Since We Woke Up: Lessons from Two Years of Living on a School Bus

What would you do if you suddenly realized the life you'd worked so hard to have wasn't one you truly loved?

In 2016, Tawny and Mike McVay found themselves at a crossroads. After years of hard work and sacrifice, they owned a business, a beautiful home, and were living the American dream. But for some reason, although they had everything they'd been told would make them happy, they weren't. Instead, they felt trapped in their life, tied to a mortgage and credit cards that kept them working long hours, missing out on adventures and time with their kids, and unable to enjoy the luxuries their lifestyle afforded them.

Desperate and burnt out, they took a long-awaited trip to Italy. And it was there, somewhere between the Sistine Chapel and endless scoops of gelato, they realized perhaps they were doing this thing called life all wrong. Back home, they'd measured success by how big their house and bank account were, even as they juggled debt and endless obligations to keep everything afloat. But as they walked cobbled streets and marveled at priceless art, they couldn't help feel perhaps the very things they'd worked so hard to own actually owned them. Realizing the dream they were living was someone else's, they decided it was time to consciously create and chase a new one. In other words, they woke up.

Over the course of the next two years, they sold almost everything they owned, paid off their debt, and converted a 2004 school bus into a tiny home. Three years and thousands of miles later, this is the story of their journey. At times raw and heartbreaking, Tawny certainly doesn't shy away from the harsh realities of nomadic life or rock bottom moments the couple encountered in the pursuit of their dreams. Joining them vicariously on this retelling of their experience, however, you'll understand why, when asked if they'd do it all again, the answer is an unqualified yes.

Based on the popular social media accounts of the same name, part personal memoir and part instruction manual, Since We Woke Up is the compelling tale of how two people abandoned the life they were told they should want for the one they actually did, leaving the "normal" path to blaze an unknown one across America, and how, ironically, living tiny created a bigger life than they could have imagined.

"Deeply elegant and richly poetic, a seemingly simple experience turned profound." Foreword by Michael McVay