A 240-square-foot, bright blue school bus named Farley is home to a family of six in Troy, Idaho.
Natalie Greenfield, Wesley Peterson and their four homeschooled children — ages 2, 4, 8 and 10 — are transitioning from a three-bedroom house to a partially converted school bus after recent financial devastation and homelessness.
Six years ago, Greenfield and Peterson were living in Portland, Oregon, as he finished his fine arts degree at Portland State University, she said.
Upon waking up one morning, Peterson turned to Greenfield and said he dreamt about buying a school bus, converting it into a tiny home and travelling in it with their children.
“I laughed out loud because it was so far out of the realm of anything I was interested in myself,” Greenfield said. “I thought, ‘Yeah, that was a crazy dream that is never going to happen’ — but here we are now.”
Natalie Greenfield | Courtesy
Natalie Greenfield and Wesley Peterson converted a bus into a home.
After some unexpected and turbulent life changes last spring, Greenfield said they were left with a blank slate and all of their plans for the future dissolved.
She said she began researching possibilities for living in a school bus, inviting new ideas and inspiration into their life as they went.
In a whirlwind, Greenfield said they decided to drive an hour and a half to Cheney, Washington, to buy a school bus from an older gentleman, later taking it back to Moscow. Since then, they have sold and donated 75% of their belongings.
“Minimizing and living in 240 square-feet makes you pause and think through what you’re doing and interact with the life process so much more than we did before — and I have found it to be unexpectedly amazing,” Greenfield said.
She said after four-week GoFundMe campaign, their target goal was met by generosity from family, friends and the community to purchase all materials for the school bus.
“I don’t think we ever felt more loved or helped by a community,” Greenfield said. “We were so grateful, and it was really, really meaningful to us.”
In the beginning stages of the bus conversion, the family was still cooking outside with a camp stove, making numerous trips to Home Depot and constantly thrift shopping and crowd sourcing, Greenfield said.
They have been living on friend’s property in Troy as they research land rights and where they are permitted to park. She said the process has been challenging and time consuming — from painting the bus, raising the roof nearly two feet and installing new windows to installing an RV refrigerator, constructing bunk beds for the children and creating a compost toilet.
Recently, Greenfield said they ordered a small wooden stove and will eventually install a small ventless washer and dryer beneath the kitchen counter to avoid weekly trips to the laundromat.
She said neither her nor Peterson were experienced using tools, so they self-taught themselves with YouTube videos.
“At this point, Wesley and I’s dreams are stemming from our passions, and we are trying to foster something that could support ourselves while we travel,” Greenfield said. “For me, I would say I would love to primarily pursue music on the road, along with public speaking. While Wesley loves Brazilian Judistu, possibly coaching and hosting seminars.”
She said they both want to connect with as many people as they can in a positive and loving way through any avenue they can. Their plan for the future, once the bus is completely livable, is to drive as far west as they can go until they hit the ocean — seeing what happens from there.
“After how intense and magnificent and wild the last year of our life has been, we are really in a place where no matter where we’re at or what is happening, we want to be able to find the joy and wonder in every moment,” Greenfield said. “And seize those opportunities that we have to connect with the people that we love, and also really feed our dreams and not slip into a way of thinking that says, ‘This is the way it has to be because this is the way it has always been.’”
Audience member Pat Eaton met the couple at a local Unitarian church, originally hearing Greenfield sing.
She said she contributed to their GoFundMe account and has since stayed in touch through their Facebook page, “Adventures with Farley.”
She said although they have personally gone through a lot and have had to adapt to a lot as a family, it is amazing how much work they have done. Eaton sees them occasionally in town, but she mostly follows their blogs on social media, which she will continue to do so once they are on the road.
“They bring so much life, energy and joy to the community, and I am excited to see where life takes them,” Eaton said. “They are able to find amazing things to do on the road, such as music and possibly even give tours of the bus.”
Allison Spain can be reached at [email protected]