Choosing the right van for your adventure
There is no such thing as the perfect van for everyone. It is a personal choice, and it’s never the perfect choice.
Start your van building journey on the right foot is key. My first word on advise is: stay within your budget. It’s easy to be enticed by all the fancy photos and videos to over overboard on the vehicle only to realize you are way out of budget. Pick a van that is capable of what your adventure will actually look like.
For our first build we found a great fleet vehicle and had some money left over to splurge on interior, appliances and other conveniences.
The dual door was not in the plan. This is what our local dealer had available - and the price was perfect.
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Start by laying out some rough measurements.
During construction we flipped the kitchen to be on the driver side and shower/toilet enclosure to be on the passenger side. More on that later in the build pages.
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Creating some furniture templates will help you visualize the space.
It’s obvious at this point the kitchen and shower was swapped sides. Without the furniture template it would have been impossible to anticipate this change. More on why we changed later in the build. Hint: It has to do with the passenger seating.
We used foam insulation instead of cardboard from our local hardware store because it’s easy to cut and rigid enough. Tip: Look for damaged pieces and ask for a discount.
Yes! There is a hammock in this photo - may have taken the van on a small voyage and the hammock was a great alternative to sleeping on the van floor.