Inside the renovated New York school bus in Sussex

For this particular high-end conversion of an New York American school bus, the wheels went round and round all the way from New York via Southampton, by-passing a re-fit with Shred and Butta, until finally the hand brakes were put on in the beautiful surroundings of Latchetts Lakes, deep in the heartland not in Kansas, but Sussex.

The beautiful surroundings of Latchetts Farm in the heart of the Uckfield countryside is a perfect place for this bus to end its journey.

Having once carried New York children back and forth to school, this is an exceptional conversion of an American school bus that has resulted in a high-end staycation where luxury and finesse can be experienced amidst the calm and serenity of grazing cattle, woodland trails, cycling paths and a fishing lake.

This former school bus has been converted - and you can stay in it

The conversion of the bus is the realised dream of a group of intrepid twenty-somethings who, after a first post-covid get together, fired by copious amounts of wine, decided at that moment to buy a school bus and convert it.

As you do sometimes. The next day, when the nervous text messages established that it wasn’t the Chablis talking and everyone was still keen, the journey began.

The bus was bought by December, shipped over by January and work began with renovation experts Shred and Butta with an expectation of a 2022 launch.

The bus took months to convert

The bus is extraordinary, and to be extraordinary takes effort, passion and resilience. From the excitement of the unknown in the planning stage to the fear and the frustration of the building stage, what has emerged is something very different from the usual conversion.

Nothing has been compromised in the refitting of the bus. The arrangement of the rooms has been cleverly planned to contribute to a feeling of space and comfort.

Once in, it’s all in the interior design and the use of the best available, select products which makes it luxurious and exclusive.

You walk through the kitchen and living area, bathed in light from large framed windows through which you are immediately connected to nature, and feel the sense of calm that the cleverly selected pastel colours emit.

The kitchen and living area

The substantial bathroom is bigger than most of us have at home and, a unique selling point, is connected to mains water - hot and cold - and a proper flushing toilet. It’s the small things that count.

Without having to negotiate a narrow corridor, you arrive at the full-width bedroom with a double bed that has windows on three sides enabling a 180 degree panoramic view of the countryside. Why would you want to get up?

The full-width bedroom

Stepping outside, the bus is adorned with lights around a table and chairs for those balmy evenings of countryside wine sipping, when you can sit and listen to the sounds of nature hanging in the still air.

It’s perfect. Well done to you four intrepid twenty-somethings. What’s next?

The bus is located in Uckfield

Find out more about the Wildaway bus here.