
A photo posted by Skoolie Love (@skoolielove) on Jul 14, 2015 at 6:06pm PDT
Slowly but surely, the bus came together.
A photo posted by Skoolie Love (@skoolielove) on Aug 14, 2015 at 6:53pm PDT
After pouring $9,000 into the remodel, Schmidt has spent the last few months traveling in the bus -- nicknamed "Big Blue" -- through 30 different states.
"Here I go again on my own, down the only road Ive ever known." First 100 miles into the trip. 38mph uphill 68mph downhill. Life in the slow lane for sure. Gas was $117 for my 36 gal tank, and 5 gal spare canister #skoolie #buslife #ontheroad #roadismyhome #buslife #adventurebus #highway #diesel #international A photo posted by Skoolie Love (@skoolielove) on Aug 15, 2015 at 11:02am PDT
Schmidt says that he plans to keep going, traveling north and taking odd jobs along the way.
"My plans are to stay in Florida until March, then most likely find my way back slowly to Vegas, and up to Seattle to live again for a while," Schmidt told Metro UK. "Find some land to park on. That’s kind of the life I’ve imagined for myself. Ride around, travel, find temporary work, and see where to go from there."
Good luck, Big Blue.