May 26, 2020

Van Life?!!


My friend Adam, who I met the summer before 10th grade when I moved to a new school, has been talking for years about wanting a "tiny house" or living out of a van. It was actually a running joke among our high school friends. Adam moves frequently, so I could totally see him doing it, but I honestly never really thought it would happen.

Several months ago when he came over to visit, he again brought up the topic of living in a van. The idea was so crazy to me and I couldn't understand why anyone would want to do that!

I asked a trillion questions (where will you shower? where will you go to the bathroom? for the love of God, where will you park the van every night?).  In short: 1) his gym or friends'/family's houses; 2) public restrooms or a special "van life" toilet-thing; and 3) a friend's house who he pays monthly for parking and wifi--it's conveniently located close to his job.

At the time, I had no idea that "van life" was a thing. When he left, he told me to search #vanlife on Instagram and check out those photos to get an idea of what he was imagining.

Well, I fell down a huge rabbit hole and was completely immersed in this way of living. It's amazing! People have van interiors that are nicer than my house--hardwood floors, beautiful shelving, creative storage, etc. At one point I actually thought, "If I was single, I would totally want to do this!".

Adam asked our friend Paul, who does carpentry, to remodel(?) the back of an old van that Adam bought from a friend (who gave him a great deal). He didn't want to spend a fortune in case he decides a few months down the road that he doesn't enjoy "van life". If he really likes it, then someday he said he'll upgrade to a bigger/nicer van.

Paul go to work on gutting and remodeling the van:




Paul finished the van and Adam was excited to show Jerry and me, so he came over this morning for a little while to give us the (very brief) tour (and answer lots of questions). I was amazed at how great it looked! From the exterior (which I should have taken a picture of) you would never guess that the interior is so stunning.

My parents stopped over for a minute and my dad called it a "Van Cave"--hahaha!

Paul framed the entire skeleton of the van with wood paneling and added shelving, a sink, cupboards, a bed that has storage underneath, a vent on top, and a wall/door that opens to the front of the van. As long as he has wifi, Adam can even stream Netflix and Hulu and all that to a TV! I was super impressed, to say the least. Paul did a great job.







While the idea of it is such a novelty to me, I honestly can't imagine actually living that way. I'm not one who desires a huge house, but I would miss the space--probably because I share it with a husband, two kids, four cats, and a dog. Adam is single and has no kids or pets, and this is a dream of his that he's been talking about for years. So I'm thrilled for him!



I want to give a shoutout to my friend Paul, too--he does beautiful carpentry work, so if you're in the southeast Michigan area and are looking for updates, I highly recommend him! You can see lots of his work on his company's Facebook page (Wiggins Custom Carpentry) and on Instagram @paulwiggins1000.


11 comments:

  1. Wow your post had such timing as I had just been watching a bunch of YT videos on "Van Life" as I was looking up RVing. I couldn't do it but I came across a great YTer who did her own remodel at the age of 18! She had some great insight on the whole fad on social media and what pitfalls to watch out for as it's sometimes not the way it is portrayed. Her name was Anna's Analysis.

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  2. I was watching a woman on BuzzFeed who show snippets of her life in a van. The way she showers is a little weird (she uses a rubbermaid tote to stand in and has a hand pumped shower that uses 1 gallon of water). I would love tiny living but husband is against it. He said maybe a camper to travel - but no tiny house living. I am working on getting a "she-shed"! LOL

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  3. So neat! I have heard of tiny house living but never this! Thanks for sharing.

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  4. How interesting? What provides power to the van for the TV? Does he have a generator?

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    1. I use something called “The Jackery.” It allows me to plug DC, AC, and USB plugs in. They have several sizes but they work great. I just take it out of the van and plug it in to charge at my job. No utility bills.

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  5. Oh my gosh, that is so fun! Beautiful work! My husband (lovingly/jokingly) said, "If I didn't have you and the kids tying me down, I'd totally do this!" Lol!!!!

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    1. Thanks. My friend Paul is incredible at what he does and it shows in the look and feel of the place.

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  6. How does the sink work?!?

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    1. So the sink is hooked up to two 6 gallon jugs. I’m still waiting for my foot pump to come in the mail but when it does it’ll allow me to pump the water out of the clean water jug and then whatever goes into the sink goes into a desperate jug with what they call “gray water.” I’m able to use that for now to brush my teeth, wash my face etc, and the water runs down the sink into the jug just fine.

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  7. Very cool! Van life is totally a thing. My brother and his wife live out of a van. They are quarantining with family right now, but I believe they plan to get back on the road later this year, if it's safe. They are Our Home on the Roam on IG/YouTube, you should check them out!

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  8. Great post and now I can always turn back to this too. Still has some work to do but Paul did incredible work and I couldn’t be happier. Won’t know if you don’t try, so I tried.

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