A retired couple from British Columbia spent 5 years and $180,000 restoring a broken down semi into a “Monster” mobile home.
According to a recent article by Insider, Clayton and Theresa Balabanov live full time in the tricked out mobile home. As retirement approached the couple, Clayton saw an opportunity to live out his dream of spending their golden years on the road. Balabanov bought the truck and trailer on eBay with ambitions plans to renovate them to fit his needs.
“It was empty, and I just decided to go at it. I planned things out on a whiteboard and kept making changes,” Balabanov told Insider. “Most of it I did myself.”
After about 5 years of labor and 250,000 Canadian dollars (~$180,000 USD), the mobile home now features a kitchen, movie theater, library, spiral staircase and even a hot tub. All these luxuries combined with the trailer’s size earned it the name, “The Nomad Monster.”
Even with all those features, the Nomad Monster runs sustainably. “We needed solar, recycling water, and things like that, which would leave a smaller carbon footprint, making up for the amount of fuel that the truck uses,” Balabanov said.
After selling the family taxi business and their home, the Balabanovs plan on spending the rest of their retirement exploring the US and Canada in their Nomad Monster.
“You only live so long. It’s absolutely guaranteed you’re going to die, so make the most of living between now and then. That’s what we’re doing.”
