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<\/p>\nVAN living has become a popular route for young hipsters looking to travel and escape the 9 to 5 grind.<\/p>\n
But for Theodore Zen, it was a matter of necessity after a wildfire destroyed his home, leaving him to transform an old school bus into a house on wheels \u2014 and all on a budget.<\/p>\n
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After the Woolsey Fire destroyed countless houses around Malibu in 2018, Theodore was left homeless.<\/p>\n
Since his home was not insured in the event of a fire, Theodore said he was thrown into van life.<\/p>\n
The artist spoke to The U.S. Sun about how the environmental disaster inspired him to embark on a new life path.<\/p>\n
He explained that a lot of people around California were in the same situation, and he witnessed an even larger uptick in van dwellers during the Covid pandemic.<\/p>\n
Hoping to avoid campground rates, Theodore began parking his van on the side of the Pacific Coast Highway.<\/p>\n The former real estate worker was able to stay parked for up to 72 hours at a time and revealed that the police were mostly understanding of his situation.<\/p>\n Eventually, he made the move to a yard where people were working on converting old school buses to Skoolies, solar-powered mobile homes.<\/p>\n He managed to do it without spending much, hunting for bargain buys and working with unused materials from other projects. <\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n "I had a bunch of projects going on, so we started building with stuff that we would find like used wood pallets from furniture stores, stuff from Facebook," he said.<\/p>\n "The flooring, which we got from Marketplace, was redwood planks and it was really nice.<\/p>\n "We\u00a0sourced wood from homes being remodeled as we decided on a country-themed design for the living area [of the bus].<\/p>\n "We bought bundles of tongue and grooved pine from half-price returns at Lowe's or Home Depot."<\/p>\n He also repurposed a stainless steel stall door from a public bathroom renovation to create a backsplash for one of his buses.<\/p>\n Theodore even traded in the 2006 Dodge van that had been his home since the fire for the old school bus.<\/p>\n After sourcing a second-hand engine and applying his artistic skills to create a camouflage design on the exterior, the 25-foot school bus was ready to be lived in.<\/p>\n Nowadays, Theodore rents out his renovated bus in various state parks, making about $180 per day.<\/p>\n He now owns four larger Skoolies and some smaller vans, which he hopes to officially list on Airbnb.<\/p>\n "We're looking at going out [to the desert] with fully self-contained solar vehicles," Theodore explained.<\/p>\n He referenced a woman who has set up her own remote luxury glamping grounds, The Desert Rose Collective, that is fully self-sufficient with its own well.<\/p>\n Since the off-grid location won't have electricity, Theodore highlighted the importance of solar paneling.<\/p>\n "We're pushing the solar, you know fully self-contained just like the old hippies," he joked.<\/p>\n He also incorporated compost toilets into each of his Skoolie buses.<\/p>\n Theodore pointed out the importance of such vehicles in the event of another fire or natural disaster.<\/p>\n "We've been doing self-contained vehicles with solar panels that people can actually live in if there's a big emergency, which seems to be happening a lot," he said.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/sport-preview-burt.jpg\")
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