Buying a van and building it into a home is one of those things most people aren’t going to understand but to those of us that do understand it, it can be an amazing experience. Traveling or living in a van can lead to things most people will never be able to do in their life, and that’s why I bought my 1997 Ford Econoline van.
Buying some sort of larger vehicle and turning it into a tiny home has been one of those things I have thought about for ages. I remember in high school trying to convince my friends to go traveling while sleeping in our cars and they acted like I was crazy. Eventually I ended up doing some smaller trips in the Ford Escape I used to have. I would sleep in the front driver seat or fold the seats down and sleep in the back. This however wasn’t the most comfortable, especially since I am six foot four. Even though this was nowhere near comfortable I would still make it work to go on a skate trip with a friend or just a trip somewhere new with my girlfriend and dog.
I had looked at a few different options and went back and forth on everything from a school bus or shuttle bus, tow behind campers, and empty cargo trailers. I ended up going with an old conversion van for a few reasons. First it is a lot more convenient when not using it, because I am not going to have to pay to store it somewhere when I am not traveling in it like I would in a tow behind camper or trailer. There is no way I can get away with parking a school bus in the neighborhood I live in. A van is also way easier to get around when in a city or just a tight area, also way more stealthy and doesn’t look like someone is living in it. However with a van there is a lot you have to give up such as generators, full kitchens, bathroom, and of course lots of space.
The way I found my van was Facebook Marketplace, I spent hours each day looking through my local areas as well as areas nowhere near me. I live in Jacksonville Florida and found my van in Auburn Alabama. When I first saw the van online I knew it was the perfect one, low miles, high roof, good condition, and a color I love. The only problem was the price, it was way outside of my budget so I kept looking. After not being able to find one as nice as this one I saw the post again and saw he had reduced the price, but it was still outside of my budget. I figured I would still offer a price I was happy with and see what he would say, and to my surprise he said yes.
A few days later my girlfriend, dog, and I drove 6 hours to Alabama to see it. When we saw it we immediately loved it. We took it to get it inspected at a local shop before we bought it and they had found a few issues with it. None of the issues were too serious and we were able to negotiate the price down some more due to the issues. We ended up buying it and driving it 6 hours back to Florida.
The plan for this van is to keep it simple and just get on the road and then add to it over time. We are going to start with just a bed, storage, camping stove, and a cooler. Down the line we would to add solar panels, a sink, and anything else we see fit.