Lara and Julian began their tiny living journey hoping to stay free after years of school, but eventually ended up doing “normal life” with jobs and rent and typical work hours.
In 2019, the two environmentalists decided to take the plunge into a skoolie conversion, creating a space to use as a studio where Lara makes artwork and sustainable clothing to sell, their storefront, and even a spot to sell eco-friendly coffee! They host beach clean-ups and do other awesome work to protect the planet. Read their story below!
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Bus Turned Rolling Studio, Café, and Store (& Home)

Images via @cankuna.sunshine.collective/Instagram
We are Julian and Lara, two creative souls looking for adventure, waves, and like-minded people.

Images via @cankuna.sunshine.collective/Instagram
At the moment we are traveling with our bus along the coasts of Europe.

Images via @cankuna.sunshine.collective/Instagram
Our story with the bus life begins like most – After leaving school, we decided to leave our homeland behind us for an indefinite period of time to enjoy our new-found freedom.

Images via @cankuna.sunshine.collective/Instagram
And what better way to live out your independence than in a 30-year-old VW bus that rattles everywhere and is full of surprises? A few trips later, Julian decided to live full-time in his VW T3.

Images via @cankuna.sunshine.collective/Instagram
But with two or three (with our dog Rusty) it got too cramped, so we tried the usual way: house, job, commitments, paying bills and no longer finding time for the things that are really important to us want to make life.

Images via @cankuna.sunshine.collective/Instagram
After a short time, we were tired of investing our valuable time in jobs that don’t make us happy. So we quickly realized that we had to change some things in our lives.

Images via @cankuna.sunshine.collective/Instagram
In the spring of 2019, we decided to rebuild the bus we always dreamed of. We bought a Bluebird International (American school bus) from 1989. That started a gigantic project.

Images via @cankuna.sunshine.collective/Instagram
Around the same time, we decided to form the Cankuna Sunshine Collective. With this project, we are transforming our bus into a rolling studio, café, and store all at the same time.

Images via @cankuna.sunshine.collective/Instagram
You can browse through Lara’s illustrations, art items, and self-designed, sustainable clothing, enjoy a delicious coffee from our portafilter machine, or just have a nice chat.

Images via @cankuna.sunshine.collective/Instagram
To simultaneously address our planet’s most pressing environmental issues, we host beach clean-ups and seek to gather an army of volunteers to help protect the environment. The mission is to defend biodiversity, stop the destruction of ecosystems, do something positive together and have a great time doing it.

Images via @cankuna.sunshine.collective/Instagram
If we stay in one location for a longer period of time, we also accept orders to expand buses or tiny houses.

Images via @cankuna.sunshine.collective/Instagram
Learn More:
Related Stories:
- When They Couldn’t Backpack, They Built a Bus Home
- Living With Rescue Pets In Their Renovated School Bus
- Young Couple’s Shuttle Bus Conversion
Our big thanks to Lara and Julian for sharing! 🙏
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Natalie C. McKee
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I love this bus souch! It’s so vintage feeling and warm. I just love it!
We intentionally seek individuals much different from us.
We encourage challenges to our theories.
We generally avoid ‘like-minded’, because of the potential for stagnation.