If you’ve ever wanted to go on tour with a celebrity, you’re not alone. Many people dream of tagging along with their favorite band on a tour, even though it requires living in cramped quarters on a bus. Buses aren’t perfect, but they are more comfortable than your average car and the idea of having a personal driver sounds amazing.
When you feel the pull to hit the road, but you can’t hitch a ride with your favorite artist, you can create your own celebrity-style tour bus.
1. Brand your bus
You’ve probably noticed that most of the big names in Hollywood have tour buses branded with their name, photos, and other imagery. Why not create your own brand for your road trip?
It’s actually common for people to get creative and come up with themes and even names for their buses. For example, in 1964, author Ken Kesey bought a 1939 school bus for himself and what he called his “Merry Band of Pranksters” to tour the U.S. while filming their counterculture adventures. The bus was decorated to represent a psychedelic trip and on the front of the bus, he painted the word “FURTHER.”
To come up with your own branding idea, think about a good inside joke, or maybe you feel like you have a specific mission in life. Or perhaps you just like giraffes and want to deck out your bus with images of wildlife typically found in Africa. Whatever it is, you can get a custom design printed on a wrap that gets applied to the outside of your bus.
2. Choose your bus wisely
Buying a bus is a big investment, so make sure to choose your make and model wisely. There are pros and cons to every option, and doing your research will be essential. For instance, Sprinter buses come in short lengths, but they can be quite tall and you’ll need to be mindful of clearances. Other buses are longer, but the bigger the bus, the more gas you’ll use.
There are two ways to find the right bus. The first method is to start by determining your budget and then look for buses you can afford. From there, you can research each one to see if it meets your needs for road trips.
The other method is to find out what buses people are using for road trips first, and then narrow them down based on affordability. This method will be a little easier, but might require you to have a more flexible budget.
3. Adhere to the unspoken tour bus rules
While some rules are explicitly laid out for celebrities as they begin their first tour, like restroom etiquette, there are many rules left unspoken. For example, the lounge area of a bus is prime real estate and you should never leave your stuff lying around because other people will want to use the space. If you leave to do anything other than take a restroom break, your stuff probably won’t be there when you come back.
4. Make sure everyone knows how to sleep
If you are lucky enough to have a dedicated driver, everyone else will need to know how to sleep on the bus. It’s not as simple as it seems. You’ll need a supply of eye masks to block out light, and ear plugs or ear buds to drown out conversations and traffic.
If you happen to have a bunk bed on your tour bus, make sure everyone gets the right bed. Top bunks can sway more than bottom bunks and can induce motion sickness easily. You should also make sure to sleep with your head toward the back of the bus. This is for safety reasons. If the bus has to stop abruptly, your feet will hit the end of your bed and not your head.
5. Get ideas from celebrities
When you want to deck out your bus, but aren’t sure what to include, check out some video tours of celebrity buses on YouTube and some detailed articles about how celebrities deck out their charter buses. You’ll get some good ideas for what’s possible, including how to arrange the furniture and you might even pick up some tips and tricks for living on a bus.
You don’t have to be a celebrity to tour
You don’t need to be a celebrity to deck out a bus and take a tour across the country. If you have the time, money, and desire, you can create your own celebrity-style tour bus and take a fun road trip with your friends.
