Leah Grace My teenage brother, my parents, and I live full-time on a converted coach bus—and I love it!
But then the question inevitably comes us, especially to my brother and I: “What’s it like to live on a bus?”
Well, it’s been a journey!
Our bus (named “The Ark”), is not the first one we’ve ever owned. It’s actually our third.
Our first bus was a 30 footer that was so adorable. We called it “Tankie,” since the outside was painted an army green color. The only problem was that it really wasn’t functional to live in. There was no privacy for the bunk beds—which were directly across from the bathroom and refrigerator—and it also didn’t have a stove. It made for great weekend trips, but not daily living.
It wasn’t long before we realized that living full time, we needed a different setup to better meet our family’s needs.
So, we ended up with bus #2, “George.” This one was 40 feet long and had a roof raise. The inside was completely done by a realtor/home designer, and let me tell you… it was gorgeous. It was actually the nicest skoolie/bus conversion that I’ve ever seen. It had a dishwasher, garbage disposal, bathtub, and a sleeping area that was very private from the rest of the bus.
For living, it was great. It could’ve been the perfect tiny home! For traveling… Well, let’s just say that both head gaskets, the steering pump, and a lot of other very important & expensive pieces kicked the bucket when we were driving. After 5 travel attempts that all landed us at repair shops for weeks at a time, we realized that George wasn’t working for our family.
Then, we found “The Ark” online. We went out to Pennsylvania to see it, fell in love, and it was soon ours.
This is our home!
Our home is a converted Van Hool coach bus, which has 2 loft beds, a main bedroom, a washer-dryer combo unit, a fully functioning kitchen, a living space, and even a “basement.” At least, that’s what we call the huge pass-through bays that are underneath the bus.
Because there’s so much space in the bays, I’m able to keep my sewing machine, winter clothes, and other things down there. We also have 300 gallons worth of water tanks & our solar battery in the bays.
In our bathroom, we have a Separett composting toilet rather than a flushing toilet. Couple that with our 3400 watts of solar on the roof, and we have full off-grid capabilities! The only thing we need to do is hook up to water every few days to fill up our 200 gallon fresh-water tanks.
When we’re at campgrounds, we like to hook up to water so that we can take long showers and run the sink as long as we want. We don’t stay hooked up to power, but we run our 2 mini splits & washer/dryer combo freely. When we start to run low on solar, we just hook up to power for a few hours to charge our batteries, then disconnect again. That way, we can save money on electricity but still use our appliances as much as we’d like.
When we find ourselves boondocking (usually at Walmart, Lowes, or Bass Pro Shops), we just limit our water usage and don’t run the dryer. That way, we can save our water and battery power for the things that we really need until we can hook up again.
We moved into this rig in August and quickly started working to make it our own. There had been 5 bunk beds since the family that converted it had 5 children.
We didn’t need that many beds. So, we removed 3 bunks and ended up with 2 loft beds side by side—one for me, one for my brother.
This sleeping/living situation changes the game when it comes to living in a motorhome.
I’ve put a lot of effort into making the room beneath my bed functional, aesthetic, and cozy. The fact that I have my own space & privacy makes living in a bus completely doable and enjoyable.
Let me show you around a little 😉
Sleeping Setup
Our “bedrooms” are in the back of the bus, which gives us a good deal of separation from the main living area. My brother opted for the slightly bigger bed that had more head space, while I gladly sacrificed it in order to have more space beneath. So, I have the right side, and my brother has the left.
He painted his sleeping space a dark cozy blue. Beneath, he went with beige and some chalkboard paint. We cut a big rug to custom-fit in here and also in the master bedroom.
I used peel and stick “wood flooring” and a rug from Amazon to change the floor from plain grey to homey, colorful, and cozy.
When we first got the bus, everything was painted gray. Well, being the color-lover that I am and an interior designer at heart, that was simply unacceptable. I started by painting my room a dark, cozy green.
(These are from the early stages of renovation!)
I liked the green for a while, until it started to feel stuffy and cramped. I figured it was time for a change and that a lighter color would look nicer. So, I found a soft yellow that I liked and went for it. I love how it turned out!
Instead of peel and stick wallpaper for the wall by my desk, my mom & I just taped Hobby Lobby paper to the wall. It was way cheaper and a much smaller commitment than ordering something online. If I ever get bored of it, it can come down in 30 seconds and I can put up something different in 15 minutes for about $4 dollars (at the most).
The desk shelf also came from Amazon, and let me say, I love it! It was on sale when I got it, and it allows me to store so much more in an organized, pretty way. It also makes this space feel more personalized and homey.
The cord that’s hanging down on the top right of this picture is my phone charger. My grandfather, who’s a master electrician, wired in a receptacle for me at the foot of my bed. Because I have those holes on the boards that support my bed, I just feed my charging cord through them! It works really well for me. Plus, when I want it to look neater, I can just tuck the cord back up in the hole and not have to think about it.
Across from my desk, I have a cube organizer from Walmart. I can store tons of random little things in the baskets, and then visually appealing things on open shelves. (Also, on top I keep a super cute book nook that I got for Christmas!)
What I love most about this bus is that I have my own space that’s private. It’s a game-changer! Whenever my curtain is closed, people know to knock before coming in. I can journal, read my Bible, call people, write, or pray in here and I know that no one is just gonna barge in.
Being able to design and customize it myself is also something that I really appreciate. It’s functional for my needs and wants, designed to suit my style, cozy, and mine.
In our family, it’s very important to us that we each have our own space. That need was beautifully met with this bus!
Kitchen & Living Area
Another non-negotiable for us is a functional kitchen. We needed a stovetop, oven, good-sized fridge, and enough space for storing food and kitchen appliances.
There is storage beneath the couch & dinette seats, under the counters, and in the crates that are built into the table.
The table is another one of my favorite parts of this bus, because it has a really nice feature: there’s a piano beneath it.
The top is on a hinge, so it’s super easy to lift up. Seeing as my mom and I both enjoy playing piano, this was such a nice feature!
We also really like the chalkboard in the hallway. There was a window there, but every window we have lets in a lot of heat. It works to our advantage in the winter—not so much in the summer 🥵 We put shopping lists, to-do lists, and other random things on there. One time, we even played Pictionary!
(Any guesses on this one? 😂)
Bathroom & Shower Setup
Our bathroom and shower are actually in two different places, but we have a door setup that “connects” the two rooms.
The door on the left goes to the bathroom, and the shower curtain is obviously for the shower. The door with the black handle closes to give privacy from the front of the bus. The bathroom door then opens and connects to the wall right by the shower, creating another door. That way, the shower & bathroom become one room that’s completely private.
There’s only one downside to this system: you’re stuck on either side of the bus when someone is showering!
Usually, we make an announcement before we shower, and ask people where they want to be: the living area or the sleeping area. But other than that, it works really well! It’s a small price to pay for having a good sleeping area.
Daily Living
Contrary to popular thought, living on a bus does NOT mean that we are cooped up all the time.
We actually spend an incredible amount of time outside!
We’re currently at a beautiful campground which has a great pool, outdoor pavilion, indoor lounge, pickleball courts, and places to walk.
Lately, we’ve been incredibly busy with our family RV rental business. With summer right around the corner, we’re entering into the busy season. People are making tons of reservations, rigs need to be cleaned before each rental (that’s my job!), and repairs have to be made.
I’ve been spending a lot of time reading my Bible, since my mom & I are currently reading it through in 60 days. I’ve been swimming and playing a lot of pool with my brother. I’m also getting things together for my next steps this August—more on that in a future blog post!
Also, my brother spends a good deal of time on school. I’ve already graduated, but he’s still got a couple of years left. We’ve always been homeschooled, so now we just “roadschool” instead. It wasn’t a hard adjustment at all. In fact, it’s so much easier to learn on the road! You can learn so much simply by doing & seeing. When we pass through new areas, our mom is always quick to give us a little history or geography lesson. We meet interesting people, see cool places, and have a lot of neat experiences.
Needless to say, living in a converted bus is a daily adventure. As a result, we have so many stories to tell!
Like the time our bus was 100 degrees, we had no power, our car was dead, and we were at a Walmart in North Carolina… at midnight. We were boondocking in NC and would arrive at our location the next day. We’d just gotten the bus and didn’t have any solar yet, so we couldn’t run the mini splits. Well, it was summer and it was HOT. Eventually, we decided to get a hotel room since we simply couldn’t sleep in the heat. But lo and behold, the car batteries had died since we’d been towing it for 14 hours. When we finally got it jumped ($200 later), we arrived at the only hotel we could find with enough sleep space for us all. It reeked of marijuana and we walked right out. We just toughed out the night in the heat and now have a hilarious story to tell! 😂
Or the time that an airbag was ripped (we couldn’t afford to fix it), and we were stranded in Texas. We didn’t know anybody and none of us knew why God told dad “Waco” when we were asking Him where to go next. To make a long story short, God connected us with a huge network of believers right in the area, including a diesel mechanic! He found a rip in the airbag and brought it to his shop to work on it. He put it into another vehicle just to see what would happen—and it worked! He pulled the airbag back out and examined it again. The rip was gone! God had fixed it! Additionally, he didn’t charge us much at all, which was such a blessing.
Well, I can easily say that I love my life.
There are challenges that go along with this kind of living, like missing other family members, not having as much space, and having to empty our toilet rather than flush it. But, when we decided a few years ago to sell our home and adopt this lifestyle, we talked about everything. We counted the cost and decided it was worth it.
Yes, it is!
You see, we didn’t just sell our house so that we could live in a converted bus instead. We sold it so that we could fulfill Matthew 19:21 and take the message of Jesus all across the US.
We wanted nothing to hold us back—not a huge mortgage, animals that needed daily care, or sentimental ties that kept us in the same place. We felt God sending us to take the Gospel on the road.
That’s how Mobile Hope Fam came about.
So sure, living in a bus is fun, adventurous, and unique. But most importantly, it’s where God has us. I wouldn’t trade my life for anything in the world. 💖
