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One Wild Ride with Lexi & Tyler: From Traveling to Homesteading in their Bus Conversion

on June 5, 2020

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Meet Lexi & Tyler. They traveled the country in their converted school bus for about a year and a half before buying some land to settle down in the north part of Austin, Texas. Now the couple is living in their bus, saving to build a small home or yurt (I love yurts), and starting a homestead complete with some adorable chickens.

They escaped their $1850/month rent for a one-bedroom in Los Angeles and bought/renovated their bus for around $25,000. It is absolutely gorgeous. Burnt orange accents, white beadboard cabinetry, and a pine-paneled ceiling make the space both bright and warm at the same time.

We got the awesome chance to do a Q&A with Lexi & Tyler (@onewildridebus on Instagram) which you can enjoy at the end of the post.

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Couple Goes from Traveling to Homesteading in Their Skoolie Bus Conversion

Love the “Home is Where We Park It” Sign. Perfect!

They kept all the windows from the original bus!

Here’s the view from the front of the bus to the back.

Their kitchen (the fridge is in the far right).

Butcher block countertops are super popular these days and I can see why.

I like seeing how two people really fit in a tiny space.

The couple just updated their shower — now it has tile and reaches to the ceiling so they don’t have to scrunch down.

Here’s their table for meals.

As expected, their bedroom is in the far back of the bus.

They have a composting toilet and a neat sliding partition. It’s quite a spacious bathroom for a skoolie!

They mentioned that now that they’re stationary, a lot more items end up living on the countertops.

I love the simple decor in this bus!

And here are the chickens! Too cute.

Nice and spacious chicken coop. 🙂

Close-up of the sink area.

Wow, look at all those fun bumper stickers!

The bed space looks lovely and cozy.

Q&A with Lexi & Tyler

What are your names?

Our names are Lexi & Tyler

How many people (and animals) are living in your bus?

It’s just the two of us living in the bus and our cat, Ruca.

Where do you live? How long have you lived tiny?

We are currently stationary living in Texas. We have lived tiny for a little over two years now. After traveling full time for about a year and a half we found a piece of land about 45 minutes east of Austin. Now that the bus is stationary we are planning to add a deck and stock tank pool for our tiny home on wheels. We have been starting to homestead on the land and eventually plan to build a small main house or yurt.

What do you do for work? Or do you travel full-time?

Now that we are stationary, Tyler is managing a funky little bar in Round Top and I am managing a wedding venue in La Grange called The Ice Plant Bldg.

Why did you decide to go tiny?

What are you hoping to get out of living tiny? We decided to go tiny because we wanted a more simple life and to be able to experience more instead of living to pay rent in our small apartment in LA. Living tiny has definitely taught us how to live a minimalist lifestyle and to be more accepting to change. I think the thing we hope to get out of living tiny was to meet like-minded people and to get out of the city grind.

Why specifically did you choose to make an off-grid bus?

We had talked about living tiny for about a year and were considering a van when Tyler stumbled upon the “Skoolie” community. We loved everything about the community and having something big enough to where we could fit a small kitchen and living room area in.

How did you first learn about bus life?

Tyler found out about bus life from Instagram and Youtube. We had been looking into living tiny for a while and finally found Skoolies, we fell in love.

How long did it take to finish your bus?

We finished our build in just under 8 months after working on it after work and on weekends.

How did you build your bus? Did you have any help? Did you do it yourselves?

A lot of YouTube tutorials and help from friends. There was definitely a ton of trial and error.  We also hired someone to help us wire all of our electrical and help with the plumbing.

Are you comfortable sharing how much your tiny home cost? What are bills/utilities like compared to before? 

We spent about 25k including the bus. Before we moved into the bus we were paying $1850 a month in rent for a tiny one-bedroom apartment.

How did you find a place to park and live in your bus?

For almost two years of living in the bus we were traveling full time. We would camp on a lot of BLM land. Luckily there are apps like Campendium and iOverlander that show free camping spots across the states. Throughout our travels we landed in Texas on 3 separate occasions and stayed for weeks at a time. We bought land in September of last year and have been stationary ever since.

Before going tiny, what was life like?

Before going tiny life was a little redundant. We were stuck in the same routine, stuck paying ridiculously high rent in LA. Once we went tiny, it really opened our eyes to how little you need to be happy and live a fulfilling life.

Is there anything from your old life that you miss?

We definitely miss a real toilet. We have compost right now. We also miss bathtubs!

What benefits are you experiencing after going tiny?

Probably less stress. The more we got rid of the less we stressed about!

What’s it like living off-grid with a pet? Any particular difficulties or benefits?

It’s been great having a pet along for the ride. We couldn’t imagine the bus life without her. The hardest part of having a pet while living off-grid is worrying if the bus gets too hot for her. We have AC, but it still is in the back of your head when you leave.

What makes your bus special?

I think the cabin/homey vibe. The wood ceiling really makes you forget that you’re living in a school bus.

Is there anything you’d change about your bus now that you’ve been living it?

We are actually in the middle of a few changes since we’ve been living in it. We have raised our shower so we can stand straight up in it and we are adding a mini-split unit, for a quieter AC and adding a wood-burning stove from @tinywoodstove for wintertime. If we were still traveling we would have wanted to upgrade our battery bank so our solar panels could bring in more juice.

What helpful advice would you give to others interested in going tiny?

I think the best advice we could give is just to go for it! We sat on the decision to go tiny for about a year and we wish we would have done it sooner!

Follow The Couple on Instagram!

Our big thanks to Lexi & Tyler for sharing!🙏

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More Like This: Tiny Houses | Bus Conversions | Skoolies | Skoolie Bus Life with Teens (& A Huge Bathroom!) | Mom Living In A School Bus Conversion With Her Two Kids

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Natalie C. McKee

Natalie C. McKee is a contributor for Tiny House Talk and the Tiny House Newsletter. She's a wife, and mama of three little kids. She and her family are homesteaders with sheep, goats, chickens, ducks and quail on their happy little acre.

Latest posts by Natalie C. McKee (see all)

{ 4 comments… add one }
  • John Ayer
    June 5, 2020, 9:24 pm

    The arithmetic is convincing! From $1850 per month, they were ahead after fourteen months!

    Reply Link
    • Natalie C. McKee
      June 7, 2020, 5:45 am

      Amazing, right?

      Reply Link
  • Fred
    June 7, 2020, 2:08 pm

    Oh My GAWD!!!
    That bus is amazing!
    Cudo’s to Lexie & Tyler and whoever else was involved with the conversion project.
    You guys did a wonderful job.
    …..now I want a bus…=)

    Reply Link
    • Natalie C. McKee
      June 8, 2020, 2:13 pm

      Right!? Me too.

      Reply Link

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