‘We’re not in a hurry’: Family life – the long way round

A family of six is leaving school and everyday life behind to see New Zealand from their house bus. reports.

FLORA Maas and Bjorn Sohl and their four children are leaving as they mean to go on: slowly.

The first night in their house bus was spent in the driveway of their former home. Their second night will be spent a couple of kilometres down the road, at the McGazzaland skatepark in Wakefield, south of Nelson.

At this rate, it will take them months to get to their first destination: Hanmer Springs.

But that’s fine with a family who intend to take the long way round.

‘‘We’re not in a hurry, there’s so many stops between here and there,’’ Sohl said. ‘‘If we moved that fast, we’d do all of New Zealand in three months.’’

Maas and Sohl were keen young backpackers when they emigrated from Holland about 12 years ago. Settling in Wakefield, they started a family and a coffee cart business.

But their love of travel never left them, and during the school holidays they explored the country with their children Kick, 10, Bloem, 8, Bink, 6 and Lief, 4.

The idea to take family travel to the next level came about during lockdown, Maas said. It was a way to spend quality time together, while exploring a country they had come to love.

‘‘I just had this crazy idea to do this, I planted the seed in [Sohl’s] head.’’

‘‘She had the dream, I had to make it happen,’’ Sohl said.

The couple found the perfect vehicle online: the 1989 Isuzu Journey bus was one of a large fleet owned by an Auckland tour company that had fallen on hard times.

Sohl stripped everything out of the vehicle and began to fit it out, working each day after finishing up at the coffee cart.

Trade Me and hardware stores became the couple’s new haunts, and Sohl was always on the lookout for items to repurpose.

‘‘I did a lot of asking around for wood, swapping wood for coffees.’’

He built furniture from wooden pallets and repurposed salvaged items, such as the copper water heater they use as a kitchen sink.

Sohl installed solar panels, a wood-burner, a full shower, a

‘We’ll definitely have a whole heap of moments when we’re thinking, oh, what are we going to do?’ FLORA MAAS

composting toilet and a fridge/ freezer. In the back of the bus, he built four neat bunks for the children, and added a sofa, a built-in toy box and shelves for storage.

In the front of the vehicle, the couple’s bed clips to the ceiling each night to maximise living and travelling space.

The result is a cosy, eclectic home with plenty of interesting nooks and crannies to explore.

Despite the clever use of space, they’ve had to downsize, selling a large amount of their possessions on Trade Me, including toys, which the children have taken in their stride, Maas said.

While letting go of material things hasn’t been so bad, selling their business and saying goodbye to the community they’ve called home for more than a decade was difficult, she said. ‘‘We had a big party: a good cry for some of us, it feels a bit weird.’’

While they’re on the road, Maas will work remotely as a bookkeeper, while the children learn online through Te Kura.

‘‘It wasn’t a light decision to get them out of school,’’ Maas said. ‘‘They’ll meet other people, and they have each other. But they’ll miss their friends.’’

There are still logistics to figure out: how to keep on top of clutter, stay on top of laundry, and navigate wet days. But with their journey open-ended, the couple plan to take it slowly, ironing out problems as they go.

‘‘We’ll definitely have a whole heap of moments when we’re thinking, oh, what are we going to do?’’ Maas said.

‘‘It won’t be fun every day,’’ Sohl said.

But, fingers crossed, the positives will outweigh any negatives, they agreed.

‘‘You don’t live just to be able to pay your mortgage, and buy all the stuff you want. You want to live with each other, spend time together,’’ Sohl said.

You can follow the family’s journey on their website, tikitour.blog