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Couple Turn Retro Schoolie Into Cozy Home for Full-Time Living on the Road

Living a minimalist life on the road is an enticing experience for many, especially young, carefree people who find committing to paying a monthly rent too boring or confining. That was the case with this Los Angeles couple who were paying more than they could afford on a one-bedroom apartment and didn’t have much left to enjoy life to the fullest.
One Wild Ride Bus 12 photos
Photo: Tyler Hjorting/Lexi O’Brien
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After one year of research into the minimalist lifestyle, Tyler Hjorting and Lexi O’Brien bought an old school bus on Craiglist for $10,000 (around 9,300 Euro) and spent another eight months morphing it into a house on wheels adapted to their wants and needs.

To make their dream come true, Tyler and Lexi stripped the ex-school bus bare of everything inside and installed the basics of a home for two. They took inspiration from YouTube tutorials, enlisted help from friends, and only brought in professionals to install the plumbing and electrical systems.

The bus has everything the couple needed and more, as Tyler and Lexi themselves admitted they initially wanted to transform a van into a house on wheels and that the bus offers them more space than they actually need. It features a sleeping area, a beautiful bathroom with compost toilet, a kitchen with everything one would find in a conventional house, a dinette, large water tanks, and even 400-watt solar panels for off-grid capabilities.

One Wild Ride bus
Photo: Tyler Hjorting/Lexi O’Brien
The couple went for a retro/boho style when designing the interior of the bus. A balanced mix of colors, textures, and patterns combine perfectly with natural wood on furniture pieces and the floor to obtain the desired boho theme. The ceiling is covered in pine panels that manage to give the bus a homey feel and make you forget you are actually inside a bus.

Plenty of natural light baths the interior, as they kept all the original windows on the bus. Curtains help them hide from the outside when they want some privacy.

The kitchen area has everything the couple needs for meal prepping and serving. You can find here white beadboard cabinetry with enough storage space, a sink, a three-hob gas burner, an oven, a fridge-freezer. The retro dinette with natural wood table and orange/red upholstered cushions complete the kitchen setup.

Moving on, the bathroom area consists of two separate cabins, one for the toilet and the other for the shower. They chose a compost toilet for life on the road, which sits in a small cubicle with white-washed walls and natural wood flooring. The shower cabin, on the other hand, features beautiful natural wood panels and a contrasting black shower head.

Hanging baskets add extra storage space in the kitchen and bathroom space.

One Wild Ride bus
Photo: Tyler Hjorting/Lexi O’Brien
Though quite small, the bedroom area has a cozy atmosphere and fits a queen-size mattress positioned facing the back door of the bus, which used to serve as a wheelchair lift. That’s more than enough for two people.

After spending around $25,000 (23,300 Euro) on the conversion, the couple took the skoolie-turned-home on its maiden ride to Lake Havasu in Arizona in March 2018 and lived on the road for around a year and a half. The “One Wild Ride” bus served as their home for the period, but they have since bought some land in Austin, Texas, and parked up their home on wheels. They now plan to repurpose it as a guest house or Airbnb rental.

Now, if these two managed to complete this DIY build by watching YouTube tutorials, it’s safe to assume anyone could do it. Just imagine opening that rear door to a white sandy beach or a beautiful mountain view and lying in bed enjoying your life and you’ll feel the drive to get to work on a similar project!
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About the author: Ancuta Iosub
Ancuta Iosub profile photo

After spending a few years as a copy editor, Ancuta decided to put down the eraser and pick up the writer's pencil. Her favorites subjects are unusual car designs, travel trailers and everything related to the great outdoors.
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