This former model ditched Hollywood to live in a refurbished school bus with her child: ‘The best way for a child to grow up’

This mom is taking her family off the beaten path.

Laura La Rue, a 32-year-old retired model from Los Angeles, California, traded the high life for the path less traveled when she retired from the limelight a few years ago.

Now, she lives in a refurbished school bus with her young daughter, growing their produce and living off the land as much as they can.

“Most people get married, buy a house and have a child. This is what I wanted – a safe haven where I can have people and enjoy the essentials. Fortunately, the way I live doesn’t require a lot of money,” she told the LA Times in a recent interview.

La Rue previously worked with the likes of iconic photographer David LaChappelle and has been seen alongside some of Hollywood’s most famous people, including Leonardo DiCaprio.

But after dropping out of school at age 16 to follow her dreams, the senior model found herself longing for nature — just as she had when she was a young girl growing up in Thousand Oaks.

“I was over the city life,” La Rue said. “I thought: ‘I don’t like this at all.’ I could feel my cortisol levels going through the roof. I had health problems caused by stress.”

“I had been on a diet of ridiculous models and I wanted to get myself back,” she continued. “I started going to therapy and spent time alone to work on myself.”

In 2016, La Rue had had enough of toxic jobs and relationships and retreated to a one-by-12-foot shack on her mother’s 72-acre ranch in Santa Paula — though the start of her new life would flood a year later. late: Her modest new home was destroyed by wildfires in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties in 2017.

In the midst of her healing journey, La Rue fell in love with a man who worked on her mother’s farm, and soon the couple set out for a life of adventure on the road, living out of a 1981 Silver Streak trailer.

Rue’s relationship began to crumble after she became pregnant and then realized that living off the grid was not conducive to starting a family.

That’s when she decided to settle on a piece of land in Ojai — and build her own makeshift mobile home inside an old bus.

“It was already built,” she told the newspaper, which included a composting toilet, a shower, a stove and an oven. There is also a “perfect [sleeping] corner for a child.”

In addition to her DIY home, La Rue also managed to build a new career as a color artist, launching her brand Ride or Dye Ojai during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, her YouTube channel has over 26,000 subscribers as she spends her days creating tutorials, tutorials, and selling her unique coloring pieces.

“My goal is to inspire people to make changes to improve their lives and not be afraid to take risks,” said the mother of 16-month-old Lasca.

Despite her flooded shelter, La Rue said she and her daughter “do everything outside.”

“That’s the best way for a child to grow up.”