A family of four have hit the road after the parents quit their jobs and converted a school bus into the ultimate mobile home.
Monica Matheson, 29, and Joe Bach, 35, purchased a 12-metre bus for £6,600 ($9,000) and set about converting it with their two children, Ellie, five, and Levi, three.
The parents had grown tired of their busy lives so decided to opt for a simple way of living, and now they spend their time travelling around in their bus - nicknamed Blue Bird Skoolie.
The pair, from Chicago, US, said their new lifestyle saves them £1,300 (£1,750) a month on rent and bills, and they have travelled to over 35 states over the past two years.
What do you think about the lifestyle choice? Let us know in the comments...
Monica said: "We have never been big city people and after having kids we got sick of the hustle and bustle.
"At first, we tried living in a quieter area so we could live a slower lifestyle and spend more time with the kids but it gave me cabin fever and I just wanted to get out and travel however this idea sounded expensive and stressful.
"Joe knew someone selling an old school bus for $9,000 and it had all the seats ripped out. It was just an empty metal shell at first and we had to figure out how we were going to bring it to life and make it a permanent home for our kids.
"We spent $21,000 (£15.6k) renovating it into something we could live comfortably in which was terrifying at first but luckily Joe knew what he was doing."
Although the family have forked out thousands on the stunning transformation, Monica says that the off-the-grid lifestyle saves them more money in the long run as well as granting them the life-changing opportunity to travel to their dream destinations.
Since purchasing the school bus and giving it a cosy makeover, the family have been on the trip of a lifetime, visiting 40 out of the 50 states including Florida, Los Angeles and Arizona.
Monica said: "Living this way means we save so much money because we don't have debt from a house or the regular household bills that everyone else pays.
"It has everything a house needs like a fully-fitted shower, toilet, kitchen as well as sofas and a big entertainment system.
"We love to visit remote places and hang out on the beaches. Our favourite place to go is the West Coast because people are a lot more welcoming there and don't find it too strange that we live on a school bus!"
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Monica, who earns her living working remotely in online beauty sales home schools her two kids and believes that the 'skoolie' is the perfect classroom.
She said: "The kids love it because it gives us the opportunity to meet more people than we would've done before - the kids are always meeting new friends all the time in play parks.
"It's made home-schooling a lot easier because we can go on field trips to the national parks whenever we want and just bring our home with us.
"Every day is an adventure for them plus they're so young so they think this type of life is normal."
Whilst the family of four love their newly found lifestyle, they do admit that living off-grid took some getting used to and have learnt to be more resourceful.
Monica said: "When living on the road, you always have to plan ahead - maybe we don't have problems other people have but we have to make sure we've planned where we are going, where we can fill up the water tank and ensure the bus is in good order.
"We could never give up this way of living - we put so much hard work into it and we're having the time of our lives.
"Our parents are the exact opposite to us and were a bit surprised at first but they can see how much we love it and now they're really happy for us.
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