Talk About a Glow-Up! Stolen by Pirates, This Old Lifeboat Is Now Yellow Submarine

The soaring popularity of mobile homes, tiny houses, and alternative housing solutions of recent years has also brought on a spike in the popularity of glamping units. Glamping is the fancy, sometimes luxurious cousin of traditional camping, and it's also a sort of compromise solution between mobile homes and traditional housing.

The more recent forms of glamping are also the most impressive examples of upcycling, and the reason for that becomes apparent if you consider the increased demands for this type of stays. With higher competition comes the desire to bring to market something that hasn't been done before or that's able to offer an unparalleled experience.

Converted buses, airplanes, helicopters, or even UFO-inspired proto-tiny homes are very popular glamping solutions. The fact that converting any of these takes a lot of time, patience, and even more money means that such projects remain rarities, which obviously enhances their appeal.

The same goes for lifeboats – those enclosed metal watercraft that accompany tankers, oil rigs, and the likes. They're cheap to buy especially if they've been abandoned for long, but the conversion itself is usually a taxing, challenging, and discouragingly expensive matter, which is why most of those who have undertaken them would describe anyone else considering it as "bonkers."

Andy Barton, who cut his teeth in converting American school buses into mobile homes, would describe himself as "bonkers" in retrospect for his plans regarding what is now known as Yellow Submarine. Yes, the name is inspired by the famous Beatles song, but the connection between the two stops here.

Yellow Submarine is now a unique glamping unit in a field near Cheddar in Somerset, in the UK. In its previous life, it was a lifeboat to a tanker, and it was stolen by pirates off the coast of Somalia during an attack on the tanker. It was later abandoned and was found drifting between the UK and northern Spain, and was recovered and listed for sale in the UK.

Barton found out about it from a friend and he immediately thought about converting it into a glamping unit. The process took him more than six months and over £10,000 (approximately $12,500 at the current exchange rate). On the bright side, the popularity of Yellow Submarine is showing him that the trouble was well worth it.

Speaking with the local media just recently, Barton says his own family thought he was mad for such an undertaking, but you know what they say in movies about a man with a plan – you can't stop him until he sees it through. Today, the Yellow Submarine is a tiny, most unique temporary home for a family of four, offering a queen-size bed, a bunk, and a sofa for a total of four berths.

It's also equipped with a small kitchen with a small fridge, a stove, and a sink, but no bathroom. We assume restroom facilities are available on-site because its current location is at a popular campsite that specializes in quirky units like this one.

Not that it matters all that much. The appeal and biggest merit of Yellow Submarine is that it offers an interactive experience, and this is where upcycling is doubled by awesome creativity to create a truly "magical" experience.

For instance, all the portholes and hatches are real and functional, as also are the buttons, gauges, dials, and levers. Where these don't deliver the fun by pulling or pressing them, they deliver a smile.

The tap on the galley sink comes with a warning that water may contain plankton or fish poo, while a hatch includes another note that opening it while underwater would mean an attack by "giant squid, hungry sharks, giant octopus and scary sea monsters. Also – you'll sink, which is just silly…"

Just to be sure, another note informs guests that they will receive a full refund if they happen to be eaten by sharks, so there's always that for consolation. The Yellow Submarine also comes with radar, Giant Octopus Detector, Shark Warning System, Seaweed Tangle Detection, Anti-Whale-Bump tech, and a "Secret Red Mode" that's so secret they won't even detail it in the online description. Oh, and there's also "a special cool space for Mum's wine," which is always a nice touch.

Jokes aside, the Yellow Submarine is upcycling at its best and most creative. You don't even have to like glamping to appreciate the way in which this old piece of trash has been turned into a fun accommodation – and experience – for the entire family. It won't save our planet from suffocating under mountains of trash, but it's a most fun step in that direction.