Josh and Emily Scherrer are married in their late 20s. They both work as engineers, and it happened that in 2020 they transitioned entirely to remote work.

Originally bonding over their love of travel and shared ambition to do more of it, they took the plunge and bought a school bus in January 2021 with the intention of turning it into a mobile home. School buses are cheaper than actual mobile homes, and provided more space for the couple who each needed their own office.

Working on the weekends and evenings, it took 18 months to transform the old bus into their "skoolie"—a modern term rapidly infiltrating the American zeitgeist that refers to a school bus that's been renovated into something new, like this fellow who turned it into a hostel, or this fellow who turned it into an Airbnb.

Now called "Aurora the Adventure Bus" on Instagram the skoolie is equipped with maple wood ceilings, shower, full-service kitchen, solar panels, and satellite internet. The conversion ended up costing $80,000, which the Scherrers admitted to Business Insider is well on the higher end for typical skoolie conversions.

"We don't have to pay for plane tickets or hotels, so we can experience more for our money," Emily Scherrer told BI. "Our expenses depend on where we park and the amenities we find."

The southwestern US has a lot of land available for public use… we like to use that kind of land versus going to campgrounds, which saves us a lot of money," she said.