Family leave everything behind to start a new life aboard a bus
When Alex and Ashley Morris sold their home to move into a 45-foot Greyhound bus with their two young children, they had thought it would bring the family closer, and give them the precious time with each other that they felt they were lacking.
However, the benefits weren’t to stop there for the young family, with the Morrises now reporting that they’ve cut down their living expenses. As Ashley explained in a video to their Instagram account, “it's actually more affordable than living in our house was.”
She went on to note that they aren’t paying mortgage, rent, or any of the other fees associated with homeownership. And while they are also saving on electricity and heating, as they live off grid and their home runs on solar power with a 75 gallon (284 L) water tank, she maintains that “you don't have to be rich to live a life of freedom and adventure.”
The pair made the decision to move their family into their unique living arrangements in 2019 when Alex lost his job, and they left their home to live in a trailer with their two kids.
And despite living the supposed ‘American Dream’ before Alex’s job loss, Ashley told Insider that things were actually far from perfect, and that they “were both working full-time jobs, so our kids were pretty much being raised by a nanny.
“We just wanted that time with our kids."
It’s time they now have in abundance, after making their new lifestyle permanent in 2020, using Alex’s severance pay to secure their first wheeled abode.
As Alex told Insider, “Ashley was like, 'let's go live on the road,' because she'd been trying to convince me for years up until that point.”
Alex has since returned to work, but does so from home, with his very own office space near his shared bedroom with Ashley. And while they may cross time zones in their travels, his work days typically end while the sun is still up, and their children are homeschooled, leaving them with plenty of time to experience the world as a family of four.
Ashley again circled back to this idea when she explained that “you get such a short window of time while your kids are little, and we felt like we were missing out on it.”
“We didn't want to miss out on it anymore,” Alex added.
The pair expanded on their decision-making process in another video posted to social media - where they often share life and bus updates with their followers - with the caption “why did we sell everything, leave our ‘perfect’ life, and move into an RV?”
The video cycled through snippets of their adventures and day-to-day routine aboard their bus, with text across the screen to detail their journey so far, before they confessed that they knew something needed to change - for their kids.
“We wanted to give them the most we possibly could,” they said. “The most of us, the most out of life, and the most experiences possible.”
They explained that their family and friends “thought we had completely lost our minds”, but that they jumped in headfirst anyway, and it had all worked out “for the best”.
Images: Instagram, Youtube