April-June 2020

Making every inch count

During our “spring break,” while waiting out the quarantine, John worked on the van. He installed a propane furnace and a locker for fuel storage. The project was the first domino in a cascade of adjustments to make room for this upgrade. In terms of space, the van is so tightly configured, that if one thing moves, then other things need to scootch over or find a new spot. Bottom line – we ended up emptying the van and removing most of the cabinetry, in order to access wiring, switches, etc. When finished, everything was reinstalled. Twice.

We also added a custom spice rack near the sink. Bungees hold the containers in place, so they don’t go flying when the van is on the road. (So much of our van life depends on bungees, velcro and high bond glue…we should have bought some stock in 3M)

Some creative thinking identified two other places that could provide more storage: a thin, flat pantry in the sink cabinet and the addition of an upper cabinet for dishware and utensils.

Early days of van build