Need your advice! My boss's college graduate son and 3 buddies want to spend their first summer out of school to buy an old "short" school bus they think for about $5000, rip out the seats and install beds, paint it white and do a loop of the country for 4-6 weeks staying in private campgrounds, National and State Parks while seeing the sights in our country! Then they plan to sell it at the end of their journey and think they can recoup most or all of their investment! Will they be allowed in to most parks with a ramshackle home made "camper" like this? I have had a 30 ft TT for 2 years and a Pop Up for 30 years prior and and have never seen a rig like this in any campground I have ever stayed in and I have been to probably 100 over all the years! What will happen? Do you think they will be allowed in to most or all these campgrounds or will they be refused entry and have to bunk down at Walmarts? Will Walmart even allow them to stay overnight in a converted bus?Appreciate your seasoned advice. If this is going to be a disaster, want to warn my Boss that these boys could be headed for a nightmare!Thanks for your help!

I found success easier to achieve when working for others and in the Army by keeping my nose out of my boss's or commander's adult children's issues. PS - Minor children too. Please note I didn't say that you may need more to do.

Lwiddis wrote:I found success easier to achieve when working for others and in the Army by keeping my nose out of my boss's or commander's adult children's issues. PS - Minor children too. Please note I didn't say that you may need more to do.My Boss and his family have never camped or owned an RV. I have for many years. I just wanted to know what you fellow experienced campers feel. Am I being over cautious or will they have a miserable time finding shelter? I know it is none of my business but feel that my experience and advice from a forum full of thousands of readers who may have direct experience with an issue like this may have some good solid advice for these young men!

This would be a good learning experience for them. Tell them to take lots of money and the title. They may be flying back home.

These young adults should experience this trip. Let them learn. I suspect they will have a wonderful time with memories that will last a lifetime. The trips I remember most from my youth were those where it rained, where we got lost, where the cooking firewood was wet, where a raccoon stole our hamburger, where... Please note again I didn't say that you may need more to do.

Jesus... Why can't anyone answer? No one cares about if you agree with his business or his bosses business lol.Op many RV parks have some rules about age and appearance. I've seen converted busses in state parks in Texas, but never a private park. They can be anal. Tell them to stick to state parks and don't ask ahead of time. If they act like they always do as to not avoid drawing attention they should be golden :)

What will happen? | Good Sam Community

Lwiddis
Explorer II
May 23, 2017
I found success easier to achieve when working for others and in the Army by keeping my nose out of my boss's or commander's adult children's issues. PS - Minor children too. Please note I didn't say that you may need more to do.
temccarthy1
Explorer
May 23, 2017
Lwiddis wrote:
I found success easier to achieve when working for others and in the Army by keeping my nose out of my boss's or commander's adult children's issues. PS - Minor children too. Please note I didn't say that you may need more to do.

My Boss and his family have never camped or owned an RV. I have for many years. I just wanted to know what you fellow experienced campers feel. Am I being over cautious or will they have a miserable time finding shelter? I know it is none of my business but feel that my experience and advice from a forum full of thousands of readers who may have direct experience with an issue like this may have some good solid advice for these young men!
MKirkland
Explorer
May 23, 2017
This would be a good learning experience for them. Tell them to take lots of money and the title. They may be flying back home.
Lwiddis
Explorer II
May 23, 2017
These young adults should experience this trip. Let them learn. I suspect they will have a wonderful time with memories that will last a lifetime. The trips I remember most from my youth were those where it rained, where we got lost, where the cooking firewood was wet, where a raccoon stole our hamburger, where... Please note again I didn't say that you may need more to do.
yillb
Explorer
May 23, 2017
Jesus... Why can't anyone answer? No one cares about if you agree with his business or his bosses business lol.

Op many RV parks have some rules about age and appearance. I've seen converted busses in state parks in Texas, but never a private park. They can be anal. Tell them to stick to state parks and don't ask ahead of time. If they act like they always do as to not avoid drawing attention they should be golden :)
aguablanco
Explorer
May 23, 2017
They will,most likely, have the time of their lives and create some wonderful memories. It seems you have more issues with this scenario than the kids do. Were you asked for advice about this trip?
RichH
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
May 23, 2017
Private campgrounds.........MANY will turn them away

State/National....if they can drive it in and more importantly back out they shouldn't have any issues with their 'RV'

4 college age BOYS....might have problems/issues but most will be of their own doing.

Got to learn sometime.

One bit of advice......emergency funds. Not necessarily on them (that usually ends up getting spent on non-emergencies) BUT an 'emergency fund' that is accessible on short notice-----broke down/bail bonds/plane tickets etc
rexlion
Explorer
May 23, 2017
The bus probably has air brakes, and they could be old and temperamental. If they go out, the bus ain't moving until fixed.
Isaac-1
Explorer
May 23, 2017
It all depends on the park, the part of the country, etc. I was planning out the route for my upcoming trip to Yellowstone from Louisiana over the weekend, researching potential overnight stops etc. I noted the web site photos for more than one of the potential stops showed a U-Haul and similar trucks parked in the RV spaces, I suspect these sorts of places would have no issue with a converted school bus, yet other RV parks will not even allow nice looking motorhomes over 10 years of age on site, and some of these are not particularly nice looking locations.

In addition to this some publicly operated and many private parks have minimum age requirements, I have seen ages from 21-25 listed.

Personally I think they would be better off buying an older Class C motorhome for this adventure, better chance of getting their money back selling it in the end. There are lots of $5,000 motorhomes out there, some may even have 5,0000 miles of driving left in them.
SCVJeff
Explorer
May 23, 2017
Right off the top I don't think they've thought about the economics nor the ROI on this project. If this is just a project to do, then fine. But for $5000 you can buy an 80's something Class A ready to go and arguably in exactly the same mechanical shape; something that needs to get addressed regardless. And they won't get turned away anywhere nearly as much as building a love bus. At the end of the trip also stand a way better chance of recouping the investment.