An Australian couple converted an old Coca-Cola van in a stunning home on wheels and left their lives behind to travel around the country.
Pauli, 32 and Clara, 27 bought the truck, they fittingly named Cola, in 2021 and spent the following 11 months and thousands of dollars turning it into their ‘dream’ home.
The Wollongong couple set off in Cola on a holiday of a lifetime last month with the aim of doing a full loop around Australia to escape the rising cost of living and live rent-free.
‘It feels amazing being rent-free and not having to deal with the difficult task of trying to find and apply for overpriced rentals,’ Pauli told 7Life.
‘We were really drawn to the idea of being on the open road with nowhere to be and no one to answer to – rent free and work free. It’s a great sense of freedom.’
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Wollongong couple Clara (left) and Pauli (right) have left their lives behind to travel around Australia and live rent-free in their converted Coke truck
Before and after: The duo bought the truck they’ve named Cola for $17,500 and spent 11 months converting it into a livable home outside their regular nine-to-five jobs
The duo made plans to embark on a never-ending road trip and, in early 2021, bought a 2005 Isuzu truck for $17,500 after a lengthy search for the perfect vehicle.
Because of Pauli’s height, many buses and vans were not tall enough while also more expensive with higher kilometres but when they finally found Cola they said it ‘ticked all their boxes’.
Pauli, a carpenter by trade, along with registered nurse Clara, worked on weekends and in the evenings to gut the truck and turn it into a livable home.
The couple set off in Cola on a holiday of a lifetime last month with the aim of doing a full loop around Australia to escape the rising cost of living and live rent-free
The pair spent $8,189 on building materials, another $8,220 on appliances as well as $6,285 on the electrics, $2,550 on windows and doors and $1,100 on plumbing to covert the truck
At the time they were living in a share house with friends and working their regular nine-to-five jobs.
The pair poured thousands into converting the truck spending $8,189 on building materials, another $8,220 on appliances as well as $6,285 on the electrics, $2,550 on windows and doors and $1,100 on plumbing.
To save money during the build, Pauli and Clara did as much of the work by themselves, everything except the electrics, and learnt how to DIY from YouTube.
They also found uses for leftover materials and sourced secondhand items getting their floorboards for free from Facebook Marketplace and the kitchen cupboards from one of Pauli’s job sites
Clara wanted rattan cabinets but instead used a hessian roll from Bunnings for just $30 for 10 metres.
Cola now has ‘everything you would need in your normal day-to-day life’ complete with a queen-sized bed, well-equipped kitchen with a gas stove and oven, bathroom, air conditioning and plenty of storage.
They added timber cladding to the exterior and kept the old Coke logo which acts as a curtain on either side of the structure.
‘We were going to get rid of the Coke curtains altogether but once we started building, we fell in love with the idea of keeping them,’ Clara said.
‘We were going to get rid of the Coke curtains altogether but once we started building, we fell in love with the idea of keeping them,’ Clara said
Cola has ‘everything you would need in your normal day-to-day life’ with a queen-sized bed, kitchen with a gas stove and oven, bathroom, air conditioning and plenty of storage
She added it protects the exterior walls and windows from dust, insects, theft, sun, rain and rangers.
Cola was completed in November 2021 and Pauli and Clara lived in the truck for a year while saving before setting off on their ‘bucket-list’ adventure last month.
Starting at the Victorian border and working their way north, they are now 2000km into their journey in northern New South Wales.
Cola runs on solar and deep-cycle batteries so they don’t need to plug it into any power while gutters collect rain water.
Pauli and Clara have no set plan and are ‘taking it day by day’ but are roughly aiming to finish their trip in Tasmania by the end of the year
They try to camp on free sites most of the time to cut down on costs and live on around $500 a week.
They cook for themselves most nights and do free activities like surfing, riding, swimming, hiking and paddle boarding during the day.
Diesel for the truck is one of the couple’s more costly expenses as it ‘isn’t very good on fuel’ and is ‘very slow’.
They have some savings but Pauli said he will pick up work where he can and Clara will continue selling her artwork online to earn an income on the road.
Pauli and Clara have no set plan and are ‘taking it day by day’ but are roughly aiming to finish their trip in Tasmania by the end of the year.
