Their Forest-Green Shuttle Bus Conversion

on October 10, 2023

Kae and Alex were living in an apartment, thinking bus life might happen for them someday when they had more money. Instead, it took losing everything to push them into nomadic life! While it took them 5 years to make the bus what it is today, the results of their hard work are incredible.

Bus life isn’t always easy, that’s for sure! They recently lived in their tent for seven weeks while the bus underwent necessary repairs. Overall, they still love living in their bus named Tree. Read our interview with them below!

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Their Forest-Green Shuttle Bus Conversion

Couple Lost Everything & Built Their Tree House Bus

Tiny living was something we were always interested in, but joked from our apartment ‘when we have the funds one day’. Ironically, it took us loosing everything to downsize.

Our rent was up, and we didn’t qualify elsewhere with our two ‘aggressive breed pups’. Travel trailers were out of budget, and large storage units were too expensive, so we sold almost everything we owned.

We lived in motels, the back of our pickup truck, and in a hand me down Coleman tent. We worked in restaurants until we saved up the funds for an old public transit shuttle bus we found on Craigslist.

We moved in the day we bought our bus with sleeping bags, and slowly built it into our home over the last 5 years with no prior building experience. Our build will never feel ‘finished’ and we try to work on a new project (maintenance or upgrades) weekly.

Tiny living changed our lives for the better in every way. Our bus made us wholeheartedly appreciate having basic amenities like running water and a roof over our heads. It made us realize the difference between ‘wants’ and ‘needs’.

It brought us closer together as a couple, and connected us to the earth in ways we never would have imagined. 5 out of our 7 years together we’ve been in our bus, and it has been the catalyst to our life’s adventure. Our Bus, Tree, is a member of our little family, she will be with us forever.

I create hand sculpted clay jewelry in nature, inspired by nature for my small business @NomadicNovelties on IG, Nomadic Novelties Co, on Etsy.

I sculpt by hand, no molds or cutters, and bake my clay creations in my tiny oven. I’m inspired by the nature we constantly find ourselves in, and the vintage mushroom ceramic-ware I have thrifted from our visits throughout tiny towns that led us there.

The hardest part is all the breakdowns. If you’re solely dependent on the road, and you don’t have family to help – everything you’ve ever owned and loved is with you.

When your home unexpectedly breaks down, and it’s left parked in a parking lot for an undetermined amount of time.. you’re forced to worry from sometimes hours away in a tent, at mercy to the elements, wondering if someone has broken into your home and stolen anything that matters to you.

Worrying when you’ll see your home again, how long will it be this time? How much will it cost? If you don’t have friends or family to take you in when things get tough, there are no breaks or ‘off’ days, you have to keep fighting.

The best parts about buslife are waking up to a new view out of our bedroom window, discovering new hiking trails, exploring small towns, all at your own pace…

We love living a life of freedom, self-sufficiency, and independence- without the price tag of purchasing land, or the dependence on the grid that often comes with it. Having a custom-built home that fits your needs, and everything has its place.

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Natalie C. McKee

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