Believe It or Not, a Family of Nine Lives in This Bus Turned Cozy Tiny Home on Wheels

Some people might think living in a camper full-time as a family isn't a good idea. I say we shouldn't judge each other, as people have different ways of raising their kids. Moreover, I believe that this kind of experience will create life-long memories, and provided you prepare in the right way, it can be done, even when you have seven kids.

Meet the Boyd family. For them, it all started in 2013, when they had a dream of traveling with their five kids. So, the parents sold their house, bought a trailer, and hit the road for nine months. At the end of that adventure, they sold the trailer and bought another house, coming back to a conventional lifestyle.

The next step was to buy a 30-foot (9.1-meter) Airstream trailer, but they also kept the house. The family started traveling again for months at a time. As the family grew, they had to adapt, so they bought a coach bus. And finally, they sold their coach bus and got the school bus I'm discussing today.

What we have here is a 2006 Bluebird bus measuring 37 feet (11.3 meters) in length. It was designed to hold 65 passengers, but the Boyd family stripped its entire interior. Before we take a look inside, let me quickly tell you more about the exterior features.

On the passenger side, you'll notice three large boxes the family added – they hold various items, including heaters, tools, cables, and more. On the opposite side, you'll discover a tankless, on-demand water heater. Underneath it, on the inside, is a propane canister. The family also installed two large water tanks on the outside, underneath the vehicle – both have more than 200 liters (53 gallons) capacity.

That's it for the exterior, so let's head inside. Once you enter, you'll be greeted by a simple yet cleverly designed interior. This is what I like about their build – there's nothing really fancy about it (unlike other skoolie builds), but it's very practical. That proves you don't need any crazy expensive features to enjoy a mobile lifestyle, even when traveling with seven kids onboard.

By the door, you'll discover a compartment for show storage; regarding the driver's cabin, the family didn't make any modifications from what I can tell. For instance, the dashboard seems to be the original one.

The significant transformations of this school bus started with the next part of the interior: the lounge area. It features two long benches, one on each side. Moreover, this area also serves as the master bedroom, as you can pull out wooden frames from the two benches to connect them into an extra large king-size bed.

Other notable elements in this room are a full-size drop-leaf table and a skylight above. The table can be pulled out from the side of the couch and put in between the two benches, serving as an ideal spot for eating or playing board games.

I love that the family kept all the original windows, which let plenty of natural light shine inside. Another original part they kept throughout the bus was the ceiling/roof.

Next up, we have the kitchen. As you can imagine, with nine months to feed, you need a seriously equipped kitchen. This one features a five-burner stove, an apartment-size fridge, a toaster oven (which also serves as an air fryer and convection oven), a huge stainless steel sink, a Vitamix blender, and a Berkey water filtration system.

I can only imagine how quickly clothes that need washing stack up in a family this large. Doing it by hand would be difficult and time-consuming, so the family fitted a very useful washer/dryer.

For storage, you'll notice various cabinets, shelves, and drawers. However, the largest storage spot is an enormous closet by the fridge, where the family holds all their clothes. In fact, half of this spot is for holding clothes, and the other half serves as a pantry.

Keep walking toward the rear, and you'll be in the bathroom, which was split into two parts. The one on the passenger side integrates a custom-made composting toilet with a urine diverter. The other part serves as a shower and handwashing/toothbrushing station. What's more, since the ceiling is made out of metal, the family uses magnetized hooks to attach a shower curtain to prevent water from splashing around.

One of the challenges of so many people living inside this camper is privacy, especially when using the bathroom. In this regard, the family came up with a simple yet clever solution: they use the toilet door to block off the entrance to the rear bedroom and the pantry/closet door to block off the entrance from the kitchen.

Finally, we have the U-shaped rear bunk bedroom. This is where all the children sleep – each has their own bed, with the exception of their five-year-old and three-year-old kids, who sleep together. Each bed has its own storage spot in the form of a shelf, as well as a plug. Moreover, each bed comes with an individual curtain for privacy.

The oldest of the children, who is 18, has some special perks – he has an extra plug, which he uses to connect his gaming station. You read that right: he has a corner where he holds a PlayStation 5, an Xbox One, a monitor, a keyboard, and a mouse. Furthermore, there's enough power to support all these systems, and a Stalink enables him and the rest of the family to have an Internet connection wherever they go.

Above the bedroom, you'll notice two RecPro A/Cs, which keep the space cool. They also come with heat pumps, so they can provide heat. What's more, the family mostly uses a portable electric heater to keep the rest of the interior toasty warm. Since the ceiling isn't covered, the insulation isn't great, but the family explained that they didn't build this bus for cold weather.

From what I understood from their presentation video, the family must connect to shore power via a 50 amp connection to power all the appliances, meaning they don't have batteries onboard.

All in all, I love how this family ingeniously designed the interior to make the most of the space and make mobile living a possibility. It's certainly a challenge not a lot of families could handle, but it seems to be the perfect setup for them.