Couple quit their jobs to travel the world in a £15,400 converted school bus after watching inspirational YouTube videos
A COUPLE are living the high life on the road after quitting their jobs to travel in a 40ft converted bus with their pet dogs.
Chase Green, 28, and Mariajose Trejo, 25, traded in their nine to five jobs and Nashville home last year for a life of adventure and free wheeling.
They spent four months and $16,000 (£12,656) transforming the bright yellow, 84-seater vehicle, which they bought for $3,500 (£2,772), into a sleek 250sqft house on wheels.
It is an eighth the size of their former home, but they have managed to kit it out with all the essentials - a king size bed, bathroom with toilet and shower, 100 gallon water tank, solar panels, fridge freezer and even a kitchen sink.
There are also home comforts such as a wood burning stove, hammocks and roof deck. Chase said: "We had been watching people convert buses and vans on YouTube.
"My father showed us the first videos because he knew we both really loved the idea of small space living.
"We lived in a 2,000sqft home and had rooms that we furnished and never even used, it was wasteful.
Converting the bus cost them around £12,656
"In February 2018, I sat on a conference call and was informed of a corporate restructure that affected me and many others.
"Mariajose and I decided at this point to stop giving our time away and to live how we want."
Chase, originally from Knoxville, and Mariajose, from Merida in Venezuela, set off in August 2018, selling their home two months later to live on the road full time.
They have travelled from Wisconsin to Arizona, Puerto Rico to Tennessee, earning money by freelancing - Mariajose as a make-up artist for Chanel and Chase as a website and graphic designer.
The couple use applications like iOverlander, OnX hunt, and freecampsites.net to navigate their way around.
They share details of their adventures on TioAventura.com and Instagram account @tioaventurabus, which has amassed more than 18,000 followers.
Chase said: "One of the best things about being on the road has been the opportunity to meet new people doing similar things or inspire others to get out and live their life while they have the ability and mobility.
"An unexpected aspect of living this way has been the ability to monetise our adventure by sharing our story and adventure on YouTube and by working with brands and corporations that align with us on a moral and ethical level to try or share their products in exchange for paid posts and collaborations."
However, their idyllic sounding lifestyle isn't completely stress free.
Finding enough safe drinking water is a challenge, particularly in the desert, and parking can be a nightmare.
Chase said: "Living full time on the road can be difficult.
"It takes a lot of planning, a lot of research, and sometimes we've found that even through the planning, we just can't make it to a spot or stay there due to local laws regarding vehicle dwelling.
"We've found ourselves with parking tickets over $100 (£79.13) and we've been woken up by surprisingly understanding and polite police officers asking us to leave where we are parked.
"Despite those complications, there is no way we would trade this deliberate life for the nine to five and living for the weekends again."
They hope to buy land and build a small home eventually, but have no plans to stop travelling. And happily their loved ones support them.
Chase said: "Both families have said we'd be crazy if we didn't make the decision to travel while we are young and expressed their wish that they could have when they were our age.
"Life is short."
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The couple are far from the only people to have thrown the towel in for a life on the move.
A family of five from Texas spent £31k converting a school bus for a life on the road.
Sun Online Travel previously revealed how a travel blogger makes their living.