This is one of those posts like on a recipe blog, where someone tells you a long story before finally getting to the Lemon blueberry scone recipe. Except in our case, the recipe here is how much our van build cost us.
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When I was a kid, I spent as much time outside as I could. Will vanlife be kind of like that? I have so many memories of being outside all day in the summer. Staying out until the lights came on-that was the rule. I spent hours in the grass, climbing trees, and laying on hot cement after running through sprinklers. I used to go out on the weekends as soon as I was dressed, head over to the playground in our section 8 apartment complex, and wait for other people to come out. Sundays usually meant a long wait because a lot of kids were in church. Sometimes we were too, my aunt and uncle had their own Church-in-the-park. Maybe the church had a name, but I don’t remember anyone ever saying it. We just said we were going to Church-in-the-park. I was definitely there for the park more than the church. And the snacks.
Growing up, I loved outside. We weren’t an outdoorsy family. In fact, my mother rarely left the couch or the apartment. We were poor. We had no money to go places. But we took the bus sometimes. and we walked a lot. And I loved being outside every chance I had, even the walking to and from school. One of my favorite outside activities included laying in the grass. Growing up, I recall being told I was allergic to grass. It did make me itch and sometimes I did get a rash, but I don’t anymore. But it didn’t really stop me from sitting in a field of grass to try and make a bracelet from white clover flowers. Or from laying in the grass to stare at the sky.
When you are adulting, out there working and raising kids, you don’t really lay in the grass and stare at the sky so much. You don’t make bracelets out of white clover flowers. When you find yourself in the grass, you’re usually at soccer practice watching kids run back and forth while you take photos. You’re reading a book. You are spending time with your significant other at a concert in the park. You are picnicking. Even when you are “relaxing,” it’s done in some way that continues to be productive. You are walking your dog at the dog park so that he gets some exercise. None of these activities are bad, there just isn’t any time to lay in the grass and stare at the sky anymore. Idleness is a waste of precious time. The time that you once had hours for as a child. I once had an endless string of summer days for idleness.
Will was not the same kind of kid that I was. He did not lay in the grass and makeup stories. He did not attend Church-in-the-park looking forward to time on the blanket out on the grass. He did not, to my knowledge, make white clover chains. He was outside though. On bikes and skateboards and in trees. Building forts and breaking bones and generally stressing his mother out. He never stopped as a kid and he moves around similarly today.
Our Time in the Van
One of the things I am curious about when it comes to our adventure in a van is what kind of time we will have. Will we have stare-at-the-sky time? Between the trails and driving and making dinner on the camp stove and visiting the kids and setting up the bed and checking out the next campsite- will we just lay in the grass and stare at the sky? I hope so.
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We have been busy trying to finish the last few details of the van and trying to make sure we haven’t forgotten something, which will inevitably happen, but we haven’t quite decided how we will spend all of our time. I know it’s something we have both thought about. Especially the fact that I will want to be quiet outside and Will is going to want to explore. Usually, when we go on vacation, we have a particular habit. We both wake up very early. I am quiet and lazy in the morning. Maybe I read. I sip coffee. He goes out to explore. An hour later comes back and tells me he found the perfect place to eat or some art he wants to show me. I don’t imagine that it will be too different from that, except there is more work to the everyday things in a van. So I am not sure how time will be measured out in the van. There is no dishwasher in the van. No washing machine. Everything will take more time in the van. Our morning coffee will take more time in the van. This is because we are bringing as few electric devices as we can. No quick Nespresso pod and steamed milk. Manual coffee grinder. Mokapot. French press. We have 2 100 watt solar panels but we want to be sure to have enough electricity for the fan, the refrigerator, and my work on the laptop and with a hotspot.
The Cost of the Van Build
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So now onto the cost of the van build. Almost all of it was done by us (a lot of “us” is Will). We ripped out the passenger seats and the floors. We ordered things and tried to figure out how to put them in. We did pay someone to do the cushions because after thinking about our options, we just wanted it done well. We tried to set up the van remembering the limits to space and energy, while also considering the comforts we enjoy all while staying within the limits of our budget. When I first sat down and added up the receipts, I thought the total build was $5600, but then I remembered other things I hadn’t counted. In all, I think we are closer to $6500 on the van build plus the cost of the van. Some of the major purchases for our vanlife adventure have included (yes, these include Amazon affiliate links):
The van-used Ford passenger van $14k after taxes and registration
Solar panels, Goal Zero Yeti power station $2k
Custom cushions for the benches/bed $1285
12V refrigerator $290ish
Maxxair ceiling fan $175
Havelock Wool for insulation $300
Wood, screws, paint, vinyl flooring, fabric etc
So in total, we spent a little over 20K on the van.
In the future, I would like to make a video tour to show off all of the fun things we included in the van. 🙂
~Lisa