A teacher who loves her job convinced her husband to spend five months and more than $17,000 transforming a school bus into their home.
Emily Myaard, 29, and husband Matt from Michigan bought the rundown bus with the seats still in place and the bodywork still bright yellow before teaching themselves carpentry via YouTube.
Incredible pictures show the vehicle’s makeover into a cool living space after the interior was ripped out and replaced with wooden work tops and cladding on the walls.
The couple also installed a comfortable bedroom and functional kitchen, and when they aren’t working, they love nothing more than using the bus to explore more of the States.
Emily said: “Our friends called us up with the idea to buy a pair of buses and convert them together. These are our vacation friends. Every opportunity we have, we’re hitting the road together.
“The idea was that these buses could be a cheaper way for us to travel and take our homes with us. We had no idea how to do it or had even heard of the van life yet.
“But we dove in head first, watched a lot of carpentry videos on YouTube and had countless brainstorming sessions by the fire. Our end product, five months later, was the coziest little house on wheels.
“Life is simpler and time slows down and that’s the best part about life in the bus. You get to relax and focus on nothing but the beautiful world around you. There’s always time to pull over or take the long route.”
While Matt added: “Dinners are spent by the fire and breakfasts happen on the roof deck sipping coffee and soaking in the views.
“When we travel on the bus, we get to reconnect with each other and with what’s important. And that’s enjoying our time with the people we love surrounded by the great outdoors.”
However, the refurbishment of the bus was fraught with difficulty, especially as they had to bring it up to living standard.
Matt explained: “Each new project was accompanied by a new problem, but never anything that halted the conversion.
“We were working with a small space and wanted to include the things that we needed without making it feel crowded.
“We had to rewire the electric, add plumbing, install a sink, create a living and sleeping space and all on a very tight budget. The best way to make it all happen was to be creative with every square inch and make sure our spaces could have multiple purposes.”
Emily said: “A lot of people we come across on the road tell us they would love to do something like this. We always tell them to just do it. It is a lot of work and you’ll have to learn some new skills, but you will never regret it.
“It makes you feel so accomplished and proud of the work you can do with your own two hands. And once you take your first big trip, you’re hooked!
“There’s a reason why van life is so popular. It’s something you have to experience to really appreciate, but it brings you a new experience with every trip and so much happiness.”
And so far the couple have traveled all over the US and have been to the Colorado mountains, Nashville, Kentucky, North Carolina, the Blue Ridge Parkway and Northern Michigan.