A person who wanted to have some fun discovered an old American bus on eBay just before the first lockdown. It would significantly impact the way people lived. Nine months later, the battered, worn-out 70-seater bus has arrived in the forests of west Wales. The bus has been totally transformed into a cute little house that would fit in a fancy home magazine.
It no longer resembles a converted bus, it resembles a small cottage on a distant beach. It has a complete bathroom, a comfortable bed, and a small, shiny coffee machine on one of the shiny hardwood tables. Talib Saleh and Chloe Massey, the owners of the bus and refer to it as Bluebird, labored on it since they loved it. They are well informed about the world since they are good photographers and like traveling. They would not exchange their journey with anything in the world.
Both Chloe and Talib are photographers and they own a business of converting camper vans. They are both 26 and 28 years old and can afford to live in a nice house without a mortgage. It is not hard to understand why they did it: “We are inspired by the romantic
The couple said that it is an entirely achievable goal to live a creative and sustainable life and work on the projects that we love.
The most convenient thing is that they can simply turn on the engines of Bluebird and go when they feel like it. They also possess a small wood stove which is just perfect to keep them warm during winter. The bus is now a drab off-white, but still sits on rented land by the River Cleddau and farms. The location is quite near to the small town of Lawrenny.
It was raining in Wales, so they needed to find a way to generate sufficient solar power. Their patience has also been put to test when they are constructing their humble home. Chloe replied, “We have learned what hard work is,” and they have made of the carcass of a giant whale a delightful little cottage. They got acquainted when they were both studying photography at Middlesex University.
Talib of Norfolk and Chloe of Somerset both described the photography lesson as boring. They all left and went their own ways. A few years later Talib went to London to witness Chloe deliver her graduation speech at the University of the West of England. It was then that they fell in love. They started their life on the road driving a converted van around Australia. They soon understood that the only thing that could help them to remain alive was to circle the globe.
Chloe was very much interested in the concept of living in a camping van to be nearer to nature. She said that she and Talib worked in Sri Lanka only three and a half years ago as they wanted to travel and learn by means of photography. We were road photographers and we earned some extra money by taking photos of hotels, workaways and cafes. We were poor and therefore we lived simply.
We drew pictures of what we saw, of people and places, in India and the Himalayas. When we came to Australia we built a small camper to live in. We did not know how significant this lifestyle would be to our narrative. They made a great story. Their Instagram account is littered with images of deserted, gorgeous beaches, verdant, green jungles, and the weathered faces of people they encountered on their journey.
After having seen so many beautiful places, you may ask why they decided to go to a Welsh forest. Chloe remarks, “We actually fell in love with Australia.” We are considering going there one day. I believe we returned primarily because we were both interested in the rest of the world. Travelling and working on projects will always be a large aspect of our lives as photographers.
We have always had dreams and goals, but in retrospect, we had to go back to create a successful business, our camper van conversion company, Indigo and Olive, which will now serve us in many ways. At the beginning of the closure, when we began to transform our school bus into a home, we already knew that we wanted to be near the water during our time in the UK. The beach of Pembrokeshire is very beautiful.
We like the warm reception we received here and at the moment we cannot imagine living anywhere in the UK. It is wonderful how they managed to do all by themselves and make their small house so beautiful. The style is expensive. According to Chloe, they knew they wanted to have a tiny house, and so they saved and halted construction to work.
We invested much money in our project as we wanted it to be long-lasting and we used good materials and appliances. With that said, we are likely to have spent as much as we would have on a house down payment, and we do not have a large mortgage to pay off. I believe that you can construct a small house without spending a lot of money provided that you have a piece of land, free or salvaged materials, and time to figure everything out.
They are so good at what they do that now Indigo and Olive make a living out of transforming modest houses into homes. Chloe said, “We learned it all ourselves.” Each project raised new issues and required new skills, the bus in particular. We were taught through videos and a lot of practice. My father, Mike, has been a great assistance since he understands how to repair things.
Fortunately, we have gotten accustomed to it and understand that these talents will enable us to do things that we never imagined we could. They are performing many small tasks in the world. They will resume taking pictures when they have time. Chloe says, “We have been doing our conversions over the past few years and now it is our job to take pictures.”
We continue to work to our own pleasure and to clients of our choice but we are thrilled to have some time to do personal photography. We are both very concerned about it and we are trying our best to come up with a solution to balance it. Is it as good as it sounds and looks like to live off the grid, without a job and a place to live? According to Chloe, the process is not yet complete: “I think the best thing to say is that we are living out our dreams as we attempt to achieve even greater ones.” We will never be ashamed to say that we had a big target and we achieved it.