This young couple converted a $15,000 Toyota Coaster into their first home

There’s a quote that Gracie Webb and Dylan Blake love: “Ten years from now, make sure you can say you chose your life, you didn’t just settle for it.” 

The words by author Mandy Hale summarise how the Queenslanders try to live, and are the reason they spent every spare hour of 2020 working on their stylish first home together – a converted Toyota Coaster bus.  

It’s a dream come true for 23-year-old Webb, who always wanted a life on the road. 

“I’ve always been envious of people living alternatively, out of the norm,” she says. “The idea of packing up your life, and it being a mobile home, always made me extremely excited, and inspired to see Australia that way – and have minimal belongings to my name.” 

Blake, also 23, agrees. “The lifestyle was appealing to both of us because it gives you a sense of freedom being able to pick up your house and move it to a new spot whenever you want.”

They bought the Coaster, formerly used for driving workers around a job site, for $15,000, and estimate they did 95 per cent of the conversion themselves. 

Blake built most of the cupboards, adding personalised touches here and there: some rattan on the doors, and some exposed timber in the bedroom for Webb, who loves houses with exposed beams.

Making the most of the bus’s small space, the couple installed a slide-out chopping board under the bench, and a three-seater couch that converts into a dining table for two with a view. 

A couple of working bees with mates helped get some of the bigger building jobs done, and they asked a plumber friend to provide a hand in hooking up the shower, toilet and sink. 

Living in the bus doesn’t mean they’ll go without their favourite pastimes either; there’s a rooftop deck – made from reclaimed wood they found in the backyard – and a projector for movie nights after work. Blake even managed to bring his gaming computer onboard. 

He says that, even though he already had some practical skills, converting the bus was one of the hardest things he and Webb have ever done.

“I have a mechanical trade background and Gracie is a trades assistant,” he says, “but neither of us had any carpentry, electrical or plumbing skills at all. There were times where we thought it was impossible, and there were definitely plenty of tantrums and tears.”

Webb agrees that, at times, the mood during renovations got them down. “I think the biggest challenge was staying motivated through the days where every job we did felt like a chore. We had kind of lost the excitement of building.”

They came up against some reality checks along the way. Parts took longer than anticipated to arrive, and they also cost more. Often, there just weren’t enough hours in the day around the couple’s work hours to get things done. 

Whenever they started to feel defeated, they would put down their tools, sit together and look at photos and videos of the early days of the bus conversion, reminding themselves of how far they’d come. 

Now, in their first summer of bus-life, Blake says “the reward is so worth it”. 

They’ve embraced living with fewer possessions. “We’ve both loved the transition into tiny living,” Blake says. “It also feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders, leaving behind most of our stuff and just living with the essentials.” 

Something that has taken a little longer to get used to is living with less space. 

Blake says getting outdoors to explore helps, and being aware of each other’s need for personal space “so that we don’t go insane”. 

“I’m not going to sugar-coat it,” Webb adds. “We’re still learning to speak up when we want alone time, and sometimes it does get frustrating sharing such a small space. Can’t really storm off to another room in an argument!” 

It’s something they are figuring out day by day, just as they approached the bus conversion itself. Through their Instagram account they now aim to inspire and support others who are on their own journey to live life on the road. 

Blake advises that even when the task at hand looks overwhelming, “if you keep showing up and chipping away at it, you will eventually finish”. 

For Webb, the most important thing is just to make a start – it’s not necessary to have everything figured out in the beginning. “Make it work,” she says. “Make that dream into a decision, and work out the rest out along the way.” 

They have a new favourite quote to live by: “These are the good ol’ days.”