‘A place of joy’: Converting a bus into a holiday home – and an income

It didn’t take long to come up with the idea. Within an hour of arriving at our converted double-decker bus, which we had rented for a holiday, my partner Mark started to think that this was something we could do.

We thought it would take us one year, but it’s taken us nearly three to complete the first double-decker tiny home of our own.

Finally, this summer, it’s up and running as self-catering holiday accommodation near Tramore, Co Waterford.

But it has been a long road to get there.

Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+: 10 of the best new shows to watch in May

---

Is Dublin still an option for first-time buyers?

---

Anthony Boyle: ‘My dad had to go to Gaelic training, and the same British soldier would throw his kit in a puddle every day’

---

***

It was the winter of our 2020 Covid discontent. Both Mark and I had had our lives upended; Mark’s regular gigging and touring schedule with his then band, King Kong Company, had collapsed, and my income as a freelance journalist had nosedived alarmingly.

Our pre-Covid working lives were full of variety and we did some amazing cycling adventures: Croatia to Greece via Albania; Latvia and Estonia; Mark’s stint as the man who cycled the Wild Atlantic Way on a wooden bicycle. So, we were stir-crazy.

Between lockdowns, we decided to go on a morale-boosting getaway, just me and Mark and my two teenage and young adult kids.

And we were going to do it in a bus.

I found Richard’s Wild Atlantic Bus on Airbnb, and we booked a long weekend. Just 24 hours into our stay we decided that we’d like to do something similar, so Mark started to look at buses on DoneDeal.

Because of Covid school closures, transport companies were selling off old buses that had been sitting around, out of use for school runs. And they were going cheap.

In late January 2021, our first double decker arrived. A cheery purple colour, she was still in perfect working order. She cost €6,500. We named her Dervla, after our hero, Lismore cyclist and travel writer Dervla Murphy.

Mark arranged a bandmate with a bus driver’s licence to drive Dervla from her former owners in Co Louth, to Tramore, Co Waterford, where, for a small monthly sum, we rented the use of a yard in an industrial estate alongside the local milkman and a couple of carpenters’ workshops.

The first weeks were a blur of excitement. We stripped out all the seats and set about drawing up plans that would maximise the use of space, without feeling cramped. Neither of us have any experience of architecture and design, so it was just a case of walking around the gutted bus and envisioning what would go where.

Partly because we couldn’t afford it, and partly because we wanted to learn new skills, we have only received help from tradespeople at a couple of points throughout the project.

Luckily, Mark has electrical know-how, so we were able to draw up our wiring map and run all the cables for our power ourselves, only getting in an electrician to give the plans the once over, and later, for that vital final connection. We also had the help of a plumber.

But first there was the little matter of insulation to deal with, and some alarming leaks in the window seals, and we also had to cut out the bulky, filthy inbuilt heaters. That spring, we spent many freezing, dark evenings dismantling and removing things, and worrying at the destruction we were wreaking.

I have often written about waste disposal and plastic pollution, and care deeply about all that ails our modern materials economy, so it was important to us to use as much reclaimed and renewable material as possible. The insulation in Dervla’s ceiling is hemp, most of the wood is reclaimed pallets and scaffolding boards, and we’ve gone on many skip-diving and scrapyard-hunting expeditions.

[ ‘Great feeling of space’: A smart renovation transforms a former Dublin Corporation house for a growing family ]

To accentuate that Tardis-like magical quality, we wanted some elements of the interior to stay recognisably a bus: the stairs, moulded powder-blue stairwell and distinctive yellow handrails remained, as did the strip lighting on the top floor, fluorescent tubes replaced with low energy, warm LEDs.

In terms of decorating, we opted for cosy natural tones and materials upstairs, and we lined the walls with sanded-back pallet wood, building in sturdy bunk beds with steel tubing painted to match the existing hand rails. Other paintwork is cream and blue, which works well with the brown tones of the wood.

Aware that colour is a good way to make small spaces feel bigger, we opted for a totally different and far bolder colour scheme downstairs.

***

The bus sleeps six comfortably, with a king-size bed in the front of the upper deck, a single bed and two bunks in the back, and a fold-out single bed in the middle.

Downstairs, there’s a galley kitchen with gas hob and oven, ceramic sink set into reclaimed scaffolding board countertops, full-size fridge and plenty of storage space.

The area under the stairwell is a wetroom shower and toilet. To the rear of the ground floor is an elevated dining and seating area.

Everyone has childhood memories of bus journeys, of rushing upstairs to try to bag the front seats on a double decker. But I don’t think the childhood connection is the only reason people love our tiny home bus so much.

A little like Doctor Who’s Tardis, the bus is a different thing on the outside and on the inside, and this shakes up people’s perceptions of space. Visitors’ expectations when they step through those familiar bus doors are magically upended by what lies inside: there’s a childlike sense of wonder, as though anything is possible.

A thick curtain separates the still fully intact driver’s cab inside the door from the rest of the bus, and guests get a reveal as they draw back the curtain and step into the living quarters: it’s very rewarding to hear gasps and exclamations.

[ ‘Doing a building project yourself is not impossible, we are more capable than we realise’ ]

***

In September 2021, we bought a second double decker. Given how challenging things were renovating one bus, that may seem crazy, but there was method to our madness. As things progressed on Dervla, we desperately needed indoor workshop space; we reasoned that we could strip the second bus and use it as a workshop before beginning to convert it too.

Desmond Dekker, named after a musical hero, was purchased from Dundalk’s Halpenny Travel and cost €5,800.

Our longer-term plan, once Desmond is complete, is to run both buses as holiday lettings, to fund our dream of a two-year round-the-world cycle.

Work on converting Desmond begins in earnest this autumn, even as we get to grips with the challenges of Airbnb hosting Dervla which, like so much on this journey, turns out to be much more work than you’d imagine.

So what has the biggest challenge been? Mark and I would probably say different things.

For me, the biggest challenge has been time. While our lives were on Covid hiatus, we could sink all our spare time and frustrated creativity into building. But when our lives got busier again, towards the end of 2021, juggling various work and family commitments with a major conversion project has meant a lot of late nights, a lot of determination to stick with it and several points where we were both sick of the sight of the buses.

In our massive amount of upskilling, we’ve gone from needing to watch YouTube videos on how to do the most basic carpentry, to becoming pretty handy, but we’ve also discovered a natural division of labour. Mark has become brilliant at quickly figuring out clever construction workarounds for awkward spaces, while I gravitate towards finishing work: sanding, painting, sealing.

Both Dervla and Desmond are still capable of being driven, but the plan is not to have them on the road. The plan is to provide unique holiday lettings that don’t compete with the pressured home rental market and, more than anything, for them to be a place of welcome and joy for many visitors, for years to come.

Dervla, currently parked near Tramore, Co Waterford, is available from about €200 a night on Airbnb

Bus living for a family getaway

The Lux Bus

This vintage London bus, just four minutes from Cobh town in Co Cork, comes with its own outdoor bar – the “snug” factor comes from a wood-burning stove. It can host up to six people in its two bedrooms and has a smart TV. From about €200 a night. airbnb.ie

Wild Atlantic Bus

Located in Oughterard, Co Galway, this converted double-decker bus sleeps six and has a seating area with an outdoor fire and an outdoor shower. From abut €250 a night with a two-night minimum. airbnb.ie

Boula Bus

A smaller option is the Boula Bus, a converted 52-seater bus with a kitchenette, a bathroom and a double bedroom, and with views of Dingle Bay. From about €100 a night, with a two-night minimum. airbnb.ie

Amber

This converted ambulance sleeps two and is dog friendly. You can roam around the countryside – without having to stop if you also rent a portable toilet. From about £120 (€139) a night. exploreandsnore.com