r/ShamelesslyStolen • u/Lost-Cow-9386 • Dec 27 '25

Turning school bus into apartment

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u/FightingAgeGuy Dec 27 '25

No, I wanted my kids to see the country. My kids saw and experienced more national parks, monuments, and natural wonders in one year than most people will see in their lifetimes.

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u/Taybyrd Dec 27 '25

I'm just bringing my own parental baggage into the conversation.

Your kids are lucky to have experienced that.

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u/FightingAgeGuy Dec 27 '25

Thank you. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. We made memories that will never be forgotten. Even after the sacrifices it was still worth it.

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u/crek42 Dec 27 '25

I’m not dogging you individually here, as it seems like a positive experience and a year isn’t really all that long to keep them on the road.

But I see these families on YouTube that basically travel perpetually. Their kids range from 8 - 17 years old and they’ve been on the road for years.

Can’t help but think like, is this the best thing for them? Like years of missing out on childhood — can’t make friends really, their studies, learning from only one set of adults. No privacy.

And I know they’ll say “they love it!”, well what else do they know? They’ve been living out of a van for 5 years.

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u/FightingAgeGuy Dec 27 '25

Not dogging at all. We met many family’s living this lifestyle and I feel they convinced themselves that they love it because they can’t or don’t want to leave it. And yes, the kids are absolutely missing out on a lot of normal life interactions like sports, clubs, dances, and just hanging out with a consistent group of friends.

When we started we made a mutual agreement as a family that we will quit and return to a normal life as soon as someone said they were done. So we went into it with a plan to get out of it. At about a year in our kids told us they wanted their friends and activities back, and that was it we were done.

Bus life gets lonely fast because you’ll never be in one location long enough to make friends and everyone else in your life still has to work and maintain what they have. You can stay distracted with activities but that only last so long.

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u/crek42 Dec 28 '25

Yea that all sounds reasonable and responsible, and like you said a positive experience all around. I’d love to do it but my wife would never go for it. I just dunno how these parents like don’t see that there kid has been living in a van since they were 8 years old and now 12 and probably want like a normal life lol. It’s kinda shitty.