I wake up every morning in a memory foam queen sized mattress, my down comforters wrapped around my legs to the sight of my small but tidy kitchen. My counter top is a beautiful slab of madrone with a live edge and gold paint inlaid into the knots in the wood. My coffee is ground by hand (by me) and typically from a local coffee roasting company. I cook my breakfast of organic (if I can get em!) hardboiled eggs and a grapefruit to the sound of my favorite music playing out of my iphone or laptop. Today it was 'Love Love Love' by the Mountain Goats.
Bringing the bike in the van was always a priority for me, but until recently I was just putting it on the ground inside the van. It would rattle around and I eventually broke my derailer when the bike fell over, so I decided it was time for a new bike rack solution.
My beer is cold at the end of the day because of the power of the sun.
I love that. I love that so much. Having a solar panel and running a battery bank off it is amazing. It saves a lot of money, it's quiet, and it's renewable! Getting the electrical set up in the van was the most expensive and difficult part about building out a van, but 100% worth it. I wouldn't recommend skimping on expenses during this stage. Having a system that is expensive and works is way better than having a system that is cheaper, but could break down/explode during your travels.
The wood paneling we did in the van is one of my favorite visual components of the van. It makes the van look and feel like a cabin in the woods. The color was really important to us when we were building it out, we had seen a lot of build outs that had dark wood and it really shrank the space. With the light wood it seems much more roomy and light, which is key for a small space like this! Another bonus is that when people first enter your van they can smell the cedar. My nose has long since adjusted to the scent, but I still get people who comment on it when they walk in.
Building out the bed frame and cabinets is so rewarding because you finally feel like it's starting to come together as a home. The bed frame especially makes it feel homey since you can start to imagine where you'll be sleeping! This step is also surprisingly expensive unless you have a lot of spare wood lying around. We were able to reuse some old wood, but needed to buy a lot of sturdy stuff for the cabinets.
This was one of the first 'mods' that we did on the van that didn't have anything to do with the 'house' part of the build out. We had been driving it around for a while and realized that the stereo sucked a lot. It didn't have an audio jack, didn't take Bluetooth and only played CD's, which I haven't bought since 7th grade. So we replaced the stereo!
I didn't realize until a few months after having a fan in the van how important it is. With a fan in the van you can drastically reduce the moisture that gathers on the windows, it helps air out a tiny space that you cook in, sleep in and bathe in, and it really helps keep the van a comfortable temperature. I use the fan all the time when I'm cooking to keep steam from condensing in the van, to keep the onion and garlic smell from lingering and to air out the burning propane. Fantastic fans are awesome, 100% would recommend.
One of the most frequent questions I get from people looking to build out a Sprinter Van is, "Does the insulation actually work?" and I would say "Yes*". Yes, it does, but with a footnote.
The very first thing we did on the Sprinter van (after tearing out the shelving left over from the other guy) was install the van floors. The floors are a really important part of the install. I've seen a lot of build outs that recommend doing the floors last, but that seems counter-intuitive to me. We also went with the 'hardwood' floors instead of the roll out linoleum flooring that some installs have. If I was to do it again, I would totally do the hardwood floors!
Having new speakers in the van is really great. As of the writing of this post I have had them for about 2 months and they are still working just fine. The standard speakers that came with the van aren't very good so if you have yet to change them, get on it!
Your clothes no longer smell like the campfire of the last place you called home.
The first time you sweep your floors in a new place, you see all the old dust from the old place being wiped away, like a clean slate. For me, the memories of all the boots that tracked mud into my van go through my mind. I remember all the feet that walked here and all the people attached to those feet. I'm sweeping the memory of them away and making room for new feet, new boots and new dust.
nstalling swivel chairs was possibly the best add on to the van that I've done yet. It completely opens up the space and makes it way more comfortable to hang out in. I often do my work from the passengers seat turned sideways with my feet up on the other chair. And in a pinch you could probably turn the chairs into a bed for a shorter person.
Seeking out a punishing physical or mental experience takes some kind of masochistic attitude that I have been cultivating for years.
I call these sufferfests.
There is no 'right way' to build a van. There is no 'right way' to live in a van either.
I wanted to compile a list of items that I use in my van to make life easier for me and Michael. This includes fridge, utensils, nifty gadgets and more! Let me know if there is anything you use that really takes your vanlife to the next level. Enjoy!
When Michael and I first started thinking about living the #vanlife, I was super stoked about reducing the items I owned and getting back to a more simplistic lifestyle. I read Marie Kondo's book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, in preparation and ended up getting rid of 2/3rds of the things I owned. I started folding my clothes in a new style and got rid of everything that didn't Spark Joyinto my heart.
Michael and I had spent the last 4 weeks waking up at 7 and working on our Sprinter Van turned mobile home (her name is Lyra) until it got dark. We were sick of each other, sick of the van, and so so ready to get on the road for our two month road trip and test run of the #vanlife.
How much does it cost to build out a Sprinter Van into a home? This page should serve as a one stop shop resource. On this page I include a spreadsheet you can view that will show you (almost) exactly what we spent on the process.
We've arrived in Santiago!800 kilometers, lots of fancy toe blisters, over 300 euro in coffee , and many new friends has made this a fantastic journey.
The cathedral itself is under construction right now so arriving was a little underwhelming. We couldn't go in the front door, we couldn't put our hands in the stone pillar and during the pilgrims mass they didn't do the smokey swinging thing. (I'm sure there's an actual name for that, but I don't know what it is)
Welp! The title of the post says it all, we're closing in on Santiago! Today I think marks the 70 mile marker, I can't believe we're so close! Our last few weeks have been full of cafe con leche...
