Madrid resident Juan Pablo, known online as Juampy, has converted an old urban transit bus into a fully self-sufficient home on a mountain estate. He shares details of his off-grid lifestyle on his YouTube channel, juampybus, documenting how he lives without paying monthly electricity or water bills.
Juan Pablo purchased the retired city bus from a scrap yard for 1,210 euros. Securing legal authorization to turn the vehicle into a residence required more than a year of paperwork and waiting.
He parked the vehicle, which he calls the Juampybus, on a 10,000-square-meter plot of mountain land in Madrid. To shield the structure from sun and rain, he built a sheet metal roof over it that he plans to cover with vines.
Solar power and winter heating
The off-grid setup attracts particular interest from viewers aged 35 to 60. An installation of solar panels and storage batteries generates all the electrical power needed inside the vehicle.
For cooking, Juan Pablo chose gas over electricity to protect his power supply. He explained that preparing meals at night would drain the batteries because producing heat consumes large amounts of electrical energy.
His heating system uses propane gas rather than butane. He noted that butane stops working when temperatures drop below freezing, while propane functions in temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius. He also uses a wood-burning stove filled with timber collected from the surrounding hillside to provide free heating throughout the winter.
Interior layout and daily expenses
The interior of the bus retains practical home comforts. The kitchen features white-painted cabinets originally owned by his grandmother roughly 60 years ago, which he updated to create a feeling of openness.
In the bathroom, an oval shower tray prevents dirt from gathering in corners and simplifies cleaning when the vehicle is parked on an incline. To save energy, a divider curtain encloses the sleeping area so only a small portion of the bus needs to be heated or cooled at night.
Juan Pablo funds his lifestyle through income from his YouTube and Twitch streaming channels. Although he described his earnings as modest, he said the absence of utility bills allows him to live comfortably without financial pressure.
On his property, he keeps chickens, small sheep, and turkeys alongside a garden where he grows melons and watermelons. He remarked that wealth is not measured by who has the most money, but by who has the most time to enjoy it.
