Brian's Van Conversion: "Why am I Not Enjoying Life?"

by Bob | Mar 18, 2015 | Conversion Details, Inspiration-Spirituality, Vandwelling Philosophy | 41 comments

Brian’s new Van home!

(Today we have a guest post from Brian, a fellow vandweller, I hope you enjoy his van conversion, but more than that, I hope you hear his heart’s cry for more out of life and his insistence on getting it!)
Hi, my name is Brian and I’m a Southern California native. One year ago I made the decision to move into van in order to live a simple, adventure filled life. There were a few things that led me to that decision:

The demands of living in an expensive city were beginning to wear on me physically and emotionally.
I felt very disconnected with nature and my surroundings.
My possessions seemed useless.

With the help of a great online community I took the steps to move into a van full time. It has been quite an adventure so far and the best decision I’ve ever made!
A little more about me; I’m 38 years old, and a native of San Diego, CA. Like many of you, I’ve been working full time since age 18 and started renting at the same age. About 2 years ago I had an emotional breakdown that led to me giving up my career, new car, and nice 2 bedroom apartment. While the rest of the U.S. was complaining of no jobs or work, I simply resigned from my secure career. Why would I do such a thing?
I was working very hard for things that weren’t making me happy at all! Even worse, the future I saw for myself was just more of the same.

Now he has everything he needs for a good life–and nothing extra.

I’m not married nor do I have any children, so I moved in with my parents to regroup and establish some emotional balance. I began researching alternate lifestyles and discovered cheaprvliving.com which spoke to me because I grew up camping, fishing, backpacking, and off-roading with my family. Those adventures growing up are truly the happiest times of my life. Finding Bob’s blog brought all of those memories back. I had to ask myself…“Why am I not enjoying life?”
Because it’s very expensive to live in San Diego I had to work a lot which meant I could never get things together enough to be able to plan and actually take time off for adventures and spending time in nature. I made a decision 7 months ago that I was ready for some real adventure; not just taking a trip, but to actually live it. I’ve had a part time job working 25 -30 hours a week at a good wage for the last year. It provides me more than enough to cover my food, gas, and other expenses. I can even put some money away for savings every month. That is…without paying rent. Living with my parents is great but not as a long term goal (love you Mom and Dad!). RV living and van life have always been attractive to me and the more I researched them, the more hopeful I became about my future. Because I was truly seeking freedom from the material life I had become accustom to, my possessions slowly started to lose their value to me.

The view from the back door. Notice the storage under the bed and that the futon is now set-up so he can sit on it and look out the back. Perfect for feeding your soul!

I started selling, donating, and giving all my stuff that wasn’t directly related to my survival. Wow! Did I have a lot of stuff!! It felt good deconstructing the museum that had become my life. I saved up enough to buy a van in October of 2013. My awesome parents had gifted me their old SUV so I sold that when I got the van and used the money to convert it. So begins the story of the van.

He’s created a simple, elegant home to thrive in. Notice the Futon is upright so he can sit facing into the van.

I found a 1997 Dodge Ram 25000 short cargo van with a V6. I really wanted the best MPG, so for me the smaller the better. I knew the small space would be a challenge, but I was up for it. The van was an old AT&T service van. It had 84,000 original miles on it and was well maintained. I paid $1,500 cash. The van had roof racks and racks inside for work. I was able to remove them and sell them on craigslist. I found all the information I needed to convert it and got most of my ideas from cheaprvliving.com. The first thing I did was insulate the cargo area by putting Reflectix against the bare metal. Next came 2 layers of foam insulating board and covered the insulation with a nice paneling. I laid Relflectix on the floor then put down 3/4″ plywood on top on that.

The van came with a cargo divider so I have a nice doorway from that cab to the back of the van. After measuring out my space, and drawing up a few different floor plans, I decided on the bed/couch in back and built the bed frame with storage under it. I designed it so the couch can be used facing front or facing back. That way, with the back doors open, I can back in at the beach and watch the sunset! Next, I built a little table for my sink, which I also use for cooking with my propane stove. It’s not bolted down, I like to be able to move it around when I set up camp.

The sink unit is movable so it can go in different places in the van or even outside. Here he’s cooking in the sink.

I knew I wanted a solar panel so I planned on having a space for my battery bank and inverter. To keep my wire runs as short as possible, I put the battery bank behind the drivers seat. I made a funky cabinet thing to house the batteries. I have storage space on top of the batteries, I found a plastic storage drawer that fits in that space. I went with a 100 watt solar panel and a Morning Star controller feeding two 6 volt golf cart batteries. That gives me plenty of power to run my small Dometic 12 volt fridge 24/7 and can also charge my laptop and other gadgets off the inverter. The fridge and inverter are wired directly to the batteries. I installed a fuse panel for adding other things like fans, lights, or other accessories. I’m currently using little battery powered LED lights, but I will probably wire in some in the future. Overall, I’m very happy with the conversion. I left some things unfinished so I have something to do when I get bored. I started out by spending most of my time in the van and doing over-nighters a few nights a week to get a feel for what I might need or have forgotten.

All of the electrical is very close together behind the divider wall which means the wire runs are very short.

The solar panel is mounted on a ladder rack and can be tilted for maximum power.

My total cost for the van and the materials for the conversion(including the solar setup and the fridge) was around $2,800. I knew I could do it under for $3,000! I will be mostly stealth camping around my job and spending my days at our beautiful parks and beaches. I’m taking up surfing which I haven’t done since my high school years, and will continue to hike, mountain bike and take little roads trips as needed. My dreams of living more on less are becoming a reality!
I’m so grateful to Bob and all the other bloggers and member of this community. I am most grateful for my amazing parents and brother whose unconditional love and acceptance has carried me through some of the toughest times of my life. I plan on starting my own blog by next month to share this experience with others. Hopefully Bob will let me ‘plug’ it here so y’all can check it out.
Find Brian’s YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/TrueBypassTheory
See Brian’s Blog here: https://adventurevanman.wordpress.com/

With the bed laid flat, it’s very wide. You can see the sink and fridge up front and Reflectix on all the windows.

Building the battery box.

41 Comments

jonthebru on March 18, 2015 at 10:34 pm

Very good story. Another success story. I really like the simplicity of these homes on wheels!
Diane on March 19, 2015 at 4:31 am

Way to go Brian!!! The van looks great, I may barrow your cool paneling idea for my van 🙂 btw – I am also from San Diego, when I moved away 2 years ago I realized how financially draining it was to live there.
DougB on March 19, 2015 at 6:17 am

Excellent story and photos, Brian. More of a “my story” than just a technical review of features. Glad you’re making your life work in the way you need it to in the urban world.
- Brian on March 20, 2015 at 3:21 pm
  
  Thanks Doug, I’ve been reading your blog for about a year now!
  - Lucy on March 20, 2015 at 3:45 pm
    
    Brian, hi !
    Now, i have a question & is… how do U go from the driver seat into U’r house ? I see that the van has a divider ( wall ) between the cockpit & the living area.
    Nice van, enjoy !
    Lucy.
kay on March 19, 2015 at 6:33 am

Each story gets me closer and closer …
- Bob on March 21, 2015 at 12:08 pm
  
  Kay, One step at a time and you’ll get there!! Don’t forget to enjoy the journey!
  Bob
Wayne (Wirs) on March 19, 2015 at 6:54 am

You did it right Brian: You got the “fixed stuff” in place (insulation, solar, batteries) and everything else “tacked in” so you could easily modify it later. This is far smarter than those who spend months, years even, outfitting their rigs.
After the “fixed stuff,” I tossed in mostly pre-made dressers with the full intention of re-arranging it after I’d spent some time with the layout. Never did, but it’s nice to have that option.
Enjoy the road!
- Brian on March 20, 2015 at 3:21 pm
  
  thanks Wayne
Openspaceman on March 19, 2015 at 8:16 am

Brian / Bob_
I sometimes wish I would have bought a less expensive van starting out and spent less time and energy fitting it out. I should have it paid off in the next six months or so.
*I think the mental track I made was so deep that I couldn’t crawl out of it very fast with out shocking my system and that’s probably why I over prepared with my van buildout so I could fool myself into thinking I was getting closer to hit’n the road.
**Congradulations to you Brian…enjoy Southern Cal., a little better place to spend the winter in a van then Wisconsin.
***Nice van setup and good score on the base van purchase.
- Brian on March 20, 2015 at 3:16 pm
  
  thanks openspaceman
Cae on March 19, 2015 at 8:21 am

Very nice. Wow, $1500 for that van is a great deal!
Where’d you find it?
- Brian on March 20, 2015 at 3:20 pm
  
  Cae, i found it on craigslist
  - Dylan on September 4, 2015 at 11:45 pm
    
    How long did it take you to find the van?
    - Bob on September 5, 2015 at 5:31 pm
      
      Dylan. that post is fairly old so I doubt that Brian will answer. I’m sorry, but I don’t know the answer myself.
      Bob
Tina on March 19, 2015 at 9:13 am

Hi Brian,
Great to see your post on here! I’ve been following along on YT. 🙂
Really enjoy hearing your story and how you came to have more freedom and less stress and crap you don’t need in your life. Will be following your blog as well.
I really like your van setup, for a small space it looks really big and the lighter wood makes it look like a cabin inside.
Take care,
Tina
- Brian on March 20, 2015 at 3:17 pm
  
  thanks Tina 🙂
Tammi on March 19, 2015 at 9:45 am

Brian, I LOVE what you’ve done with the place! 🙂
- Bob on March 19, 2015 at 11:52 am
  
  Thanks Tammi.
  Bob
- Brian on March 20, 2015 at 3:17 pm
  
  thanks Tammi
Elizabeth on March 19, 2015 at 10:15 am

I love the comments that your possessions seem useless and that they are loosing their value to you. I have finally gotten to the boxes of items (after 5 years of sitting them in the basement) that i have been avoiding since beginning my cleaning out process, because cut glass crystal candy bowls are worth a lot of money. Laughhhhhh. I now have them listed, along with all of the other items of “great worth” on craigslist and after a month they will be dropped at a shop where they will sell or be donated at the end of the year. I can’t be bothered. They are truly worthless to me. And to think I hung onto them for so long because of the “value” of a useless item. I value my freedom and my serenity, and my life is worth more than i could get for any Things that I would spend time on by setting up an eBay account.
Thanks for the validation of “value” and good luck to you………..
Hi Bob!
- Bob on March 19, 2015 at 11:50 am
  
  Elizabeth, for most of us clearing out our stuff is the hardest thing of all. Hang in there, it’s worth it!!
  Bob
- Tina on March 22, 2015 at 10:24 am
  
  Hi Elizabeth,
  I am going through the same thing now and agree with you. Every time I go through my stuff I say to myself, do you want this thing or your freedom? It does make the process easier. The money has already been spent and is gone, so I’m not going to keep trying at another garage sale to make a few dollars! Off to a donation center it is.
  Good luck with your process 🙂
  Tina
  - Bob on March 22, 2015 at 4:58 pm
    
    Thanks Tina! Very wise!
    Bob
alfred on March 19, 2015 at 11:42 am

Brian—
In a bit of synchronicity, this piece is on the front page of today’s Wall Street Journal:
“How Frugal Man Amassed $8 Million Estate”
Ronald Read, who died in June at 92, spent years pumping gas. His friends were shocked when they learned his estate was valued at almost $8 million….Long widowed and with two stepchildren, he left most of his money to a local hospital and library.
The article concerns the details his financial life and his “wise decisions”, but my question to him last June would have been, “Was it all worth it, Mr. Read?”
Brian, I believe you are better role-model, making the hard choices now to live the life you want for yourself.
Congratulations!
(and by the way, the van is pretty neet too!)
—-alfred
- Brian on March 20, 2015 at 3:17 pm
  
  thank you for your comment
- Bob on March 21, 2015 at 12:07 pm
  
  I’m always fascinated by those stories, Alfred. I always feel sorry for them that they had such low expectations out of life.
  Bob
Canine on March 19, 2015 at 3:22 pm

Having a short van without a hi top should keep you from attracting attention. How are you doing with the height of the van?
- Brian on March 20, 2015 at 3:19 pm
  
  I would be nice to stand up every now and then,but I can do everything I need to from sitting in one spot.
  - Canine on March 20, 2015 at 5:28 pm
    
    I suppose jumping rope is out of the question? Lol. I really liked the blog you wrote; sure appreciate the time you took not only to write it, but to answer the questions. Having people like you guest-hosting is a lot of fun.
Jenny on March 20, 2015 at 11:07 am

I am SO looking forward to doing this full time! Love Brian’s story.
- Bob on March 21, 2015 at 12:02 pm
  
  Jenny, one of these days it could be your guest post! All are welcome!
  Bob
tommy helms on March 20, 2015 at 9:57 pm

Off topic, but this guy is one of us
http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/12420393/top-blue-jays-prospect-daniel-norris-lives-own-code
- Bob on March 21, 2015 at 11:51 am
  
  Thanks Tommy, It’s good to know the ord is getting out there. That’s is a very good find!
  Bob
Getaway Jim on March 21, 2015 at 7:32 am

Way to go Brian and your reasoning is sound indeed. I like the fact that you kept to a strict budget on the conversion so you really have not much to lose if you change your mind and hence you can really give vanliving a chance. Also, with most items of importance easily removable you can do so if you need to upgrade to another vehicle. Another wise item you mentioned is that you are still working, but on your terms and not on a must situation and this should make going to work a lot more plesureable. You have struck a nice balance for you and I wish you many years of great adventures former Museum Curator, Getaway!
- Bob on March 21, 2015 at 11:49 am
  
  Thanks Getaway!
  Bob
Ming on March 21, 2015 at 10:30 am

congratulations Brian on such an impressively cheap and simple way of achieving freedom!
Bob, love your guest posts!
- Bob on March 21, 2015 at 11:45 am
  
  Thanks Ming, but all the credit goes to them!
  Bob
Curtis M. on March 21, 2015 at 4:47 pm

Very nice conversion Brian! Enjoy your new found freedom.:)
Curtis
Romana on September 4, 2015 at 5:44 pm

Nice one Brian. It is amazing how little we need to live comfortably. Also it is very cool to see what you can power from a 100 watt solar panel.
I noticed the panel hinges up from the back end of the van. Do you have some system to ensure it does not fly up when you are driving? I assume you do as you strike me as being full of common sense. I have tilting panels too, and mine tilt from the side and use over-centre catches to hold them down while not up.
Nice set up, thanks for sharing it and your story with us.
- Bob on September 4, 2015 at 9:44 pm
  
  Hi Romana, glad to hear from you again, been a long time! Hopefully Brian will answer, but I won’t be surprised if he doesn’t. Sorry, I don’t know so I can’t help.
  Bob