How to Build a Hippie Motorhome

Hippie has come to be different things for different folks. They are selfish or enlightened, political radicals or freedom fighters, drug freaks or spiritualists, tree-huggers or smelly idiots. Although the movements of the '60s have faded into the past, the arguments and divisions seem to linger. However you may feel, everyone recognizes the symbols: peace signs, flowers, headbands and VW vans. So how can you recapture the freedom of that past age? Hit the road in your own custom-made hippie home. The country may still argue over many of the same issues, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't embrace your inner hippie and rediscover the freedom of the road.

Things You'll Need

• School bus
• Bolts
• Wood panels
• Vegetable fuel system
• Vegetable oil
• Furniture
• PVC
• Trailer ports
• Solar panels
• Patchouli

Instructions

1. Purchase your vehicle. A popular option is the retired school bus. Often leaving service well before the end of its lifespan, a retired school bus has plenty of space and can likely be found for cheap through a government auction.

2. A yellow paint job is not going to cut it. Perhaps look to Ken Kesey's famous bus, Furthur, for inspiration, or perhaps look to nature for a color scheme. Either way, a proper hippie paint job should be distracting--frantic but peaceful.

3. Gut the interior. Take out the old green seats. Place thin wooden slats along the interior wall and bolt through from the exterior, lending extra tensile strength to the inside wall. The slats should be 2-by-2s cut to fit between the floor and window bottom. For even more strength along the thin outer wall of the bus you can add a 2-by-12 cut to the length of the bus. Bolt this board along the outside of the bus, using your inner slats as studs.

4. Just like a house, a hippie motor home needs insulation. Look for thin material that can be easily adapted to fit along the thin metal walls.

5. Install the living systems before the furniture. A small toilet should be installed in the back corner. Using PVC, run a tank to the underside of the bus and ensure that any method of ridding waste is compatible with the ports typically connected to RVs at campsites. A simple camp stove can do, but installing a chimney and a small wood-burning stove can make a school bus a year-round capable vehicle.

6. Bolt in furniture. Spend plenty of time in your bus before installing furniture in order to get a sense of how you will interact with the space. Check local regulations, which may require certain amounts of fortification in installed seating.

7. Install green systems. Being environmentally conscious is even more important to the modern hippie ethos then it was in the '60s. Luckily, we have the technology necessary to make green adaptations. Solar panels on the roof can be adapted to power laptops, televisions or hot plates. Many hippie motor-homemakers even convert their engine to run on vegetable oil. A number of biofuel co-ops have emerged around the country to power veggie cars. Of course, restaurant grease will do fine in a pinch.

Resources

• Vegetable oil conversion kit
• Article on Kesey's Furthur