Rachel ‘Below Deck’ Bus ‘Skoolie’ Transformation Was a Labor of Love
Chef Rachel Hargrove from Below Deck transformed a bus into her new home and had plans to travel the country in a cool converted bus affectionally referred to as a “skoolie.”
Hargrove is not the first Below Deck cast member to embark upon the “van life” type movement. But she is certainly the first to do so via a bus. In April 2021, she gave fans a sneak peek tour of the bus on social media and was ready to hit the road soon.
But before she traveled the country, she partied in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida shortly after she wrapped filming Below Deck Season 9. She joined Ciara Duggan from Below Deck Sailing Yacht for dinner and provided the entire table with some comedy gold. “Dinner with [Rachel Hargrove] is interesting,” Duggan shared on her Instagram story.
Chef Rachel gives fans a tour of her new ‘skoolie’
Hargrove posted a teaser video after being quiet on social media for several weeks after filming ended. “Thrown under a bus,” she wrote on Instagram along with a cryptic photo. The next video is when she revealed what exactly she meant by her first post.
“Hey everybody, this is chef Rachel,” she said in her video. “And I’m going to give you a sneak peek into what I’m about to do. And it’s a really cool surprise but I won’t leak it completely yet.”
“But I’m going to give you a tour of a skoolie,” she exclaimed. “And that’s what’s going to be happening very shortly. Welcomg to the skoolie.” Hargrove offered a quick video tour of the bus interior and how the vehicle was converted to a home. “I’m going to go ahead and finish the conversion and get my kitchen in here,” she described. “And some sleeping arrangements. But I’m really, really excited about it.”
Hargrove also gave fans a peek at the outside of the skoolie. “Here’s the bus,” she said. “And I’m so excited to sing this song but the wheels on the bus are gonna go round and round!”
What is a skoolie bus?
Skoolies provide the same freedom and purpose for people who live in a retrofitted van. Below Deck cast members Rhylee Gerber and chef Adam Glick are two van life enthusiasts who have featured their homes on Instagram.
While skoolies offer the same benefits as vans, they are more of a hybrid between a tiny house and an RV, according to the building site, Rise. “Skoolies are renovated school buses made into houses, an example of upcycling at its best,” according to the site. “Upcycling is the art of taking something that can no longer be used for its original purpose and transforming it for different use.”
The majority of the converted buses are between 245 to 300 square feet and can be converted and customized in a number of ways. Skoolies can be insulated to allow for comfort in extreme climates. Plus, it is possible to create a separate room in a skoolie, which is not possible to do in a van.
Overall costs range from $3,000 to $7,000 to purchase a used bus. And then anywhere from $5,000 to $30,000 for the conversion.
