van conversion

Have Van Will Travel Journal: Did He Really Just Cut a Hole in the Roof?

Posted by Barbara Techel

Have Van Will Travel Journal: Did He Really Just Cut a Hole in the Roof?

Another installment of our journey converting a 2009 Chevy van into a camper.

I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful Labor Day weekend. It is absolutely gorgeous here in Wisconsin this holiday. The sun is warm, there’s a hint of fall tickling my senses, and the cicada’s are singing their song.

And today is the day John cut a hole in the roof of the van! Scary stuff!  But alas, he’s a pro and after many videos he watched and articles read on line, he took the plunge. The hole was cut to accommodate the Coleman Mach 8 air conditioner that will sit on top of the van (it is low and inconspicuous – not a large, boxy one you see on top of some commercial trucks). The next hole John will cut is for the Fan-Tastic vent roof fan. We discovered that the Fan-Tastic fan is the “go-to” for this type of thing and nothing else beats it. It brings in fresh air and takes out the stale. Gotta have that in 84 sq. ft. with two people and two dogs, that is for sure.

After this is done he will begin insulation of the inside. This is all so exciting that it’s hard to keep my patience in check as I just can’t wait to see it done!  And I’m not the only one who has to practice patience. Doesn’t this photo below look like Gidget is saying, “Aren’t you done yet papa? I want to go on vacation!”

Well gotta run — I think I hear John calling me — time to lift the A/C onto the roof of the van. Wish me luck!

P.S.  Stay tuned to meet our mascots that I ordered for our van. They are SO CUTE!  You knew of course that our van, which we have named “Second Chance” had to have mascots too, right?  🙂

g in van seat

Past posts for Have Van Will Travel Journal

The Adventure Has Begun. New Home on Wheels. Who’d of Thunk?

The Conversion Begins

Inspector Approves of Phase One Conversion

She Gets a Name

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Have Van Will Travel Journal: She Gets a Name

Posted by Barbara Techel

Have Van Will Travel Journal: She Gets a Name

Today the ladder rack went on the van. Instead of housing ladders, it will house two solar panels, A/C unit and remaining portion will be used for storage.

And perhaps it might sound silly to name our van. John certainly chuckled and shook his head last evening when I said I wanted to name our van which will be taking us on future adventures once we have it converted to an RV of sorts.

I recently discovered, (thank you Linda Hoye!) and am reading, a book by Susan Wittig Albert titled Together, Alone. It’s a memoir about how Susan married at mid-life to a man named Bill. They are both writers and work from home – something Susan had been yearning to do for a few years before leaving her job at a University. She was craving space and a place to settle down with more solitude and she found her way to piece of land that Bill had bought years before that they would have a home and name the many beautiful acres Meadow Knoll. I’m just getting to the part where after many years of living and working together, Susan yearns for time alone.

But before they had settled at Meadow Knoll, they lived and traveled in an RV which was named Amazing Grace. Isn’t that beautiful?  I can just imagine the many places they visited seeing many sunsets and the sun-rising, the mountains, the oceans, etc. and how at times, I’ve no doubt, when in the splendor of nature and traversing the country side you can have many moments of Amazing Grace.

So I read a few passages from Together. Alone to John last night while we were sitting around the chiminea- the parts about Amazing Grace and how it came to be. “So that is where you came up with the idea of naming our van,” John chuckled and shook his head again.

I felt a little embarrassed at first and that he thought it was silly, especially when I said I thought maybe we could name our van Freedom. He thought it sounded too much like the 60s. By now I was thinking I should just let the idea go.

I got up to go in the house to refresh my drink feeling a bit let down that perhaps this was a stupid idea.When I went back outside and sat down next to John he said, “How about we name the van Second Chance?

“It’s perfect!  I love it,” I said. But more than that I loved that he opened up to what I was trying to convey.

Like many, when the economy did a big nose dive in 2008 we had to make some tough financial decisions. – though they were hard, I don’t regret what we had to do because if felt right for us. But traveling to exotic places was out of the question — well, not that we really want to go to exotic locations as that isn’t really our thing. But to go out West, and a few other states we’ve been wanting to see seemed like perhaps might be very limited.

But discovering we could convert one of John’s work vans into a little place of our own on wheels that could take us on destinations away from home for respites has opened up a new world for us — it has lit a fire within both of us that we are both taking such delight in!

And so it is a second chance to follow dreams we had set aside — that we now look forward to fulfilling – with our van, Second Chance, that will take us there.

Past posts for Have Van Will Travel Journal

The Adventure Has Begun. New Home on Wheels. Who’d of Thunk?

The Conversion Begins

Inspector Approves of Phase One Conversion

Thank you for sharing and subscribing to my blog updates.

Have Van Will Travel Journal: The Conversion Begins

Posted by Barbara Techel
Have Van Will Travel Journal: The Conversion Begins
Phase one of van conversion

I’ve shared that John and I are in the process of researching and converting one of his work vans into a vehicle we can more easily travel with. It all started because we wanted to bring our dogs, Kylie and Gidget on vacation this fall. I’m still shaking my head in amazement at how this has opened a whole new world to us – a world of people who travel in this way, taking vans and converting them.

Many of you expressed interest that you wanted to follow our journey with this, so I’m starting what I’m dubbing, “Have Van Will Travel Journal.” As we make steps to convert the van I’ll share with you here.

There is only so much research you can do before you realize you best start implementing some steps or come later this fall we won’t have a van to travel in!

We do have to keep reminding ourselves that this year the van will just be a place for us to sleep one night down to Tennessee and one night back home. When we arrive at our destination we will be staying in a cabin we’ve rented.

But John is a planner and wants to have everything in place so we can easily add as we go along (it’s good to have a planner – I’m not complaining). Today he began pulling out all the shelves and taking down the partition that separates the front from the back. We thought next year we would add swivel seats to give us more room in a sense with a place to sit when not riding.  But we were very excited to discover you don’t have to buy brand new seats, but rather they make brackets to convert the seats already in the van.  So it looks like that will be included in phase one of our conversion.

The van is roughly 84 square feet and phase one will also likely include the following (we still have to price it all out):

  • Solar panels for top of van so we can have electricity even when not hooked up to electrical
  • A/C unit which mounts to the top of the van (a must for this gal here who is in menopause!)
  • Installing electrical plugs so we can plug in at campgrounds
  • Bunk beds that will run horizontal along the back of the van (this will allow for more space)
  • Storage units that will go behind the bunk beds.  Our beds in the back by the double doors that open out. Having the storage units behind the beds will make for easy access for things we need.
  • A small refrigerator
  • Lighting
  • Flooring

I might be missing a thing or two here, so I’ll check with the boss and update you next time.  🙂

Phase two we hope to have in place to travel out west sometime in 2017 and we are looking into adding the following (we will likely stay at campgrounds for this whole trip):

  • A screen tent that will attach to the side of the van. A place where we can stretch our legs, cook, and hang out.
  • Two burner stove/small sink and wee little kitchen area.
  • Some type of small window or two because the van has no windows on the sides.
  • Possibly a compost toilet
  • And as research continues and we learn more, and we will likely meet folks in campgrounds, I’m sure new ideas will come to light!

My job will be to make it feel homey and cozy without making it too girly.  haha!  So steps are taking place now toward this adventure that we really never had on our bucket list, but now something we are both very excited about.

Well, I must run as Prince Charming (my friend Marie calls John this) says all this hard work this morning means we will have to go for a little bite to eat and an adult beverage, which likely also means another van planning session too.  I’m in!

Stay tuned for the next installment of Have Van Will Travel Journal!

Thank you for sharing and subscribing to my blog updates.