The Little Van life has not always been glamorous (has it ever been glamorous??). It's been soggy, cold, sweaty, frustrating, expensive, nerve-wracking, rewarding, challenging, bonding, pleasing, thought-provoking, and exciting. 

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It's been one of those projects - the best kind of projects - that makes you forget to eat lunch. A project that so fully engrosses you that you can't stop thinking about it, the kind of project that your friends get sick of hearing about, but you never get tired of talking about. 

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On October 12, 2017 as we were caravaning back to Boston in their gigantic new van, thinking - "oh shoot - what did we just get ourselves into". We had nowhere to park the beast, it struggled to drive over 60 miles per hour, guzzled gas, and gave off somewhat noxious fumes upon starting. But it was ours - the first used car either of us had ever bought - and it was a doozy. 

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Looking back, we got lucky for how under-prepared we were. We had no inherent build space, no tools, no safe garage, no free parking. All we had was a desire for a winter escape to the mountains, and a semi-formed plan for how to get there. We had great friends at Parlor Skis in East Boston that let us park in their parking lot, use their shop and tools, and generally just gave us a home. There is no doubt that this would have never gotten off the ground had it not been for Mark, Tyler, and Pete looking out for us. We got some free material (insulation, plywood, flooring, wood, screws, etc) from Hannah's jobsite, which helped us keep costs down and get started. 

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We learned, pretty early on, that the instavan-glam associated with the van community is hard to accomplish and mostly just expensive. Our progress crawled along, and we were very keen on keeping to a budget, we were, after all - trying to save money on this endeavor! For example, we bought our van right around the same time as another couple that we avidly followed on instagram, @glampervanlucy. 6 months later, we have cabinets and rough walls, they have 12k instagram followers, an aesthetically perfect van, and plans to write a book. Long story short, we have learned that it is futile and quite frankly depressing to compare ourselves to the greater social media world of van life - we are happy and content doing our thing our own way, on our own budget. 

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Fast forward to the start of the ski season, we had insulated walls, a roof, and a bed. We had an engine that ran, four wheels that turned, and a place to put our skis. We were lucky to have a place to park, friends to ski with, and weekends away from work and out of the city. For the next 3 months, we made minor adjustments, with the one that we are most stoked about being the wood stove. It kept us warm, added a little wow-factor, and generally was something to be proud of. 

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Throughout the winter, we kept an eye on the engine, got more comfortable on the road, and started for formulate our adventure plan. Hannah's work was ending in July, along with our leases and loose commitments to the city of Boston. It seemed that everything was lining up for us to hit the road, as moving West was something at the top of our lists for the last several years. With that came a list of things to do, to install, and to buy in order to make our van living comfortable and successful. We get along great as a couple, spend as much time as possible together, but even that does not compare to sharing 60SF of living space for an undefined amount of time. We knew that if we were going to make this work, we needed to be organized about our summer, but also careful to ensure that we stayed well within our budget. Here's a general list of the things we identified that would greatly improve our Little Van Adventures:

 

 - kitchen cabinets

 - pull out bike rack under the bed (inspired by FarOutRide.com)

 - small sink and hand pump water system

 - ceiling fan 

 - fully installed solar system (by system we mean Goal Zero panel and Goal Zero Yeti 400 - thanks @zachboth)

 - pull out drawer to store cooler (our refrigerant system)

 - paint 

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Everything else - aesthetic or otherwise - was just gravy. If we could limit the amount of belongings we would bring on the road, and then find a home for each of those belongings in the van, we would be golden. We like each other, but we also like our space, and going from living in separate apartments to living in the same apartment to moving into the van - all within the span of 6 weeks would be taxing on our spheres of existence. 

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We write this 3 weeks out from leaving Boston - we still have a substantial check list of things to do, still have a handful of material to procure and install. 

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Here's to the projects that help you find your passion - may you follow it with the ones you love and never look back.