Vehicles are primarily (and I pretty much mean solely) used for travel to and from a location. Of course, we all know this and it’s not a secret by any means. Then, some people deck out their rides as a hobby, a sport, or as a sense of fashion and class. Make and model may be chosen for efficiency, fuel economy, look, performance, or convenience. So, it’s safe to say that a lot of thought goes into what vehicle you want for yourself and your family.

But what about the vehicles that are purely recreational and are the addition to your fleet of rides? What about those that serve only to have fun in and travel around in, not used for getting to work?

I’ve honestly always wanted to travel the country in a recreational vehicle, though not a traditional RV that comes with amenities out the wazoo. While that sort of status is left for later on in life when I just don’t have the vigor in me to rough it and need my nice bathroom and kitchen and AC, I prefer the type of RV a lot of festival goers seem to love: a party bus.

You know, the kind that has all sorts of colors painted on it (maybe even graffiti). The kind that you can load people in while driving or while camping. The kind that sometimes has a mattress in it, perhaps a sink with running water, and even a small stove for cooking on.

Well, what’s truly needed in building out your own bus, one that you could live out of if you had to? Let’s dive in.

Perhaps more importantly than a bathroom (at least in my opinion) is having a stove and a sink for cooking and dishes. There’s always nature as your bathroom, so long as you have a trowel and some TP. And heck, you may not even want an indoor bathroom if you fear your bus may smell foul afterwards. A stove and a sink, however, aren’t as easily replicated in the outdoors.

This part is where your personality should be plastered on your bus. Images, stickers, handwritten messages in marker, whatever. You just want to let others know it’s your fun bus and you’re here to party. Go wild on this step.

A lot of people forget about installing places to put dishes, clothes, utensils, cleaning products, whatever else you can think of. While building your own cabinetry could be an option, I’d suggest taking a few cheap moving boxes with you as makeshift storage at first since it’s pretty much free and as easy as it gets. Only after you’ve done a bit of traveling and camping and partying in your bus should you consider installing nicer cabinetry.