PowerBeginner
Solar on a bus roof
- Add up daily watt-hours
- Size panels to roof space
- Pick a power station
- Run cable through a gland
A skoolie is a retired school bus rebuilt into a home on wheels. We turned ours into a camp: rooftop tents, solar power, a coffee bar, and a rolling thrift store of gear you can rent or keep.
Pop-up movie night · Film launch
We park the skoolie, raise the screen, and fire up the rooftop projector. Bring a blanket. We'll bring the coffee, the chairs and the film.
Run of show
Date and location: TBA
Tickets & concessions
Bring your own blanket.
Price TBASet up and waiting for you.
$9Strung in the trees by the screen.
$10A cooler with ice at your seat.
$20We'll email the date, location and parking details.
Skoolie 101 · From school route to camp route
Every skoolie starts as a decommissioned school bus. Here is how one becomes a place people want to sleep in. Read the full skoolie guide →
Districts auction retired buses with sound frames and low-stress miles. Look for rust, then look again.
Seats, rubber floor and ceiling panels come out. Insulation and a subfloor go in.
Solar on the roof, power station inside, rooftop tents up top, lockups and a fridge below.
Everything stays on the bus. We pack out what we pack in and leave the woods as we found them.
Life at camp · For real
No stock photos. These are the buses, the oaks and the nights at camp near Weeki Wachee. Tap any photo to see it big.
Featured on Airbnb
A converted school bus parked in the wild near the Chassahowitzka. Self-contained, solar-powered, rooftop tents up top.
The Mothership
Espresso window, Starlink, projector and an onboard restroom.
The Vault
Racks for 30 bikes, 30 duffels and a kayak ramp.
The Escape Pod
AC shuttle between trail, camp and hotel.
Overland
Hitch camper with a hard-shell tent.
Wish you were here
Buses, treehouses, domes and other one-of-a-kind Airbnbs we love. Each one opens on Airbnb.
The CampSkoolie Facebook community
One email a month: new gear drops, open camp dates and the best builds from the group.
Post your conversion progress, before and after
Solar, batteries, AC: what's actually working
Buy, sell, swap skoolie parts and camp gear
Where members parked, with permission and photos
Register your rig, collect votes, win a badge
Inspiration & How-To
Practical guides from our own rigs. Pick one and start your build.
Creator Highway
Skoolie builders, travelers and families we love to follow. Make bus-life content? Put your channel on the feed.
Questions we get a lot
The short answers. Ask us anything else in the Facebook group.
A skoolie is a retired school bus converted into a tiny home on wheels. Builders pull out the seats, insulate, add a subfloor, then build in beds, a kitchen, power and water. Some are full-time homes; ours is a campsite you can book. Read the full skoolie guide.
An RV is built in a factory. A skoolie starts as a commercial school bus, so you get a heavy steel frame, a diesel engine built for long service and a layout you design yourself. In many states a finished conversion can be retitled as a motorhome; the rules vary, so check with your state's DMV before you build.
Camp Calypso, our converted school bus near Weeki Wachee and Spring Hill, is bookable on Airbnb. It's set up for off-grid camping close to the spring runs, with solar power, portable AC and rooftop tent add-ons.
Everything stays on the bus: power, beds, kitchen kit and gear, so the woods stay the way we found them. Add kayaks, hammocks or a projector movie night from our rolling thrift store, and you have glamping without a campground full of RVs. More ideas in our unique camping guide.
Yes. The CampSkoolie marketplace rents kayaks, snorkel kits, hammocks, coolers, solar power stations and more by the day, and you can buy anything you fall in love with.
Register it for Skoolie Badges, our Best of Style awards for converted school buses. Approved buses go into the public gallery, where the community votes.
Yes. Our unique stays collection features buses, treehouses, domes and other one-of-a-kind Airbnbs around the country.