This is a school bus conversion story by Andy Talbott.
My name is Andy Talbott, and I live in McAllen, British Columbia, Canada. I am a full-time artist and have been traveling for three months in my bus, Bodi.
Bodi is a 1990 Chevy Van 30 Thomas school bus. I started as a visual artist six years ago on Vancouver Island. I love to paint, and I use photos of surfing and landscapes from the west coast as my inspiration. My artwork is full of bright, vibrant colors, geometric shapes, and lines. It’s very bright and cheerful.
My journey began as a result of several dreams that all came together unexpectedly. I was going through a major change in my life. The last two years were the hardest I’ve ever faced. I felt trapped in a career that I had poured my heart into, but eventually, I realized it wasn’t my true passion.
I quit my job because I was tired of moving to a new place every year for the last 15 years. I always dreamed of having my own house and taking a trip along the west coast of North America. This is the trip I’ve been dreaming about my whole life.
I turned my bus into a beautiful traveling art gallery because I wanted to bring my dreams to life. The idea was to travel to many festivals, set up the bus as an interactive gallery, and display my canvases both inside and outside.
I also put up a tent. In the end, I wanted to turn the whole bus into a piece of art. I found this bus on Craigslist. A man had been using it for hunting trips. It was painted brown and green, which was pretty ugly.
It looked like someone had just spray-painted it. I didn’t know much about mechanics, and I hoped to meet people along the way who could help us. The whole renovation took me four and a half months, working about ten to twelve hours a day.
I plan to live this lifestyle for as long as I can imagine. Right now, things are going really well. I’m going to ride it out, go with the flow, and see how it goes.
What a small home story! You can find Andy Talbot’s artwork at creaturesofthesun.com and follow his journey on Instagram at @bodhibus.