Off Grid Skoolie Live Q&A - Plans To Finish The School Bus Conversion

Hey, what is going on everybody? So, Chris here from the Off-Grid Skoolie. I'm just doing a 20-minute live Q&A, so if any of you have any questions, put them in the comments over there. Just a little update to what I have been up to. There has been no new videos, once again because I've just been in one spot, getting work done, working on a product that my team and I are working on, and also we are going to be revamping my other channel, Tiny Home Tours. I'm going to be making the videos a bit shorter, 20 minutes max, with the longer tour version coming out the day after is kind of what we're thinking. We actually have a phone call later today, that's why I moved this live Q&A to its current time, just so I can be ready for that phone call and we can get everything together and figured out. Good morning, Faith. Good to hear from you as well, dude. It's still just hanging out here in Montana, just getting work done. I do have some footage of life here in the particular spot, but I typically don't post a video to where we're at, mainly just with all the gear that I've shown that I had online. I think it's just a lot better to not have that broadcasted where I'm at, especially with having a tow car now and taking Kobuk to dog parks and everything. It's just a lot easier to not have to worry about that. Yes, Faith, safety first for sure. So if anybody has any questions, put them in the comments over to the side. Like I said, there really hasn't been too much going on on my end, just trying to save as much cash as possible. So far this month, it's been around $300, $350 on groceries. And other than that, man, I haven't spent my money on anything else, just utilizing the bus for what I built it for, just having a spot to park, save cash and work on projects. I have had some neighbors come up and say hi and ask about the bus, trying to figure out exactly what it is, if it's an RV, if it's just a hunting mobile, what it's like on the interior. A lot of people are curious about it. Probably don't see too many of these around the back country of Montana. Adventure use only. What's the weather temp where you're at now? So it is actually been pretty nice. Earlier, it was getting pretty toasty midday. It was getting about 95 degrees in the bus because the bus would just retain the heat with these windows. It would just get a little bit of a greenhouse effect. But more recently, I don't know what it is right now, but a hat, long sleeve shirt, just like last week. And I think it's about 60 degrees in the morning, gets up to about 70, 75 during the day. And it's been like that for the last week. We had some rain come through. And since that last weather system came through, it's been cooling off a lot. And this is my ideal temperature. If I could keep this temperature year round, and that's why I travel with the weather, this is the exact weather that I want. So it's been really nice. Dana, I'm in Alaska and in the planning process. Hopefully the planning process to go mobile. Good morning to you as well. So yeah, like I said, typically, I'm going to be doing these a little bit later in the afternoon. But I decided to go ahead and do it now in the morning. We're working on a lot of projects, taking notes on multiple channels, trying to get a plan put together. I don't know how many of you follow me on Facebook, but I do post a copy of my latest newsletter to Facebook. There is a development of maybe going to Nashville for a while. That's in the newsletter. Actually, when this video uploads, I will put that in the description if you want to read that. And you can also sign up for the newsletter. I just do once a week newsletter. And just what I've been up to, what it's been like living in the bus, income, all that good stuff. Good morning, everybody. Silver, when am I going to do something about the roof? Well, the roof's done. The ceiling is what needs the work. And that's going to get finished. The plan is actually this fall. I'm going to be going to Arizona. So like I said last week, after Montana, around September 1st, about another 10, 12 days or so, I'm going to be heading down to Kansas, work with Wes on some projects, and then head over to Arizona where I plan on spending my entire winter saving cash and working on projects. And we're going to be doing some sort of metal with the ceiling. My friend Billy agreed to help. It's going to be paying him to help me put the ceiling in. I'm going to go with some smart home lighting in here as well. Probably won't use the wires that I ran. I just keep hearing back and forth. It might not be a good idea. So Rebecca, hopefully, I answered your question about autumn. What I'll be doing then. T-Hetrick, how well does the AC slash heat work? So for the heat, that'll actually be hooked up in September down in Kansas. I have a Dickinson marine heater. So it's a diesel heater. It's not hooked up yet. So I'll be doing for heat. The AC works pretty darn well. I haven't had the opportunity to run it all day. So far, whenever it does get hot, the only time it really gets hot here is around four or five. And it's a lot cooler out now. But what was happening was around four or five, sometimes even six, the sun would be at such an angle where the solar was no longer bringing in enough to compensate for the AC. Midday, it will compensate pretty well. But I was only able to run it towards the end of the day. And it's basically 1200 watts just taking down the solar system with only bringing in about 100 watts. So what I'd do is just put a blanket up over the bedroom. And then Kobuk and I would just hang out there for a couple hours because I was okay, but he was getting pretty hot. He was panting. So I just wanted to make sure he was comfortable. So we just hung out back there a couple times, turn the AC on and it worked really well. Especially with the spray foam back there. You know, the spray foam does a great job in this bus. Can't say enough about how well that's been going. Michael, good morning from Granite State. Morning, bud. Michael, what are you working on now? Like I said at the beginning of the video, we're doing a little bit of revamp on Tiny Home Tours, have a product that I'm working on. And right now, we got the first draft of some of the material in for the project. And basically, I'll be reaching out to people on the channel, Facebook, Instagram, seeing what they think. Just trying to get as much honest feedback at this point. Next week, I'll probably be talking more about that product. Ashley, are you still working with real estate? I'd love to hear more how that works for mobile lifestyle. So Ashley, I'm no longer doing that job. But if you do a quick Google search, if you Google ISA real estate jobs, that'll pop up. Basically, what that was is I worked with a brokerage out of Nashville. And every morning, I was calling new for sell by owners, withdrawn properties, which means somebody had it listed with a brokerage, but they withdrew it from the market and expired listing. So say somebody signs with an agent, they do a six-month contract. And after that six months, and the agent wasn't able to sell their house, and it goes expired, there's software that takes their phone numbers and the properties and they will look at the properties. I then call them and try and get them to sign with the brokerage I was with. I'm no longer doing that because it was about four or five hours every morning. And it just took away from working on my own projects. I did enjoy the job. I enjoyed the hustle. I was making anywhere from $3,000 to $4,000 a month from that, only working four or five hours a day. So it is a great opportunity. If you are looking to get into it, they do have training programs. But if you read a couple of books, it'll really put you in a good spot to help you understand what you're getting yourself into, just in terms of the negotiation. Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss is a great book and Fanatical Prospecting by Jeb Blunt. If you listen to those books and watch some YouTube videos on ISA Conversations, people actually record themselves live, prospecting people. That'll give you a really good idea. And then you can work with a brokerage anywhere. You just have to get up early. I was getting up at 5 a.m. in Arizona when the time zones change each year. Daylight Savings actually get up around 4.30 and start calling around 5. So you do have to work with that. But it was really nice because I could work from 5 a.m. to 9 or 10 a.m. And then I was done for the day and I was able to work on the bus. And like I said, I was making $3,000 to $4,000 a month just from that job alone, which helped me build the bus. So that's something to look into if you're interested. Richard, I can't wait for a, you said ruin us. I'm guessing you meant a reunion with Wes, Jim and Debbie. Yeah, I'm super excited to hang out with those guys. I'm excited to get down to Ehrenberg and hang out with those guys, Quartzsite area. And Wes and I will be hanging out together all of September. And I'll be meeting up with Jim and Debbie when I get back to Arizona. So I'm super excited, too. Oli, good evening from Germany. Hey, bud. Dindog, where's Kobach? Kobe's right there. Kobe's right here. He made a new friend this morning. I took him on his morning walk. There was a border collie that ran up to him and they started playing and they were running around right next to the water. So they were running around the bus, running down on the water, playing in the water, running around the bus. So I'm letting him chill out a little bit. He's all muddy. Let him chill out a little bit. He's going to get his breakfast. I'm going to work a little bit and then probably head into town, go to the dog park, let him play with pups. I'm just trying to find that balance of me working here and him actually enjoying himself. So about every other day we head into town, take him to the dog park, let him play with other pups. But he's he's doing really well. Silver. Good morning, Dr. Strange. Silver tell us to make new videos. Yeah, he he is definitely more of an artist for sure. But he's he's been kind of doing the same thing I'm doing. Like, if you're in one spot, it's really hard to create content. I mean, that's one of the reasons I'm doing these live videos. I love, you know, hearing what you guys are up to and any questions you have. So it's easier for me just to do this because I can't really create content and me walking around with Kobuk around the same area. Rebecca, I know you put in radiant heating in the floor. Have you had a chance to use it? And do you like it? No. So we're hooking that up in September. Wes and I will be hooking that up. So I will definitely be giving you feedback on that once that happens. David, did you weigh the bus before and after to see what you've lost or gained in weight or fuel consumption? So the bus dry, completely dry, just with the roof raised. Actually, I'm trying to remember when I weighed the bus with with me and my brother and after the conversion, full water, full tank of gas, it was twenty nine thousand pounds. The capacity on the bus is thirty six. I'm trying to remember what it was after because I waited after I got the spray foam. I have it in my receipts. I'll have to go check that out. But in terms of fuel consumption, the fuel consumption has not changed from when I drove it from Florida, just a school bus, not roof raised without any seats. I was getting eight to nine miles to the gallon with the full conversion with the tow car. It gets seven to eight, you know, sometimes six, depending on the hills and everything. But this Cummins eight three, I honestly don't think this this engine, this drivetrain even has any difference whatsoever in fuel consumption. Sue, how much solar does the AC unit pull? Anywhere from five to twelve hundred watts, depending on how how much it's running. Typically, it'll be around twelve hundred watts to get get it cold. Once the thermostat kicks on, it draws back to around five or six hundred midday. It's more than more than OK for that, because right now it's quarter till ten. And I'm probably bringing in four to five hundred watts right now, so I could theoretically kick the AC on. And once it cools down, it would be able to work with the sun. I'm getting at town. Do you feel the personal need for feeling a part of a large community of nomads? And if so, how do you plan to satisfy your desire to feel connected to a collective larger than yourself? So for me, I'm a bit of an introvert. So being out here in Montana by myself is actually very recharging for me. I've been looking forward to being out by myself with Kobuk and getting work done for a very long time. However, I do try and balance that hanging out with people. I do know all winter in Arizona I will be hanging out with fellow nomads. So this is kind of my last chance to be out by myself, recharge those batteries, get all the projects done. I want to get done. I mean, granted, I'm still hanging out with people. I still go to bed typically around nine and wake up at five just so I have that five to nine ish because most people sleep to about nine or 10 to just be by myself, get my work done. But this is just complete independence being out by myself. I do know by the end of this month, I'll probably be ready to hang out with people again, but I do need that alone time. And I always feel connected to everybody on the road just through social media. Everybody's posting, everybody's talking about basically what they're up to, like living vicariously through them through social. I'm able to see what they're up to. And being that I do live on the road, I understand where they're coming from better. So as they post different things, as they show different things, I'm like, oh, okay, I, I, I see what, what they're saying and basically kind of what they're going through at the time. Waffles mom, I think you mentioned a while back that you're going to get another pup. Are you still considering that? I am considering that. It depends on how Nashville goes. Again, I'll link that newsletter in the description once this video is done. Even Kovac, like he loves other dogs. He loves playing with other dogs. And I think it'd be a lot easier leaving him alone in the bus where he didn't like being left alone. Some separation anxiety going on there. Paul, thanks for following along. Gusto. I don't speak Spanish. Sorry, bud. Aloha from Iowa. Your thoughts on parking a 40 foot bus in cities while touring the US. So that's a good question. So now that I have the tow car, it's a lot easier before what I do is just take the bus park at Walmart, lock the bus up and get an Uber or a lift and get around town that way. If I did have to park anywhere, it was just, you know, cost of having such a big rig. Now that I have the tow car, it is so much easier. I can either park outside of town, you know, a rest area, take the tow car into town or BLM. And for the next six months or so, I'm going to be in BLM land. I'm going to be, you know, basically places that are wide open that I can park the bus anywhere. And now that I have the tow car, I don't have to call an Uber out. It's going to be 20 minutes for the Uber to get there. Like here, I'm about 45 minutes from the nearest town. So with this tow car, I can come out to the wide open areas like this, take the tow car into town, take Kobuk to the dog park, go to the grocery store. And it's just the ideal life that I've been trying to build for a long time now. So it's not too bad. Even when I do go into cities, you know, filming for Tiny Home Tours, I just let people know like, hey, I have a 40 foot bus. How can we figure this out? So they have parking lots close by and they'll come pick me up and, you know, we get it figured out. You can always get it figured out. Ashley, no problem. Yeah. ISA, real estate work. Anybody can. I don't want to say anybody can do it. It is hard. When I say I'd get up at 430, that was every day where on weekends I'd wake up at 530. I would wait an extra hour. I wouldn't call as early, but it was an everyday thing. It takes hustle. It takes grit to do that job. You get told no more in one morning than most people do their entire year. So it takes a special type of person, but if you want it bad enough, you can do it. Hello to Al, Daryl, Sheila, Ted. Ted, are you going to paint the bus? If so, what color? Yeah. So I mentioned this last week. I'm probably going to do the same color scheme as the element. So sapphire blue with black. So the roof will be the Henry's tropical white. The rest of the bus will be that sapphire blue. And then the rub rails, we're going to repaint black. And then I'm going to get Alcoa aluminum rims used for the bus. So it'll have polished aluminum rims. So I think it's going to look really, really cool. And that's the plan right now. We're going to see what happens. William, what kind of heater do you use for the floor heater? So I mentioned this before, I have a Dickinson marine heater. And what that has is actually a coil in it. So it has the combustion chamber where the heat comes through, and it has a coil that runs through. So what you're able to do is run some sort of coolant, some sort of hydronic system, where when that water is pumped through, it'll actually heat within that combustion chamber. And that's what's going to heat the floor if that makes sense. And the one the unit I went with is the Dickinson Alaska heater. So you can look that up on the internet. It's written close to 20 minutes here. Al the pal, what is your solution for internet connectivity? So broccoli bus six has a system where he used a pep wave. And what that is, it's a system where I'm able to actually insert cell phone SIM cards into that system. It takes two. So I have a Verizon and an AT&T. And depending on where I'm at, the system will decide which one has the better signal. And that's that's boosted as well. I have a booster up top. So that boosted signal will come into the pep wave and the pep waves like, oh, AT&T is a faster signal right now. And what it'll do is take that AT&T signal, rebroadcast it as a Wi-Fi network throughout the entire bus. So as I get more security features, which will be happening in in September in Kansas as well, I'll be able to have Wi-Fi cameras in here. Obviously, this is on that system right now. I have a guest network through that. So say another nomads park next to me, their cell signal is not working. I can let them on my guest network and then I can actually monitor how many gigs they're pulling from my system. So if I'm trying to upload a video and they're uploading a video as well, I can actually crank down their the amount of data they can use so I can get my stuff done, too. So it's a pretty cool system. It was not cheap. It was around fourteen hundred dollars. I am paying about two hundred dollars per month for all of my data. So I have T-Mobile on here. I have, like I said, Verizon and AT&T up there. And it's all they're all unlimited. So that is how I get Internet on the road. And it's been working pretty well. Good morning, Radeep, Jack, Ted. I'm gonna do one more question here and I need to get back to work. Ketting, American Rider. American Rider, I've been good. I've been very busy. Very, very busy. But I love it. I love working on the road. Love working for myself. Don, if you need somewhere to go, swing by Lovell, Wyoming and visit. I have a room. Well, thank you. I appreciate it. We'll see how it's how it's going once I start moving south. Paris, do you have full time now? I do not. You'll be getting him back in October. Sheila, I've been watching you since you and Kobuk with G. What did you what do you do with Kobuk when you are at work? Take him with you. I work from the bus, so he's with me full time. The pup is never alone. We go everywhere together, hang out together. Kettig, hey, Chris, I'm from the Tampa area. I was wondering if you know anyone that does D.E.L. I don't because I don't know what D.E.L. is. Thin Dog, Sapphire Blue and Black will look sharp. Be sure to paint 0201 in it somewhere. I know, right? The 0201 is basically the auction number. I never took it off. Some people love it. Some people hate it. OK, last question here. Michael, is bus expensive and insurance? How about Wi-Fi and the bus? I just covered Wi-Fi and the bus. In terms of insurance, the bus is not expensive. I have a policy through State Farm. If you are thinking about doing a school, odds are you're going to get State Farm. They seem to be the only game in town that will insure school buses. My insurance for a $80,000 policy is $100 a month. When I first purchased the bus, I had to get a commercial private insurance policy. It's a workaround that some states are able to do. Basically, all that policy was was liability. If I had to move it to get spray foam, if I had to move it to get whatever woodwork done or whatever, I was insured, but it was not full coverage. The only way that they will cover these school coverage is if it is finished. I had to send them pictures to show that I had a toilet, a stove, an eating area, food storage. I had to show them it was actually converted into an RV. That is something to consider if you are looking at getting insurance for a school bus. I'm going to get back to work. I need to prepare some stuff for my team. We have a group meeting today. Like I said, revamping Tiny Home Tours a little bit. I appreciate all of you guys watching, all you gals watching. I'll be doing this next week. I'll hopefully be able to lock down a time. It's just this week's a little odd with what we have going on with the team. Thanks for watching, everybody. We will catch you next Sunday.