Van Life Gal

  VAN UPDATE! Big Things! Hi all! It's been a really long time since I have posted on here, and want to make this a regular weekly post . I think this will be a good place for all the JUICY details that my voiceovers on YouTube don't really allow for, and photos alone on instagram don't show.  Feel free to comment any questions you have, or any topics you want me to cover and I'll make a post response for y'all! Today is Monday March 23, 2026 and I am feeling exhausted, but feel that I can't rest because every moment not working on my van is another month that I am living in an unfinished home (without a sink, spitting into a bottle to brush my teeth!) If you have been watching me on YouTube or TikTok you know that I recently finished the cabinet and drawers (minus the drawer faces) that will hold my oven! I love cooking and cannot wait to install my 21" drop in range. I bought this oven because it is big enough to hold my dutch oven a MUST for cold wea...

  A Really Wonderful First Night's Sleep... Things don't always go as planned, and if I've taken anything from the year's worth of spiritual work I have done it's that there is a reason and a larger plan. Fighting the way things are going is only going to set you back off the path that's meant for you. For me things not going as planned means I'm going to be living in the van while converting it. This means, finding a place to convert it, and figuring out what to do with all my stuff (!!!) that I'm hauling with me while I work on the van... The photo above was a wonderful spot I found off of i overlander, an app used to scout good sleeping spots! It was right by the water in New England. The salty water smell was wonderful, and super familiar from my childhood when my mom and I would go to the beach and walk out on the sand flats.  That is all for now, more updates to come on where I will park and work.  Next order of business is solar on the roof, AC in...

A home for my solar, AC and fan... I am VERY excited for this part of the van build because this is where the most important components will go. My solar, my fan and my AC. Planning to never be in a place under 70 degrees ever again (unless skiing) so AC is a must. Today was the day for the roof rack install . Well it was the second time around I tried to complete this install as the first time I tried I realized one of the side rails for the roof rack was bent. This set me back a week + because I had to wait on the company to send me a replacement.  So you think the second time around things would go smoother. Nope, this time the wrong rear rail for the roof rack was sent. I decided to purchase the upgraded roof rack with lights, and the rear rail should have had cut outs where the lights can sit flush. This isn't what I was sent. I was able to get the majority of the rack completed, and it is a very streamlined look. The white/black contrast is fire!! I love it :-) Now all I ha...

 Installing the Subfloor. The installation of the subfloor was pretty straightforward. I started by using a roll of heavy duty paper, and began to make my own floor template. I have been told that some Ford Transits come with a floor liner = built in template (sigh*).  After much cutting, taping (with lime green duct tape ;)) and scribing (using a washer LOL) the template was complete. I then placed the template on baltic birch plywood and traced it out. Test fit in the van, made a few trim adjustments to ensure nothing was hitting the edges of the van, and then repeated the tracing process on XPS foam. The XPS foam was then glued to the baltic birch plywood. Next I used alcohol to clean the van floor really well. Put down some glue, and placed the floor! Last step was to weigh everything down with helping hands and some bags of sand. Stay tuned for the next part of the build: framing......

It's Official I am Doing Van Life! I have dreamed about this day for 6 years. Finally the van is mine. I named her Vandalina. I made the decision to do van life after I saw a YouTube video where the channel creator said 'do it now, nothing will be different in a year, and in a year you will still have this dream.' Something clicked. And I decided with intense conviction - I was going for this! I went to my local Dodge dealership and test drove the promaster 159" extended length. I was so worried I wouldn't be able to drive it. I knew I needed the extended length because I wanted to be able to fit a lot of stuff - for sure a mini stove/oven, sink, bench that would house my shower, toilet, and be good for seating. I wanted this done right. After 6 years of dreaming about van life you come to have a really good idea of what you want. I had probably watched hundreds and hundreds of videos on the topic. After test driving the van the salesman sat me down and ran numbers...