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When Beanie goes up a hill – sometimes at 30 miles per hour with her hazards flashing – and reaches her maximum air pressure, she lets out a burst of air, prompting her passengers to give her a pat. Though she’s older and has some miles on her, Beanie’s earned a reputation as a fighter.

“She was a fighter during the build. She hated being renovated,” Skye Prentice said.

Beanie, a 1995 Ford B800 school bus, is owned by a group of four close friends – Syracuse University alumni Skye Prentice and Gaby Phillips, along with Phillips’ twin sister Halle and Halle’s boyfriend Matt Chazin.

The group bought and started renovating Beanie about a year ago to prepare her for the cross-country roadtrip they are now about three weeks into. The four are traveling on a North American excursion packed with bucket list destinations like Banff National Park and Glacier National Park, all while maintaining their four-wheeled friend.

“This has been a dream of mine for a really long time, since probably sophomore year of college,” Prentice said. “We started thinking about it during quarantine just because we had the time to think about it.”

Their trip is supposed to last until the holidays, but they made sure to keep the plan loose in case they decide they want to visit any other places. While on the road, all four are working remote jobs, which affords them the ability to take part in such a long-term trip as well as pay for various necessities along the way like fuel and WiFi.

Initially, they had wanted to do the “North American quintessential road trip” and drive across the U.S., through Canada and into Alaska, Prentice said. Alaska ended up being cut from the trip because of how slow Beanie can be on the road.

The group of four is three weeks into a trip that will last until the holiday season.
Courtesy of Skye Prentice

Many of their stops are national parks and nearby towns. After starting in Massachusetts, the group made their first big stop at the Badlands in South Dakota, followed by the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and Glacier National Park. Now, they’re in Banff, Canada.

“I’m really excited for everywhere now that I’ve already started on this trip,” Halle said. “Each place is more spectacular than the next, but where we are right now has been top of my bucket list in my own life for a really long time.”

Their experience renovating the bus came in handy when dealing with mechanical issues on the road. Even though she was checked by a mechanic before leaving, Beanie has had a few difficulties due to the miles and consistent driving. At one point in Canada, the group had to call for a tow truck to help Beanie.

Despite the challenges, traveling in the bus has its benefits. Along with the amenities of a kitchen and WiFi, they’re able to travel with the comforts of a home.

“There’s a huge perk in the fact that you are traveling in your home,” Halle said. “So everything that you would need is right there with you.”

The four have also made many new connections while renovating the bus. The group thoroughly documented the process of renovating Beanie on their Instagram account 4babesandabus, and they now use the page to share their traveling adventures with over 5,000 followers.

Remodeling Beanie took about a year from start to finish.
Courtesy of Skye Prentice

While remodeling the bus, the four found advice and support from other people on social media who travel with buses and vans that they’ve refurbished themselves.

“We always say if we were the first ones to be building a home like this, we would have never been able to do it,” Gaby said. “Because everyone is so helpful, just with knowledge and support. Everyone wants to help you and reach out to you.”

Prentice and Chazin did most of the physical labor to renovate Beanie while Gaby and Halle finished up their degrees. Prior to the renovation, they had little to no experience with a lot of the work they would be doing, Chazin said.

Before they could rebuild it into a portable home, the four had to strip the seats and original school bus interior. During some of the more difficult parts, such as the electrical and plumbing work, they consulted with others to make sure that they were doing it correctly. But there was no shortage of family and friends to help with the renovation, Gaby said.

“When I say that we literally only have experience building IKEA furniture, that is the extent of our knowledge,” Chazin said.

“We have a PhD in YouTube,” Prentice said.

Beanie is now equipped with a kitchen, bathroom and seating area, as well as a bed, a pull-out couch and a rooftop space where they can put up a tent. The plumbing and electrical were developed around their needs, such as an 100-gallon water tank stashed underneath the bed they added because they knew they’d need water for everything from washing their hands to doing laundry, Chazin said.

The group did the majority of the renovation work themselves, learning new skills as they went.
Courtesy of Halle Phillips

The purchase and remodel of Beanie was an expensive project to take on, but the four said they consider it a worthwhile investment as they see the bus as their first home.

“We estimated that it would cost like $10,000 to build it out, and it was a lot more than that,” Prentice said. “But in the end, it is all of our first homes. We own it.”

When they first started remodeling the bus, the group intended to sell it after finishing the trip. But the plan changed after putting so much time and effort into the remodel, and the group has grown attached to Beanie.

The four are considering parking Beanie in a scenic area and renting her as an Airbnb. The rentals would earn some money, but Beanie would still be around in case the four ever wanted to take another road trip. Selling her likely isn’t in the cards, said Halle.

“She definitely has a personality to her,” Chazin said. “We love her.”

Published on September 8, 2021 at 11:52 pm

Contact Abby: avpresso@syr.edu | @abbyvp08