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A retired school bus is not an obvious starting point for a home, but for Tanya Nestoruk and Arya Touserkani it offered something their previous house and first van could not. The Canadian couple wanted to travel while keeping their living space with them, and a second-hand bus gave them enough room to build a more permanent setup.
They removed its original fittings, added a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom, installed solar panels and created storage throughout the interior. The project took far longer than the six months they had initially planned, but by the time they left for Mexico, the former school vehicle had become a compact home capable of supporting life on the road.
Couple turns an old school bus into a home built for travelling
Nestoruk and Touserkani had been living in a four-bedroom house in Canada when they decided in 2021 to change direction.
They sold the property and moved into a van, hoping that a smaller home would make it easier to travel and spend more time outdoors.In an interview with CNBC Make It, Nestoruk said, “I love the simplicity and versatility of being able to live and travel wherever you want, have minimal impact, and explore new places.”The arrangement worked for a while. After several months, though, they realised that they wanted more space.
A school bus seemed to offer a middle ground: it could still move from place to place, but its larger interior allowed them to create something closer to a conventional home.For Nestoruk, who works as an environmental educator, there was also an appeal in giving an old vehicle another purpose. Touserkani is a photographer, and the couple were interested in a lifestyle that allowed them to keep travelling without giving up the basic comforts of a home.
They eventually found a retired school bus through Facebook Marketplace.
PC: CNBC
A $7,200 bus becomes a demanding DIY project
The seller was a school bus contractor, which turned out to be useful. The vehicle came with maintenance records and, according to the couple, had been reasonably well looked after. Its final school run was followed almost immediately by a very different journey. Nestoruk and Touserkani bought the bus for $7,200, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It, then took it home and began planning the conversion.They had originally hoped to complete the renovation in six months. The reality was considerably more demanding.The couple wanted to do much of the work themselves, so their days were spent constructing parts of the interior and their evenings researching how to tackle whatever came next. Touserkani described becoming deeply absorbed in the project, with YouTube videos and online searches becoming part of the daily routine.
Inside the bus, a full-sized home takes shape
The renovation was not simply a matter of stripping the vehicle and replacing everything with new materials. The couple looked for ways to give some of the bus's original components another use. The old seats were donated to a local children's camp, while the luggage racks were sold to someone who planned to repurpose them in a garage. It was one way of reducing what would otherwise have been discarded during the conversion.Inside, the layout gradually took shape around the couple's needs. There is a bedroom large enough for a king-sized bed, a living area with a custom pull-out sofa, a kitchen and a bathroom.The kitchen includes a three-burner hob and oven. They also found an RV washer and dryer through Facebook Marketplace, adding another domestic feature that would have been difficult to fit into their earlier van. The couple spent about $30,000 on the renovation and around a year turning the bus into a functioning home.
The couple redesigned the bus around everyday practicality
Some of the bus's most distinctive features were added for practical reasons rather than appearance. Touserkani is 6ft 1in, which made the original interior height particularly awkward. Two skylights helped solve that problem. They allowed the couple to raise the roof in specific areas rather than undertaking a much larger and more expensive roof modification across the whole vehicle. The openings also brought considerably more daylight into the interior.Storage was built into different parts of the bus, including concealed spaces for food and belongings. An on-demand water heater was installed as part of the system. The result is less like the inside of a conventional coach and more like a compact flat that happens to have wheels.
The couple added outdoor features for travel and everyday living
Solar panels were installed so the couple could live without relying entirely on conventional electrical connections. That fitted with their broader aim of keeping their environmental footprint as low as they could while travelling.Their approach also extended to the outside of the bus. They built a set of stairs leading to the roof and added a rear hitch deck, welded by a friend, for carrying their motorcycles. The bikes became their everyday transport when the bus itself stayed parked.There is also an outdoor table, which gives them somewhere to eat or barbecue and provides an additional space for visitors.
Mexico became the next destination
The original six-month renovation deadline was partly driven by the couple's plans to leave Canada before winter. They wanted to follow warmer weather and head towards Baja California in Mexico. They eventually stopped working on the bus in November 2022 and set off.The vehicle has since made the journey between Canada and Mexico several times. For the couple, the bus became more than simply somewhere to sleep between trips. It allowed them to take their home with them while moving between places.
