When The Going Gets Tough: How To Stay Motivated During A Bus Build

This is what our bus build looked like most days.

I’m not going to sugar coat this for you. Doing a bus conversion is HARD. And doing one as an inexperienced DIYer is even harder.

Let me give you a little piece of my own story before I tell you why you absolutely need to dig your heels in and press on in your build.

I thought I was super prepared for our conversion. I’m fairly handy, I’m great at looking up information about stuff I don’t know online, and I like to think I’m hard working. I did hours and hours of research before we even bought our bus. I had a timeline. I had a budget. I had a plan for so many different jobs. I thought we could do our conversion in four months, maybe five at the most.

Dear reader, my bus build humbled me more than anything else in my entire life has.

I was exhausted, overwhelmed, and extraordinarily stressed out on a regular basis. My relationship with Greg was tested repeatedly, at some points daily. I felt like the bus would never get finished. Our original “leave” date came and went, and the bus looked like the picture above all the while.

If you’re reading this, that probably sounds all too familiar, and let me be the first to tell you that I know how much it sucks. I know how impossible everything seems, and how this whole process is probably so much more involved than you originally thought. Let me tell you what I needed to hear then and I know to be the truth now:

That’s expected, that’s totally normal, and you are doing just fine.

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t end up feeling that way at some point throughout their build. There’s a reason the RV industry exists, after all - lots of people know the benefits of having a house on wheels, but not as many have the time, the capability, and the drive to make one of their own. You decided to do this because at the start, you felt like you were capable of seeing this project through to the end. Even now, as hard as it all has gotten, that is still the absolute truth.

And that’s exactly why you should keep going. Because arriving on the other side of this self-doubt and uncertainty is like walking into an oasis in the middle of the desert. It is a waterfall of relief and accomplishment and pride, and it’s waiting for you just up ahead. I know the path looks long and daunting and maybe even a bit frightening, but go boldly forth and you’ll see that it’s all not quite as intimidating as it might seem.

On the hard days, sometimes the best you can do is just get what you’re working on finished and call it an early night. But even then, it’s so important to find gratification in the little moments, the tiny victories. Don’t be afraid to be proud of the things that seem utterly inconsequential - the installing of a drawer slide, the sealing of the last window, the decision on where to put your couch. These things aren’t as small as they seem. Every single one of these little things is bringing you that much closer to your end goal.

But the thing I found the most helpful to keep myself going was to step back from everything, take a breath, and fully, deeply remember your why. What is it that made you want to do this in the first place? Where do you want to go when this uphill battle is behind you?

Imagine for a moment if you will. You’ve just arrived at the first place you’ve decided to camp after finishing your rig. The sun is shining and the air is warm as you turn off the engine and step outside to survey the landscape. You pull out the chairs, maybe a table and an awning, and get right to work setting up camp. As quickly as you started you’re finished, and all of sudden there’s nothing left to do except sit down. Nothing.

You take a deep breath and revel in the simplicity of arriving unceremoniously at this moment. You’re finally here. The hard work is finished. You’ve been dreaming about arriving at this exact place for ages, and now - all at once - here you are. Your own piece of freedom, built with your own two hands. You’ve earned this. Drink it all in.

That was me three weeks ago when we arrived in Arizona. And that’s going to be you sooner than you think.

Hunker down, hang in there, and get to work. We know you can do it, we’re rooting for you, and we cant wait to see you out here.