The Wild Drive Life Bus
Our DIY off-grid rolling home is a self-converted 1989 Chevy prison bus. It has about 165 square feet of living space and custom woodworking throughout. Our design style is creative craftsman with industrial accents. We love pops of color, lived-in character and vintage elements. We fully restored the bus ourselves, inside and out for full-time living & travel. We maintained an open-concept throughout. We have a simple kitchen and dining area, plenty of storage, a cozy living room with a tiny wood burning stove and a raised queen sized bed sleeping area. Our bathroom elements (composting toilet & reclaimed southern yellow pine tub/shower) double as nightstands. Functionality, intention and simplicity were key drivers in our bus conversion build. --> You can read more about us on thewilddrive.com and @wilddrivelife on Instagram.

The exterior. You can see our wood stove flue and solar panels on the roof. When we bought our bus it was faded black, chipping and forgotten; I'll admit even a bit scary looking. We spent weeks prepping the body and painted the bus ourselves. It was one of the most challenging, yet rewarding steps of building this tiny home.

Our tiny wood stove is the centerpiece of our bus home and the first thing people comment on! The hearth base is granite we sourced from a yard sale kitchen kart. The brick surround is actually tile reinforced inside with steel square tubing and cement board inside. It's incredibly sturdy! The blue bead board paneling is reclaimed from an old mill building in southern Maine.

Our shower/tub. This photo was taken just before we completed the final touches to our reclaimed southern yellow pine tub basin. It now has a drain & shower head/wand. Southern yellow pine is a naturally sappy wood, this is why we chose it. After sealing seams and glazing with a few coats of a two-part mirror coat, it's perfect! We love that it's a little different, custom, it's us.

Our cozy living room area featuring hand sewn cushion covers and curtains. We bought that East/West sign at a flea market right around the time we first bought the bus two years ago, knowing that it would find a place in the finished home. The black iron pipe lighting fixtures were Ben's idea, paired with an antique plumbing valve fashioned into a dimmer switch.

The bus kitchen. Our favorite part is the reclaimed barn board countertop. We scored the rustic original boards at a farm yard sale and refinished them ourselves. Our water pump and fridge run off of our solar battery bank. We kept things really simple in that you don't see a permanent stove/oven. We do use a toaster oven when we're plugged in to shore power (special occasions!) but mainly cook all of our delicious meals on a butane portable stove. It works wonderfully!
- Ben & Meag Poirier @wilddrivelife
- Ben Poirier
- Meag Poirier
- Rachel Halsey Photography