as is often the case with these things, the plan has been changed many times over the years. while my original vision remains largely the same, the story of how we got here and where we're going next is bigger and better than I could ever have planned for. that’s the beauty of projects like this: you have a gut feeling they will be fun or exciting or interesting but only find out all the real rewards once you actually take the leap and begin! 

having never built anything (let alone done a big project like this) before, I was very much a novice when it came to everything involved in making the project a reality. not only did I have no idea how to manage such a project, i had none of the practical skills or experience supposedly necessary to do the design and building work myself (but no money to pay anyone else to do it instead). so with necessity being the mother of invention, i just had to figure it all out. this started with putting together a design specification.

in the months leading up to the purchase of the bus, i’d been using every spare minute of my time to research other peoples bus conversions, van conversions, tiny house builds, etc to get inspiration and advice and help me generate ideas of my own. this meant that even without knowing what to do yet, I knew what I would need to consider (at least vaguely). the design spec I originally wrote (which you can view here) just simply listed all the areas of the build I thought I’d have to give some consideration to, what my initial ideas were relating to each bit, and what I still needed to investigate and decide upon. 

from the get-go, there were several things I knew I'd have to take into account when designing my home, to make it really work for me. even before I decided to live in a bus, I knew that whatever home I built for myself would have to be movable. i’m not particularly good at staying in one place for long periods of time, and although I wanted a base, I also wanted to be able to set up home wherever I chose and not be constrained by solid foundations on a piece of land that I may decide in a year or two isn't where I want to spend my time. 

it would also have to highly adaptable. I had no idea where I would be and what my life would like in a few years' time, let alone ten or twenty. as long as I didn’t remain in the trap of a steady job for too much longer, things were likely to be very different indeed in the not too distant future. I might be running my own business and the bus might be my office. I might have a long-term partner and three kids, and the bus would be their home too. I just didn’t know. It would’ve been a shame to build myself a home that became obsolete and unusable just a few years later because I didn't anticipate my potential future needs. 

pretty early on, I also realised that I wanted to do all of the construction work myself (or with friends). the idea of outsourcing this project just didn’t make any sense (nor was it economically viable). the space needed to be unique, interesting, and identifiably hand-crafted by me. it needed to allow me to do the things I may want to do, and should I want to change things about it down the road, i'd need to know it inside out. It will, without a doubt, become a significant part of my life story and therefore a part of me, so I need to get to know her deeply.

there were a few more practical goals I had to bear in mind before I put pen to paper:

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• must have a lot of storage. although I didn't have many possessions, my adventure gear needed a place to call home when not being used.

• needs to sleep 2 people really comfortably, but up to 10 ideally. bus parties are an inevitability. 

• ability to live on and off the grid. this is a must, but is a long-term goal and may not get accomplished this year (solar panels are expensive!).

• usable by other people - must have all the conveniences a normal person might expect (without compromising on homeliness). while I'm away travelling, it would be great to be able to let other people use the space without too much difficulty. 

• easy to maintain. 

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so that was the plan. most of that is still relevant but a few things have now changed:

• I'm now skilled and experienced with designing and building (having taught myself everything I needed to know to do all the carpentry, plumbing, electrics, mechanics, interior design, metalworking, etc for the main part of the build). 

• I now have a fully kitted out workshop with all the tools I need to do pretty much anything I can dream up.

• I now have the financial freedom to be able to invest/upgrade some of the components of the bus (most don’t need it, but a few could do with changing - e.g. a better battery charger, and some solar panels). 

• and I now have a renewed vision of the possibilities of the space, having lived in it for four years. there are some changes I want to make to the layout and design (a new front door, some extra storage here, some extra lighting there).   

with all that in mind, I’m currently undertaking the second part of the build, “finishing” it! I have updated my design specification, which you can view here. while there is much less structural work to do, and the tasks are all relatively easy, there are just a lot of them. I’m also fully aware that as I live in it over the next few years, I’ll have further ideas and the plan will change again, and again, and again. but that’s what’s so fun about this! my good friend Lloyd of Big Sur, California built his house in 1978 and he still doesn’t consider it finished! I've got some time then.