We’ve all been there. And not just with the skoolie conversion.
I remember building my house and staring at 1800 square feet of cathedral ceiling and thinking, “Holy shit. That’s a lot of boards.”
And on the bus, on several occasions, I also just stood there thinking, “I don’t even know where to begin.”
I found, however, that these three shifts in perspective helped me to manage that mounting sense of apprehension that threatened to shut down production and send me screaming into the forest.
It all comes down to managing expectations.
Expectations
I love the saying: “Expect the best and you’ll get the worst. Expect the worst and you’ll still get the worst but at least you’ll be ready for it.”
Word.
Because catastrophes will happen.
And you can say, “Pushaw…be positive.”
Okay, I’m positive bad things will happen.
But that doesn’t make me a pessimist.
An idealist thinks bad things will NEVER happen.
An optimist thinks that bad things will happen, but they will be able to fix them.
This realist mentality keeps me moving. I don’t get paralyzed with fear of making a mistake and when something unexpected happens, well, I expected it.
I think, too, that managing expectations falls into three categories: time, perfection, and ease.
Managing Time Expectations
Most of my stress comes from trying to cram a large job into a small amount of time.
It’s that saying about 10 pounds of potatoes (or other substances) in a 5 pound bag.
Last spring I was scrambling to get the bus “livable” for the summer. My phone kept ringing asking me to work so I felt I was missing out on chances to earn money while guiding people through whitewater.
It was mostly self-imposed stress.
In reality I could have lived fairly comfortably in the bus as it was. (For crying out loud I had spent the last 12 summers living in a tent. The bus is a major upgrade!)
And if I missed out on a few trips it really wasn’t the end of the world.
But I struggled to let go of all that. And, I think part of me was excited to show off the bus to my river friends and wanted as much done as I could. (In fact, I remember getting up at 2:30 in the morning at one point because I was wide awake and figured I would accomplish SOMETHING.
But here’s the kicker…living with that kind of stress takes the joy out of the project. Instead of being an asset, the bus becomes an emotional liability.
Give yourself triple the time you think you’ll need.
I cringe when I hear people say that they need to finish the bus before a particular date because their lease runs out and they need to move. That adds stress to a project where most often we’re learning as we go.
Then we rush.
Then make mistakes. Or worse, hurt ourselves.
Slow down, take your time.
Stuff 5 pounds of potatoes into a 10 pound bag.
Managing Quality Expectations
I see many posts on social media sites lamenting the mistakes that they’ve made.
They’re going to happen.
Even the pros make them.
And few of us are Skoolie conversion pros.
At best, we can hope to minimize the expensive ones.
(Before you cut that $150 hardwood slab, make sure the cheap cardboard template fits, first!)
It’s tough because we want a beautiful build. Skoolie’s are cool and we want to awe the curious audiences with spectacular work.
I mean, just look at all the gorgeous pictures on the internet.
Here’s the thing, though. In all those finished skoolies, decorations and “life stuff” like pillows, blankets, pictures on the walls, the canister of lentils all cover up the mistakes. Our eyes are drawn to LIFE, not the tiny gap on the side of a piece of trim.
The same will be true with your build.
And nobody notices those flaws except you.
I’ve built multiple houses and no one comes in and says, “Hey, I’m noticing that cabinet door is a little out of square.”
And at first seeing my own mistakes bothered me.
But as I got better I kind of like them. It helps chart my progress as a craftsman. It reminds me of my growth.
We like to think that we’re involved with a skoolie conversion project.
But really”¦.we’re on a skoolie OWNER conversion project.
By the end, you will be more skilled, more knowledgeable, and more resilient.
And here’s another thing, those builds that are close to perfect? Many of them were built by professional builders. How do I know? I’ve asked. “I love that color of stain. What’s it called?” “Oh, I don’t know, the builder chose it.”
We can’t compare ourselves with people who build every day and have been doing it for 20 years.
Managing Process Expectations
Tiny homes attract many people because of their simplicity.
Go small…live simply…de-stress.
Can I get an Amen?
However, building the tiny home is anything but simple.
Give me a couple of people and I can frame and enclose a 2 car garage in a weekend.
The bus has taken me over a year and I’m still not done.
The process is more complex. You’re dealing with a foundation that is difficult to level and I’m sure isn’t square.
Many traditional building strategies need to be modified to work on wheels. (Have you ever tried to build a shower on a bus?)
Innumerable problems will stare you down and force you to reckon with them.
That’s okay; it’s part of the process.
The biggest problem in these situations comes from soul-sucking discouragement that many of these problems initiate.
Because then we just feeling like curling up on the couch with an entire box of wine and watch M*A*S*H reruns.
But that doesn’t get us closer to our dream of living the simple life on the open road.
And when in doubt, we often procrastinate because we think doing nothing is better than doing it wrong.
But it’s tough to make progress with that mindset.
No, in these situations it’s best to just start.
I have to do this all the time because I’m terrible at visualizing exactly what the end result will look like. In many situations, I have to figure it out as I go. And in doing so, I gather momentum and eventually I get it done.
For example, I had no idea what our couch was going to look like. I knew I wanted it to seat 2 people, face the driver’s side of the bus, and hopefully pull out into a bed.
I started by framing a half-wall at the edge of the entry stairs.
Then framed the seat part.
Okay.
Then I wanted the seat to open so I added a lid and some hinges. And a lip to hold a table that I would eventually build. And the table would double as the bed that I could drop down into place.
Okay…then a back. I needed to frame the sides and the top, then fill it in with some plywood. Since the back would be covered with a cushion it didn’t have to be pretty.
But look! I found a piece of live-edge maple in the shop! That’d look cool for the top of the frame!
And, eventually, I had a couch that came out even better than I could have imagined.
I could have agonized for months over designs and building techniques and never really gotten anywhere.
Just committing myself to the process produced results.
Ask For Help
The skoolie community, both live and on social media platforms freely shares their ideas and support. Feel free to reach out at any time and someone will offer an answer or encouragement.
Do take into consideration, however, that most of these well-intentioned people are not professionals. Their solutions might not be the best ideas for you. Fact check, double check, and ultimately choose the answer that seems safe and prudent for you.
And by all means, you are always welcome to come to me either in the comments here or on youtube. I will always respond. While I am not a full-time builder, I am a part-time one and a full-time teacher and guide. It’s what I do; I’m here to help.
So thanks for joining me…I appreciate it!
Now get back out there on that bus!
All the Best,
Ted
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