To be honest, I spend most of my time sitting in front of a computer screen. I can easily sit there for 13 hours straight, only to leave for food and, ahem, other necessities. I do not mind, I actually kind of like it. Though I felt that I needed to use my two hands and my civil engineering degree. Two years ago, I started with my creative Mondays. Every Monday, I would do something totally unrelated to work and my studies. Activities such as dancing, painting (the colorful background photo is my creation), writing with my non-dominant hand, woodburning, and volunteering were on the agenda. All of these projects were fun and meaningful to me, but I was seeking a bigger challenge. I wanted to create and build something with my own two hands.
This year I have traveled quite a lot and every time I needed to find accommodation, food and be dependent on public transport. Finding accommodation and being dependent on public transport is always a hassle to spend time and energy on. How can you solve that problem? You talk to a friend and you decide to build a camper van togther. Total self-reliance. YES!
How do you build a bad ass camper van?
You partner up with a friend, ask YouTube and Google for advice and then you build it together. The van conversion was inspired by the Barefoot Theory, and my friend planned out the whole footprint of the van. We built everything from scratch and one month in, we drove to Tüv Nord to get the van registered and approved as a camper van. SUCCESS!
What did I learn from this process?
- YouTube is your best friend and everything is possible. You can literally find everything you need on YouTube. From “How to Sew a Zipper in a Mattress”, “How to lay click-on flooring” to “How to Install Gas Pipes in a Kitchen”. All the problems you encounter are not foreign at all – others have experienced just the same as you. I must admit, it is somewhat a trial and error process. Especially, when you have carved out a hole in the kitchen that you definitely should not have. Re-iterate, re-iterate and there you go! I can now add a bunch of new skills to my resume. Able to master a spatula; can paint to perfection; can design, tailor and pick the perfect fabric to your furniture; and the list goes on.
- Establishing routines is GOLD: Waking up and going to bed at the same time work wonders. Every morning, I woke up at 7:30, and went out for a run. At 8:00, I was ready to get breakfast, and at 9:00 my friend and I were in the garage working on the van. We would finish around 23:00 in the evening. I would read for half an hour and then go to bed before 00:00.
- Audible (audio books) is brilliant: The radio plays the same music over and over again, and I think Despacito aired four times on average per day on various radio channels. I quickly shifted to audiobooks, and I really enjoyed the “double learning”.
- 5.4 square meters is all you need: In the van, you have a kitchen, living room, bedroom, shower, toilet, heater, fan, 5x solar panels, battery, 60+30L water tanks, cabinets, and gas tank. All my bare necessities could fit in the space. I even took my penny board!
&
& 
See you later folks!