From left to right, Bekah King, Abi Roberts and Morgan Tabor on the floor of their bus.
(CNN) -
Bekah King, Abi Roberts and Morgan Tabor have a lot in common.
They describe themselves as free-spirited adventurers and fearless risk-takers, obsessed with music and the movie "Megamind."
They also say that they unknowingly had the same boyfriend at the same time.
After discovering it, and instead of succumbing to their sadness, the three young women say they dumped the boyfriend, saved money, bought a school bus and spent more than two months renovating it.
On June 25, the trio boarded their 30-year-old bus - which they renamed BAM by their initials - and began a road trip through the western United States and into the next chapter of their lives. .
The discovery that changed everything
The three young women made the heartbreaking discovery on a cold, snowy afternoon in December 2020, when 21-year-old Tabor suddenly felt strong suspicions about her boyfriend.
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Abi Roberts, left, and Bekah King, right, in a field where they stopped during their road trip.
After diving into her social networks, she discovered another woman's page on VSCO, a photography app, flooded with photos of her and Tabor's boyfriend.
"I have no words to describe the feeling I got from seeing the photo of him with another girl," Tabor, who lives in Boise, Idaho, told CNN.
"I thought I was going to marry this guy. We had talked about houses and what our marriage would be like.
My world collapsed.
I had to mourn the loss of that future that we were building together.
It shattered my soul. "
She contacted the woman - who is now best friends with Tabor, Roberts, and King, but was unable to accompany them on the trip - and they continued to investigate.
Finally, they found Roberts through his comments and "likes" on social media.
They quickly got in touch with her and realized that he was also her boyfriend.
"I was devastated," Roberts, 19, told CNN.
"I cried in front of these two girls that I did not know. It was very emotional. I felt that there was no light at the end of the tunnel."
A six hour call
The three ended up making a FaceTime call that lasted six hours, in the middle of which Tabor heard a knock on his door.
She looked outside and saw her cheating boyfriend standing at her door with flowers.
Abi Roberts painting the bus before the trip.
"He wanted to surprise her. Morgan took the flowers, put them on the ground and said, 'I've made new friends today' and showed her his phone with the two of them on FaceTime," said Roberts, who lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.
"His face fell with shame. It was priceless to see it."
After offering excuses and explanations - including one in which he said he believed it was okay to be with multiple women at the same time - the girls left him.
Together
After the confrontation, the young women continued their search through their account on social networks, where they discovered that their now ex-boyfriend had been dating six women in total, including them.
One of those women was Bekah King, who also lives in Boise, and had been casually dating him for five months.
"Two hours after he was confronted and he promised not to speak to another woman again and said he was a changed man, he contacted me and asked us to go out," King, 18, told CNN .
"The next day, the girls found my Instagram and texted me and we immediately had another five-hour call."
Within days, the heartbreak turned to healing, as King, Roberts, and Tabor quickly became friends.
It didn't take long for them to realize that they all had the same dream: to buy a bus and explore the country.
From left to right, Bekah King, Morgan Tabor and Abi Roberts in front of the BAM bus.
"The ball started rolling from there. We wanted to live this dream and we found our group of adventurers ..." said Tabor.
"Having that from the beginning, something that we could hope for, helped a lot. We were living our dream. It was something very necessary in a very tough time."
Go to the "next chapter" of their lives
In March, the girls found the vehicle of their dreams: a green school bus that once belonged to a firefighting team.
The BAM bus, as they called it, needed months of renovations: they put boards on the floor, painted the exterior, built bunks and a roof cover and put insulation.
The trio saved about $ 5,000 in total to purchase and renovate the bus, which was finally ready to hit the road on June 25.
Before leaving, the girls made sure to feel mentally prepared and healed after their ordeal together.
"We don't talk about him anymore. He's not a part of our lives. There's so much more to aspire to," Tabor said.
"It is in the back corner of our minds. We have moved on to the next chapter of our lives. It is about our adventure, our growth and where we are going now."
The BAM bus.
A "surreal" journey through the western United States
His road trip began in Idaho.
They then headed east, spending time in hot springs, bathing in lakes, and visiting Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park.
They also made a stop in Yellowstone National Park on the way to Montana, where they currently camp in Bozeman.
"If I had one word to describe this whole experience, it would be surreal," Roberts said.
"From the moment we left Boise, we've met so many amazing people at campsites, on hikes, and through our Instagram. We have learned so much from so many inspiring people and the incredible nature we've been able to spend time in. It is absolutely surreal. "
The three of them work remotely to finance their trip on their own, without help from their parents or anyone else, but they often receive donations through Venmo from kind strangers.
Although they intended to return home in November, the three are considering extending the trip and finding a way to make it a sustainable long-term situation.
"This guy doesn't deserve any credit, but thank you for bringing us together, sincerely," Roberts said. "We said 'we hate you, but thank you.' As horrible as that moment was, we would all do it again just so we could meet."
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