A couple lives in a 115-square-foot bus with a faux stained-glass window and no bathroom

"We are both interested in sustainable and low impact living, as close to nature as possible and part of a community," they told Insider.

"We didn't want to pay high rent or bills and believe a minimalist-consumer lifestyle was what would allow us the money and time to pursue our own goals," they said. "We never initially planned to live in a bus, the idea just progressed organically, and we just rolled with it."

Mullavey and Curno bought their 1989 Toyota Coaster at the beginning of 2020, renovating it themselves.

The bus cost a little over $9,000, and the couple told Insider they have spent around $5,000 renovating it.

Mullavey, 32, is a painter, jeweler, and photographer, and Curno, 34, is a musician. Since they started living nomadically, the couple picks up seasonal jobs as they travel.

"The previous owner had started converting it into a motorhome, so we had a sink, the shiplap roof, and some bed framing we could reuse after we ripped it all out and started again," they told Insider.

"Anything we didn't want from the previous build, we sold," the owners said.

Although the bus was small, Mullavey and Curno didn't want to have a totally open-concept space.

"When building the bus, we knew we wanted to create a feeling of separate rooms," they said. "It took us a while to get the layout how we wanted it, but we eventually decided to divide the bus into three sections."

"Our plan was to make the whole thing as creatively functional as possible," the couple told Insider of their approach to the build.

Mullavey and Curno have a distinct kitchen, living room, and bedroom, and the whole space is painted with warm colors.

The couple's bedroom is at the tail end of the bus. Their bed is raised off the ground, as it sits atop built-in storage.

Mullavey and Curno store water and outdoor gear under the bed, and they have overhead storage above it for their clothes and toiletries.

"It's small but not cramped and perfectly fits the two of us sleeping," they said of their bedroom.

Mullavey hand-painted the faux stained-glass window, which brings color to the small room.

"The best part is the skylight," Mullavey and Curno said of their bedroom. "There's nothing better than lying there on a night looking at the stars."

"The skylight also opens up onto our roof deck for those days bathing in the sun or fishing off the roof," they added.

The bedroom also has USB ports.

The space has a couch and a love seat, both of which have storage underneath them.

The benchtop next to the love seat has a mini-fridge inside of it, and a table pulls out from one of the drawers under the couple's bed.

The couple also has a sun-shaped chandelier hanging from the ceiling, which brings dimension to the space.

The couple stores the majority of their dry foods in the cabinets above the couch.

Mullavey and Curno told Insider they spend time inside the living area based on the weather.

"We mostly spend our time outside, but it's great to have this space in the evening or when it's raining," they said. "It feels very spacious considering the size of it, and it's really comfy."

"Plus, the fridge is always right at hand with a few frosty beers up for grabs," Mullavey and Curno added.

Mullavey and Curno don't have a stove in their van, as they just cook outdoors so the bus doesn't end up smelling like whatever they ate.

"We are lucky in Australia that the weather doesn't really get too cold in most parts," they said of their decision to cook outdoors.

But the kitchen does have a sink with running water and cabinet storage underneath it for utensils and pots and pans.

The shelf on the side of the counter serves as a spice rack.

Mullavey and Curno don't have a bathroom in their bus.

"We opted not to have a bathroom as toilets and showers are very accessible here in Australia," they told Insider. "All campsites have at least a toilet, including most of the free ones."

They do plan on adding a shower to their bus, though.

"We love outdoor showering and are currently making a solar shower that will wrap around our roof deck," Mullavey and Curno said. "Until then, it's paid showers or rivers for us."

Although Mullavey is a seasoned artist, neither she nor Curno had renovated a home before they took on the bus.

"We are both pretty handy people," they told Insider. "Sam grew up learning to build from her dad who renovated their family home himself, and Gareth used to build recycled furniture."

"But a lot of it we had to teach ourselves or learn from YouTube, things like the plumbing and electrics," they went on to say. "We made a lot of mistakes along the way that we had to redo immediately after."

The renovation took about a year in full.

"Our advice for those building is to make sure anything you create can double up as storage — the bed, the seats, anything you can," they said.

"Even if it's a small compartment that fits your toothbrushes, you will be glad everything has a spot and you don't have to rummage every day," Mullavey and Curno added.

For instance, built-in bookshelves help keep things in order in the bus.

"Things slow down when you're out on the road," they said of their lifestyle. "The most simple things, like cutting an onion, become really relaxing, with a fire crackling nearby, some beautiful music playing in the background. There's no rush to be anywhere or do anything."

"It's an absolute privilege that we can do this now, while we don't have kids or a mortgage and are both healthy and strong enough to work," they went on to say, though living nomadically does come with challenges.

For Mullavey and Curno, being isolated as they travel can be difficult at times, so they make an effort to connect with people at campsites and on social media.

"You learn so much about the heart of humans on the road," they said. "It's important to us to work towards a community. Our goal isn't to withdraw from society. Finding that town we want to raise a family in, to build our home in, to contribute our skills to — that's what is important to us."

"But I can see this lifestyle implementing itself into our lives forever," Mullavey added. "We have found what works for us."

"We travel only now in the hopes to find that spot we want to buy land," they told Insider. "It's a great way to settle in one spot for a few months before committing to buying land there."

They plan to keep traveling until they find somewhere they can see themselves living permanently. But even when they do buy land, they think they'll continue to live in the bus, at least for a bit.

"We are pretty open to lifestyle changes and do tend to make snap decisions that really change our lives quickly," they said. "So the future is often unknown to us. We have our morals, our goals, and the bus seems to always work with them."

The couple also wants people to know you don't physically have to move into a smaller home to downsize.

"Downsizing for us is reducing our need to consume," they said. "Living tiny for us is about making more room for nature and community. It's about being realistic about what we actually need to live happily."

You can follow Mullavey and Curno on Instagram.