Category: Campervan
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2017-05-06: Removing floor and bulkhead
We picked up the van yesterday from the dealer. Today it’s just me, as Amy is away. I started with the grotty jobs, removing the floor and the bulkhead. So far, no horrible surprises, though the previous owner seemsed to have butter fingers, spilling copious amounts of oil, silicone glue and McDonalds chips throughout the…
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Sizing batteries and solar panels
One of the first steps in planning the electrical system is figuring out what size battery and solar panels we need. That depends on a few key factors, which will vary for everyone. In our case, they are: Price: we are price-sensitive! Level of luxury / number of appliances: we don’t want a TV, microwave,…
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xkcd: Survivorship Bias
Coincidentally, also via Hacker News, this apt comic from xkcd: Survivorship Bias. I assume the poster’s intent (on Hacker News) was to make a comment about inspirational startup speeches. But the same could apply to the ‘drop everything and follow your dreams’ vanlife brigade.
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Wood selection for framing and cladding: do the math
I’m evaluating different materials for cladding the walls of the van, and for building frames and panels for furniture (bed, kitchen units, etc.) Commercial outfitters here in the UK use materials I find unappealing, whereas DIY convertors often stick to what they can find in the out-of-town DIY store. I’d like to weigh up –…
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Great design and build tour
There are many good van build videos on YouTube. But this is an exceptional one. It’s comprehensive (close to one hour long), and Lee, the van designer and builder, has clearly thought deeply about so many aspects of the design. It’s a great watch; he seems like a lovely guy, and his design philosophy, which…
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A one-week trial of vanlife. The good, the bad and the ugly.
This Easter, Amy and I hired a camper van to get a taste of vanlife. We recorded our throughts about what worked and what didn’t, and I’m sharing them here. I should stress that this focuses on the bad and the ugly (we were trying to learn lessons), but the trip was good.
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Making money as you travel
There are a lot of icky people out there selling live-the-dream, self-help courses about vanlife. It’s something of a pyramid scheme; making money while travelling by convincing other people to make the jump too. This is one of the more straight-forward pieces I’ve seen about how to pay your way. He also posts some useful links under the…
Andrew Sleigh 