“My husband always worked a full-time job, and I would sit at home with the kids. He would come home from work tired, and I was always tired. It was like this ongoing hamster wheel of a life.

“There was no vacation time. No fun stuff. No savings account. We were barely scraping by. We really wanted to travel. But we realized that sitting still, we would never be able to have money for any type of vacation. Every penny went to the electricity bill, fixing up the house, or something.

“Then one day while he was working for a satellite company in Kentucky, he found an old school bus on the side of the road for $2,300. We moved into it 10 years ago, and we’ve never looked back. We’ve been to 48 states. One of our daughters, who is 8 years old now, was born on the bus.

“Right now we’re traveling with two other families that also have buses. A few years ago, we were in a caravan with eight buses. We went through about 20 states and met so many cool, interesting people.

“It’s just a different lifestyle, where you feel so free. If we were still sitting in one place, there are so many things we never would have seen or experienced. I feel like we found a way out of the rat race. Like a simpler, freer way to live.”

— Jen Mobley

More bus life:
• Converted school buses are called skoolies. The Facebook group, Skoolie Planet, is for those living on a bus or considering buying one to convert into a home on wheels.

• In addition to working odd jobs while on the road, Jen and her husband create and sell tie-dye apparel, soaps, jewelry and other items through Shakedown Soapworks.

• Originally from Maryland, the only states they have not traveled to yet are Vermont and Alaska. “My favorite place is probably Oregon, up there in the Pacific Northwest. You feel like you’re in a Hobbit movie.”

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“I’m a school bus driver. I’ve been doing it for eight years. It’s super interesting, but we need to have a lot of patience with the kids. They fight, they play, they run in the bus, they scream. They do everything.

“A few years ago, one of the kids had a little lighter and was playing with it. The other kids told me, ‘Miss, he’s trying to burn the bus.’ I had to stop the bus and take care of it. He cooperated. When he saw me coming, he was scared.

“When something like that happens, we have to make a write-up and check the videos, then they decide what to do with the kid. I think he was suspended from the bus for one week. When he came back, he was another person. I think he learned his lesson.”

— Miriam Quintero

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“One of the jobs I had for a few years was watching handicap children on school buses, making sure they were OK. I won’t lie, it was hard at times. You quickly learn that you can’t raise your voice to these kids because they can get upset very easily.

“I had kids choke me. I had kids try to bite me. I had them kick me and slap me. You just learn to deal with it.

“It may not sound like it, but I enjoyed it overall. You had to stay calm and show patience. I’m a person who’s very patient with a lot of things. So I just kind of dealt with it, although I did have to grit my teeth at times.”

— Judith Shinn

Related:

• Freak accident ends their long marriage

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