The cheapest rent around

 Senior Glenn Moss lives out of his Volkswagen Bus during his last semester at USD  

Celina Tebor / Managing Editor / The USD Vista

There’s a new iconic vehicle on the University of San Diego’s campus. And it’s not a gold Maserati.

It’s Glenn Moss’ green Volkswagen Bus. 

Often found parked in the Law School Lot, the USD senior takes pride in the vehicle he owns — and sleeps in.

After a long lease Moss had signed with the Pacific Ridge Apartments across the street expired this year, he was looking for a new place to live during his last semester at USD.

He was astounded by the sky-high rents across the city. Then, an idea popped into his mind: he didn’t have to spend that rent money if he didn’t need to. 

Instead of living in an apartment, he opted to live out of his bus.

Moss and his brother have always been into cars, and have made a hobby of restoring classic Volkswagens. Back in their hometown of Evergreen, Colorado lives a strong community of dedicated Volkswagen fans. 

“They’re adamant about preserving them,” Moss said. “No two Volkswagen owners are the same because it’s not a homogenous community. There’s so many different characters.”

After his decision to go without an apartment or home to live in, he drove the bus down from his most recent home in Encinitas to San Diego and started his new lifestyle.

Although he sleeps in the bus, he rejects the idea of being a total van dweller.

“I don’t see myself as living in it,” Moss said. “I’m living out of it. And I just go back and sleep in the van at the end of the day. But I think that distinction is important, because through that distinction, I’ve had a stronger community on the USD campus this semester.”

And the most precious moments — the spontaneous ones — come out of that distinction he draws.

When Moss was living in an apartment, he’d generally go home after his classes and stay off campus. Now, he doesn’t feel a need to go back to the bus and spends more time with his friends.

“I don’t feel like I have to have a living room, because my living room is the people I’m living with,” Moss said. “And the people I’m living with is the community, the people around me.”

He goes home to his family, who now live in Encinitas, every week to do what he calls his “weekly reset.” This is when he gets to do some laundry, get some home-cooked food, and say hi to the dog.

Living out of the bus has forced a lifestyle change in Moss: he now appreciates getting up early and staying organized. If one thing becomes disorganized in the bus, everything quickly becomes a mess in the tiny space.

“I’m not much of a planner, and you really have to learn to plan,” Moss said. “Knowing what the week ahead is going to look like and being able to plan it out.”

Volkswagen restoration isn’t just a hobby, however. He plans to take his passions into his career with his mechanical engineering degree. 

For his senior design project, Moss converted his 1963 Volkswagen Beetle to an electric car with a team of a few other electrical and mechanical engineers. They took a motor from a crashed Tesla and put it in his car.

With his career path, he’s been looking at jobs up in the Bay Area; if he lands one, he’s considering living out of his bus full-time. He says it wouldn’t be that much of a stretch from what he’s doing now: he would just need to add laundry and cooking to the lifestyle.

Living out of a bus isn’t the easiest lifestyle in the world. But for Moss, the benefits outweigh any difficulties he faces

“The best thing is how it keeps me outside,” Moss said. “And it keeps my freedom. I can be wherever I want to be, and live where I want to live.”

This will be the green Volkswagen Bus’s first and last semester on USD’s campus. But it, and Moss, can teach every USD community member a valuable lesson even long after it’s gone: live life outside the dorm, apartment, or house, and make the community around you home.