Conversion
Our Van - okay Minibus - Conversion
We'll tell you the truth,
even if you don't want to hear it.
I'm still working on this page (sorry).
Total build cost
£10,000(ish)
Months on the road
16
Injuries
4
Countries visited
24
We immediately started looking for second-hand vans and mini-buses. Based on our research we'd decided either Mercedes or Ford were the best choices, finally settling on Mercedes.
After narrowly avoiding an impulse purchase on the first van we saw - a teal green number with rusty trim - a handful of further viewings continued to disappoint.
A couple of months later we finally found one which seemed to fit the bill. It was a white 2005 Mercedes Sprinter LWB Minibus. We met the seller, a man named Danny Boyle.
In a dramatic scene, we shrewdly haggled Mr Boyle down to 4K from the initial asking price of 4K, and the vehicle was ours. Cinematic.
The Conversion
First thing for us to do was take out the seats and pull up the floor. The floor consisted of panels of wood and metal runners which the seats were bolted onto.
We could've decided not to bother taking up the floor and instead just insulate and lay down a new floor on top of it all. We're glad we did though. It meant we had an extra inch or so to play with in terms of height. Also, we could deal with any rusting underneath.
That's not to say it wasn't a disgusting ball-ache of a job. Every part of the floor was nailed and
glued. See me having fun on the right. I've only sustained two injuries so far though.
I even managed to snap a crowbar. That's right, I snapped
a crowbar.
The Build
More coming soon!
Things We bought
More coming soon! Also, we don't make any commission on this stuff - it'd be nice if we did!
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it easy to find a van already renovated or is best to renovate yourself?
Yes it’s easy to find a van that’s already renovated but they are expensive. There are some great companies out there that do conversions for you. Highly recommend taking a look at
Brownbird and Company. We wouldn't say it's easy to renovate a van yourself but it's nice to live in a space you've designed yourself.
How did you learn how to renovate? Is it a YouTube game or did you get professional advice?
Yeah so we spent ages watching YouTube videos on conversions (Indie Projects have some great intro to #VanLife videos) but we did kind of cheat because we hired a carpenter to do the woodwork. Also my dad is an electrician. But even if you do decide to pay someone to do part or all of the conversion I’d still recommend spending a good few hours watching videos about conversions to understand your needs and figure out your preferences.
How much does a standard van cost?
How long is a piece of string? For what we’ve got, £10k is really reasonable. However, you can probably do it cheaper if you really want. You might also want to consider just buying an old motorhome.
Jits into the Sunset have an old camper, it’s so cute. Just make sure you get breakdown cover if you go in that direction.
Did yours have heating/air con?
No heating which was a stupid decision. I’ve just bought a diesel heater. If you do a self conversion, definitely get one. I would’ve loved a log burner but apparently it’s hard to get insurance if you have one so be warned! Our van doesn’t have aircon which was torture sometimes but our van was only £4.5k because it’s a 2005. You’ll have to pay more for a newer van which will have aircon. I really wish we’d put in a large vent above the bed to let air in and to star gaze. A few times when it was unbearable we had to sleep with the doors open which didn’t feel the safest.
With regards to food if you have a fridge does it turn off when you leave the van or do you have a constant battery supply?
So because we were on such a tight budget, I bought a normal undercounter fridge instead of a camper fridge. It uses too much electricity so unless we’re ‘on-grid’, we have to turn it off at night. Not such a problem if you’re vegan tbf.
Is it difficult when travelling to find places to park?
No there’s an app called
Park4Night which shows you all the places. Switzerland was the only place we had issues as ‘Wild Camping’ is illegal there.
Can you just park anywhere where it seems quiet and there’s space?
Really depends on the country. Norway encourages wild camping. Generally, as long as you’re outside the main cities and towns you’ll be able to find somewhere.
What’s the biggest cost of running the van? Fuel / battery?
Fuel and Food
How much money per month do you need to live comfortably in the motorhome?
A good budget is £800-£1,000 a month (including food and fuel) but of course you can live as frugally as you like. Wild (free) camping, cooking for yourself - getting groceries from Aldi and Lidl are the best ways to save money. It'a a really tough question because it depends on how you live!
What is the van powered off?
Our electricity runs purely off Solar however, we’re looking to get a split charger fitted so that when we drive the van, it charges the leisure batteries at the same time. We should’ve got that fitted originally. Stupid of us not to. And then if we’re at a campsite we can plug directly into mains electricity.
How does water run? Like when’s the technical process of all facilities? Cooking/ running water?
This is a very loaded question! There are different ways of running your water system. We chose a really simple electric pump. We only use our tap to wash up and brush our teeth. We don’t have a purifier so buy bottled to drink and cook with. We do have a boiler but it uses a lot of electricity so we don’t use it very often – unless we’re ‘on-grid’.
How do you shower? I saw you had an outdoor one? Surely that can’t continue in winter?
So towards the end of the conversion, we ran out of money. Our original plan was to use the portable shower in our little loo – using the boiler to get warm water. But because we ran out of money, I couldn’t waterproof the bathroom. So we couldn’t use the shower inside the van – hence the outdoor showering. So when it was cold we just went to campsites or used public showers – when we could find them. I would recommend just sorting yourself out with a proper shower in your van. This is why just buying an old camper is good – it’s all done for you.
What’s one of the things you learnt in the process in terms of van life that is really important?
God so much! My top tip is, make sure there is a place for EVERYTHING! When we left we had no place to put dirty clothes, spare loo rolls, our duvet – you need to write a list of everything you intend to take and plan a place for it. I would also say that we learned that it’s not as hard as you think it will be and people are generally really kind and helpful. You need to do your research, Sean was on it with the research so he knew about avoiding environmental zones and paying for tolls in advance etc. All the shit I wouldn’t think of.
What mistakes did you make in terms of renovating which you’d do differently or advice on?
Not having heating, not having a split charger, not making sure there was a space for everything, not having mosquito nets.
Anything in cities that is worth mentioning? I dunno like licenses / permits that may be needed?
Yeah you need to check for tolls and environmental zones
Any other important things to comment on in terms of van life / van renovation / major tips?
So hard to say because it’s all about your own preferences. I wish I had an oven on the van but if you’re not bothered about cooking then you won’t care. I would just say that it’s even more amazing than you think it’s going to be. It can be tough at times but it’s always worth it.
Did you ever feel that living in a van was the same feeling of when you camp and you just want to get home and sleep in a comfy bed and scrub yourself clean or did you find living in a van was the same luxury as your own bed/hotel?
Purely depends on your conversion, ours is pretty nice (you’re welcome to come and see it!) so we do really enjoy it but because of the shower issue obviously there were times when I felt rank and just wanted a shower. I only missed my house in terms of unlimited electricity and water but we’re still living in the van even though we’re on my moms driveway because we really do love it. It’s our own space, the way we like it.
WiFi - how did you connect? What would you recommend? Do we need to be aware of any impacts of Brexit on network connections?
We started out with a portable router with it's own sim card but found it annoying having to keep it charged so we both switched our phones to
VOXI Sims and hot spot to our laptops. They have amazing coverage all over Europe and the price is really reasonable - you could even just change one of your phones to Voxi and get one of the bigger packages. Let me know if you want me to do a refer a friend!
If you only had 3 months - what are your top destinations to visit?
- Norway without a doubt - we'd have spent endless months there if we could!
- The Baltics are fabulous, we took a ferry from Sweden to Estonia
- Poland - I just love it, depending on your route I'd highly recommend going there if you haven't been before
- Croatia! What a diamond, so underrated. The road along the Adriatic coast is just like a dream. Split and Dubrovnik were some of my favourite places by far.
- If you've visited Italy before I would give it a miss this time, depending on your route it's worth dipping into visit Lake Garda, Venice and the independent country of San Marino
- We also loved France, it's diverse, beautiful and amazing for campers but if you're going to do a 3 month stint you'll want to leave France to a minimum as you can always do a week here and there in France.
Norway and ferries - heard they are expensive if your van is over 5m ours is 6.7m - was this your experience?
Our van is 7m, the ferries aren't that expensive but because you have to use them so often it soon starts to add up. Our friends have written a book that tells you all about ferries, routes and ho to save money, I'd really recommend it if you're going to do the Nordics - you can read my review and buy the book here.
Tyres - did you change to winter tyres at any point?
Yes, in a lot of countries it's legally required. Our normal tyres were due an upgrade anyway so we just had a local mechanic put winter tyres on - which we kept on through the summer with no issues.
All tips for being off grid and any good tech to keep us connected would be useful!
- You need the app Park4Night - we couldn't have coped without it
- Is your van equipped with a European sat nav? We spent a fortune on ours and it wasn't worth it.
- Consider investing in an emergency jump start, keep it fully charged at all times so that if your van battery dies you can get going again!
- Steering wheel lock/security - we spent over £100 on a steering wheel lock but it gave us peace of mind that even if someone broke in, they couldn't take our home.
- If you can afford to, invest in good laptops - light, low energy, good battery life. We took our old crappy laptops and had to spend days hooked up to electric to make sure we could work without solar energy
- Think about upgrading one or both of your phones, Sean had a much better phone than me so managed to take some amazing photos. We took an SLR and a GoPro and they barely got a look in because let's face it, it's a pain to lug a huge expensive camera around when a phone can do just as good a job!
- Not sure if your MoHo has a tv but I would recommend taking an ipad/tablet to watch films on rainy days
- Take a kindle instead of books - you'll need the space!
- Oh we had one of those electronic toll things, they're expensive but convenient
- If you're into music take a good quality portable bluetooth speaker