About Us
Hi, we are JT, Tamra, and Kalon.
(We also have a pitbull, Hiro, who is not pictured.)
We started this journey back in June 2015 when we purchased our 1991 Blue Bird and have been fulltime in our self converted bus since December 2015.
(We also have a pitbull, Hiro, who is not pictured.)
We started this journey back in June 2015 when we purchased our 1991 Blue Bird and have been fulltime in our self converted bus since December 2015.
A Little About Us:
We are both from small towns in East Texas. JT and I met after our Junior year of High School. Yep, that's right, we are high school sweethearts! (Though we didn't go to the same school) JT was indeed my date to senior prom (que the "awwwwws"!). After high school JT moved to Houston and after the first semester of college, I transferred and moved there as well. We have been living with each other almost ten years now and married eight. Our son was born after we moved into the bus, in July 2016, he was a surprise, but of the best kind! We chose the name school of life because when thinking of this journey, we imagined that the bus was our vehicle to learning so much more about life than we could imagine and BOY, were we right about that!
Jt graduated from The Universal Technical Institute (UTI) as platinum I-CAR certified and worked his way up from a painter's assistant to an estimator in the auto-body repair industry. When looking for a more mobile friendly job, he began working from home as an auto insurance adjustor. However, quickly realized due to internet restrictions and the same eight to five, Monday through Friday schedule that it was not giving us the freedom that we had hoped. Currently, he and I are running a mobile conversion company, RoadRoots Upfitters, LLC! This business has given us a truly mobile way of making a stable income as well as allowing us to do something we are passionate about and enjoy. I graduated December 2015 with a Bachelor's Degree of Arts and Sciences in Biology with minors in Chemistry and Secondary Education. I worked as a Certified Pharmacy Technician while attending college for 5.5 years and was a substitute teacher for a semester between graduation and Kalon's birth. Currently, I'm working alongside JT to run our company and building conversions. Our son is most often on the jobsite with us, "helping" and playing and although unconventional, being together is important to us and it's working well for us as a family.
We are passionate about minimizing our negative environmental impacts, spreading positivity, and traveling. We aspire to be as self-sufficient as possible and to be minimal consumers. We enjoy being creative, being outside, and most importantly being together. We are taking this journey one day at a time and hope to inspire others to follow their dreams and live the life they desire!
Why BusLife?
We were attracted to the bus-life due to it being a tiny lifestyle while still being very mobile. We hope to use the bus not just as our primary residence, but also to travel as a family. We think that the structural integrity of using a bus shell to build your tiny in is pretty much unmatched. They are heavy and strong and were built to protect the most precious things on earth...kids.
Where Do You Park?
Right now we are reliant on customers for parking as we travel to them and perform conversion services. When traveling, we mostly have stayed in parking lots so far out east, but are looking forward to taking advantage of the parks and BLM land out west soon.
We have lived in both Texas and Colorado. We have parked on property that we owned and family's land mostly. When traveling we have stayed in various places such as, friend's driveways, curbside, Walmart parking lots, bottom of ski mountains, truck stops, and RV parks.