An Irish couple who bought an old school bus have spent £15,000 transforming it into a “homely apartment on wheels” and left their jobs to drive it across Europe.
Eamonn McCaughan, a project manager from Ballycastle and his partner Michelle, a designer from Dublin, spent nine months turning their vintage Mercedes school bus into a comfy camper before leaving their jobs and driving to Sicily.
After “falling in love” with van life during the pandemic, the couple spotted a 1996 school bus on Facebook Marketplace for £3,000 and jumped at the opportunity.
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Earlier this year Eamonn and Michelle, who are both 31, decided to put their careers on hold and dedicate 100% of their time to transforming their beloved bus into a holiday home on wheels.
The couple spent £15,000 on renovating the 24-seater primary school bus with home comforts including a full-size kitchen and warm water shower, as well as heaters and air conditioning.
They even “got carried away” and installed voice-activated lights and a seven-foot projector screen to enjoy Netflix movie nights via Starlink satellite internet.
"Every time we pass a bus stop, we are tempted to hit the doors and see if anyone gets on," Eamonn told PA Real Life.
"It’s an old Mercedes with what’s known as the million-mile engine, it’s slow but it just keeps going, which is the lifestyle that we like. It really feels like an apartment on wheels, like you have a kitchen, you have a toilet, a good size wardrobe and a projector screen."
The couple were planning a summer holiday to Italy in July 2020 but the Covid-19 pandemic scuppered their trip.
Instead, they decided to purchase a £900 Ford Transit on Facebook Marketplace and explore closer to home.
"We ended up buying an old van off a builder and just touring around Ireland,” said Eamonn.
"It was a new experience because neither of us had stayed in a campervan before."
The pair, who had "absolutely no prior building experience", relied on family hand-me-downs and scraps from local businesses to furnish their van with a bed and "basic kitchen".
"We really had to learn everything, so we spent a lot of time on YouTube and on Facebook forums," he continued.
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"We really fell in love with it that summer, it was such a brilliant trip."
A year later, Eamonn and Michelle began looking for an "upgrade" and soon became the proud owners of a 1996 Mercedes 709D former school bus.
“Eamonn has got an addiction to Facebook marketplace. He’s always looking at vehicles and one day in September 2021 he saw a bus,” said Michelle.
“We bought it off a local school bus driver for £3,000, which was a lot for us at the time but it was in good condition and came with a full year’s MOT,” added Eamonn.
"He said it was so reliable that it would drive you to Timbuktu and back in the morning. It would have originally been a yellow primary school bus owned by the education authority."
They set themselves a budget of £10,000 to transform the bus into their dream holiday home on wheels. But finding the time proved harder than expected until last year when Eamonn took a career break and Michelle handed in her notice.
“We finished up our jobs in December 2023 and decided that was it, we were dedicating ourselves full-time to building the bus,” said Eamonn.
“Whatever savings we had at that stage just had to be enough.”
The bus was a much tougher project than those the pair had undertaken previously.
One of the biggest challenges was installing the plumbing and electrics, as well as working with gas.
For security reasons, Eamonn and Michelle had professional tradespeople review their handywork and spent hours researching best practices online.
“They say measure twice, cut once, but we probably ended up measuring 50 times and cutting more than once,” said Eamonn.
To power their electrical devices, the couple have covered the roof with solar panels and invested in a large battery.
“We run our laptops and have a fridge and freezer running all the time,” said Eamonn.
The bus is also equipped with air conditioning and a heater so Eamonn and Michelle can travel comfortably year round. Taking advantage of the extra space, the couple have installed a full size kitchen and shower with hot water. They have even added a few luxuries, including voice controlled lights and a portable projector for movie nights.
“We’ve got a seven-foot projector screen with seats that swivel around, so we can have four seats facing it,” said Eamonn.
“You can ask Alexa to open the projector screen or turn on the kitchen lights.
“That’s just Eamonn getting carried away,” added Michelle.
To make popping to the shops easier, Eamonn and Michelle have built a compartment at the back of the bus to house his vintage 125 Honda motorbike.
While the 25-foot bus has been brought into the 21st century, the couple have preserved a few of its original features.
“We’ve kept the original bus door, so you push a button and the door falls open,” said Michelle.
Last month they embarked on their first international bus tour with a trip to Sicily for a friend’s wedding.
They departed on October 8, catching a ferry to Cherbourg before driving through the French Alps and Italy, and catching another boat in Genoa to Sicily.
“The view from our kitchen window changes every couple of days, that’s one of the nicest parts of living in a converted bus,” said Eamonn.
Next, they are considering travelling to Sardinia and Spain, but said their plans are not written in stone.
Eamonn and Michelle ended up spending £15,000 on their bus conversion, £5,000 over budget, but said they are hoping to keep it for many years.
They have also invested in three other vans, which they rent out under the company Explore and Snore to people looking to get a taste of van-life.
Eamonn and Michelle warned that anyone attempting to build a camper should seek professional advice and make sure they conduct thorough research.
For more information about Eamonn and Michelle’s vans visit here. You can check out their work in our gallery below!
English (United States) ·