Story 24 | Musician and Carpenter

Kyle (@kylevolkman)

Kyle is a musician, carpenter, photographer and outdoor enthusiast who lives full time out of his school bus conversion that runs 100% on vegetable oil. He first got hooked on mobile life when he purchased a 1981 VW Vanagon camper van and lived out of it in the mountains of north Idaho for two summers. In the winter, he rented a house so he could work at the local ski resort. 

After moving a few times - Kyle became sick of paying someone else's mortgage and liked the idea of living and traveling in the van full time even during winter. He was interested in converting his van to run on vegetable oil, but decided that if he was going to go through that much trouble, he wanted to do it to something bigger - so he could live mobile year-round. Thats when he decided on a Blue Bird Bus because it was the perfect length - a happy medium between being spacious and maneuverable. He also heard great things about their international engines.

Since finding and converting his bus to a home on wheels, Kyle has traveled most of the United States and now mainly finds himself sticking to the western US and BC, Canada. He spends the winters snowboarding and the summers working and traveling as much as he can.

"It's all about the simplicity and freedom, as well as the low living cost. The lower carbon footprint is also very important to me. "

Kyle now maintains his lifestyle by converting buses and vans into homes. While he did not plan on it, so many people began asking him about his bus as he was traveling that he eventually made some business cards and next thing he knew - he was in business.

Follow Kyle's journey on instagram @kylevolkman