A happy couple have taken the vanlife trend to the extreme by converting an old school bus into a mobile home - and are now touring around in their 'home on wheels'. Lauren Baumet, 30, and her partner, 31-year-old Nowell Mallory, met but it took ten years for the pair to end up in a relationship and now they're making up for lost time.
They decided to buy an old school bus and spent £42,000 ($50,000) converting it into a campervan, complete with kitchen, bathroom, shower, and even a washing machine - much plusher than most converted vans. They finished the conversion in June 2022, around 18 months after they started, and now they're travelling around the US together.
What do you think about the converted school bus? Let us know in the comments...
Lauren, an occupational therapist, said: "We dated in high school and lost touch and reconnected after about 10 years.
"We felt like we lost out on so much time together that we were apart and we wanted to make up for it.
"We have both dreamed about travelling the country and we thought why wait until retirement age to do so when we have already learned that time is so precious and very much limited.
"We wanted to be able to physically endure life on the road and all of the outdoor adventures in between. We explored all of our options from a sprinter van to a fifth wheel and we discovered the world of 'skoolies'.
"We loved the idea that we could customise our tiny home on wheels by going this route to meet our specific needs.
"We also loved the idea that we could create a completely off-grid capable skoolie with solar power, 200 gallons of freshwater storage, heated floors, dual zone mini split, full-size refrigerator, washer/dryer combo, automatic levelling system, water heater, electric awning, propane tank, rooftop deck, king size bed, full-size tile shower, composting toilet, quartz countertops, pullout couch, pantry.
"Being off-grid capable, we do not have to rely on hookups and a campground and we have the freedom to boondock wherever we want.
"We decided we would build our dream off-grid skoolie and then take a year off from our responsibilities to travel and see as much as we can, before settling down and having kids."
So far, the happy couple have been to New Florence, Missouri, Geary County, Kansas, Denver Colorado, Rocky Mountains Colorado, Cheyenne Wyoming, Badlands National Park South Dakota, and the Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota.
They've gone a long way from their home in Indiana, where they spent nearly two years building the campervan of their dreams.
Lauren continued: "We spent a year and a half converting the school bus into our time home on wheels. We have lived in the bus for three months and been on the road travelling for three weeks.
"During the conversion, it seemed like every day was a challenge. When building a skoolie, you can’t just go to the hardware store and purchase all the items you need like you can to build a home or even a camper.
"Everything on a skoolie has to be completely 100 per cent custom. It takes a lot of strategic planning, research, designing, problem-solving, and then redesigning.
"Luckily, the skoolie community is pretty unique in that everyone else building a skoolie knows what you are going through and is so willing to help and answer questions you may have."
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Lauren said that when converting a school bus, you can face extra challenges over a regular van conversion as there arent' so many 'off the shelf' products available.
To make the job easier, she recommends "Research, research and more research". Lauren added: "We did an endless amount of research even before purchasing our bus because we wanted to make sure that we got the best one to fit our needs.
"And then along the way, endless amounts of research regarding electrical, solar, plumbing, heating/cooling."
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