An exclusive Steemit tour of our camper van and what we chose to include for our life on the open road. 

I get a lot of questions and interest whenever I publish photographs of our dear moustache wearing camper van affectionately called Sergio. So I decided to take the time and give you Steemers a proper tour, explaining in more detail our travelling set-up. When my husband and I were designing and planning our camper van escape, I spent hours online researching van layouts. Personally I would have loved to stumble upon a well explained kit out. I hope this is helpful to anyone looking to embark on compact living for a while.   

We lived and travelled in Sergio for 10 months in Australia and over the following years enjoyed countless other little adventures with him. Unfortunately, we had to sell Sergio with the unexpected arrival of twin girls, as there was no room to fit in two baby seats. But his memory lives on! Go Sergio!  

The Kit Out 

Floor   

The first thing we did to Sergio was put in snazzy new black painted ply wood flooring (20mm thick). Cut exactly to size. This provided even footing and a solid base to screw other fixtures to.   

Bed

We could not be bothered messing around with fold out beds that convert to seats. Sergio didn't have the head room anyway. Give me a proper comfy queen size bed to sleep on please! We paid someone to build a custom welded frame. Credit to Pia and Ollie from Southern Spirit Campers for this clever design. The bed legs hug the van walls, straddling the wheel hub.  Without the need for middle support beams, there is extremely generous storage space under the bed to fit very large items. For example, a mannequin, sewing machine, ironing board and a whole market stall set-up for that matter. This was how we made our living on the road. But that is another story for another time.  

 
The down side of a permanent bed is less sitting room in the van. On rainy miserable days in the forest, I sat cross legged on the bed and a single folding camp stool fitted in the entrance creating a snug office space for my husband. A bit of a jigsaw puzzle, we happily crammed in but somehow always managed to bump our head on the original interior light bulb.   

Power and Lights 

Pia and Ollie also installed a deep cycle second battery behind the passenger seat.  This charged while driving and provided us with enough power to run lights, a small refrigerator and charge our phones and computer.   

We had one internal LED light above the cupboard and a weatherproof one fixed to the exterior of the van, this illuminated our annex and entrance.   

A camping refrigerator (with the extra insulation zip-up cover) may seem like a luxury but oh my gosh it was worth the investment. Leave it on while driving, but once you set up camp, only turn it on periodically and you can have cold beer and cheese for the next three days out in the bush.   

Storage

To make living in tiny quarters possible, we created a special home for everything. We did an Ikea hack to a black and white cupboard, inserting press button latches on the drawers and cupboard door to stop them rolling open on the road. The cupboard was attached to the ply floor using small block braces. I LOVED this cupboard. It neatly contained all our toiletries, cooking equipment and dry pantry goods, including our treasured coffee making gear.   

On the bed side of the cupboard we screwed on a lockable medicine unit to securely store documents, passports and first aid.   

A long bench with a piano hinged lid was fitted behind the front seats.  This lifted up to store rarely used (but essential travel items) such as the jumpstart kit, emergency tent, extra lights, long outdoor extension lead and housed the deep cycle second battery. The refrigerator and clear storage tubs sat on top of the bench. These storage tubs contained all our picnic gear – plates, cups, knives, chopping board ready to be picked up and taken out to lunch on a whim. Next to the refrigerator, within easy reach of the front passenger seat, I attached three cardboard tubes.  This stored water and wine bottles like a dream!

Under the bed two big fabric open boxes with pull tabs contained our clothes. Light weight and made of waterproof fabric the box slid out smoothly without the need for roller tracks.   

Behind the passenger and drivers seat, hanging pockets kept handy all our digital equipment, cables, pens, torches, matches and small gadgets.

Capitalising on the metal interior, magnets became our best friend. Magnetized herb and spice canisters with screw on lids hid tiny valuables.   

Kitchen  

Living on a budget without compromising on good coffee, we hand ground fresh local beans for our french press.  On windy days, the kettle boiled on the gas stove, tucked just inside the van. But  otherwise our van was too small and unventilated to cook in safely. Two fold up tables set up outside and a bucket as the kitchen sink was all we needed for alfresco dining. 

We went through three sets of camp chairs before finding these amazing fold up camp stools. Two simple pieces of metal and a bit of canvas. Best design ever! 

  
To cook on, we used a single burner gas cooker fueled by small tins of compressed butane. Eventually we got an electric kettle to make coffee making quicker when we had access to electricity.   

We discovered barbeque mats in a hardware shop. A thin black non-stick piece of plastic that sits on top of a barbeque hot plate. Sounds weird but the plastic does not melt and enables you to hygienically cook on a neglected dirty public barbeque. Wash in warm soapy water and roll it up for later use.  Genius design! 

Extra Cover 

Attached to the sliding door with suction caps on the roof our little zip up annex gave us a few more square metres of space.  This was our bucket shower change-room and provided a little privacy and cover.   

A huge gazebo we were lugging  around for our market stall, came with an inner tent that clipped on to the sides of the gazebo with a completely sealed floor and mesh zip up windows. Adhering to the slow travel philosophy, it was not unusual for us to stay in a place for a few weeks at a time. When we felt like living in a mobile mansion, we set it up. We could zip up the gazebo and jump in the van to explore or pick up more supplies without having to pack up everything. Our massive set-up did looked ridiculous in camp sites (especially at night time) and made us laugh. 

 

Ventilation and Condensation
 

A turning air vent fitted above our bed provided enough air ventilation for sleeping in the van.  Condensation is always an issue in colder parts of Australia. During winter, the metal sides of the van get very cold at night. There was not much we could do to stop the moisture build up. I made a foam colourful fabric covered insert for one side of the van interior. This made a big difference with condensation on that side.    

I installed a curtain track along the window side of the van and behind the front seats. I made custom block out curtains. For the back window it worked best to make a fabric piece the exact size of the window and attach it to the glass with stick on/sew on velcro. This together with the curtains gave us complete privacy at night.  

 

Sergio was a humble cosy home and we loved him. I have the best of memories from all our adventures with him. He served us well and has continued on without us to live life to the fullest. 

 If you have any questions from the photos or think I have missed something, let me know. Or if you have had your own adventures with tiny compact living at some point do share. I love this sort of thing! 

My time with Sergio changed me.  Inside a house you don't get to see the night sky in all it's magnificent glory. I noticed all of the different moon cycles and even started to measure the passage of time based on the full moon. I became astute regarding weather and nature. Without so many distractions sleep was deep and beautiful. Possessions and appearance did not matter, instead my attention focused on ideas, discussion, reading and learning. Tiny living is liberating, money gets spent on experiences not things and a new freedom is found.   

Until next time, from one happy wanderer to another – may all  your steems come true.   
 xx Isabella