When Alexis and I first decided that we wanted to travel full-time with our family, we weren’t exactly sure how we were going to go about it. There was a lot to consider, but we knew for sure we wanted to be as mobile as possible and spend as much time as possible in the great outdoors. We wanted adventure, but we also felt that it was important to maintain some semblance of stability and routine for our two boys (and our own sanity).

With these considerations in mind, we decided that utilizing long-term Airbnb rentals — aka slow travel –would be the best approach for us. We hoped that renting a fully furnished home for 1-2 months at a time would give us a home base to explore from and ample time to really get to know a place. Other positives include: reliable Internet service (important for me as I’m working remotely as we travel), a place for friends and family to come visit, and an opportunity for our boys to enroll in local kids programs (swim lessons, music, gymnastics, etc.).

I know what you’re thinking, why sell your house and all your stuff just to move from house to house every month? That’s not traveling, that’s just moving a lot! Read on.

As much as Alexis and I love the idea of being fully nomadic and living out of a travel trailer or camper van, it just didn’t seem realistic long-term – at least not in the beginning. So we decided on a hybrid approach – enter our Sprinter van conversion.

In mid-2017, before we ever had our first conversation about living a nomadic lifestyle, Alexis and I purchased a brand new Mercedes Sprinter Van. It was love at first sight! It was also the first time we had ever purchased a brand new vehicle, but we had big plans for this one.

Within a few weeks of buying the van we took off on a road trip through the Eastern Sierras. We piled up all of our camping gear, a queen size foam mattress, and enough provisions to camp out for a few days. It was a primitive set-up, but we knew right away that we were onto something.

It took us four hours to get to our destination, but the boys didn’t seem to mind at all. When they got hungry, Alexis could easily access the ice chest and hand them a snack. If they wanted her to sit next to them, she could do so comfortably and with minimum effort – no stopping required! Sleeping in the van was a huge improvement over tent camping. It was quieter, warmer, and just plain fun.

On the drive back Alexis and I talked about some basic improvements we could make to the van before our next camping trip, and started planning our next trip. I rigged together an elevated sleeping platform in the back of the van that would allow us to store all of our camping gear underneath and that could be easily moved in and out to allow us to carry up to 12 passengers in the van.  Before long, with a handful of new gadgets and a few more camping trips under our belt, we had our camping system pretty well dialed in.

So after deciding to go the slow travel route utilizing Airbnb, it was clear we would need a vehicle to get from one place to the other, get around town, and ideally still allow us to explore remote places. Utilizing our Sprinter Van was the obvious choice, but it was going to need a few important upgrades.

Storage

In its original configuration the van only has storage under the bed platform (commonly referred to as “the garage” in van builds). Although there is a ton of space under there, it’s not very accessible. For starters, you have to get out of the van to access this area, and if what you need is tucked way in the back, or under something else, you have to pull everything out and put it all back in. Not fun when you are just trying to find the handheld milk frother to whip your wife up a latte and just end up waking up the kids and letting in all the cold from outside.

To make the van better fit our needs (and fit our stuff) we needed much more accessible storage in what is now our kitchen/living room/dining area. (I’m working with 374 cu.ft., so no grand foyer). This additional storage allows us to have access the items we need when we are spending the day in the van, camping, or driving long distances, as well as freed up space in the garage for the things we’ll need to haul around with us (work equipment, backpacking gear, etc.). To accomplish this, we worked with a local custom cabinet shop to build a countertop with a small sink and ample storage underneath and cabinets overhead. I also installed a large shelf over the driver and passenger seats. This allows us to keep most of our dry food and cookware easily accessible and enables us to make morning lattes without disturbing the peaceful slumber of our darling children. ?

Security

Although we aren’t necessarily “living in our van,” it will periodically contain everything that we own and value. When you downsize from 2,000 sq.ft. to 374 cu.ft., you only keep the things that you love, and we to keep those things secure. As part of the early van build process I had a Viper SmartStart alarm system installed in our van. This system allows us to remotely operate our van’s security system from our smartphone. We can lock, unlock, and remotely start the vehicle from anywhere we have cell service, or utilize the stock key fob when we don’t. The system also includes a GPS tracking device in case I need to go full Liam Neeson on some unsuspecting van thief. ?

Safety

Our van did not come with a backup camera. Although there are windows all around and visibility is pretty good, I can’t see low-lying objects behind me when I back up, as evidenced by the gash in my rear bumper… courtesy of a small boulder I encountered while trying to back into a vista point parking area on Sonora Pass. ? For the safety of boulders everywhere, and any unattended children, I decided to have a backup camera installed along with the security system.

We also needed to figure out how to keep the boys safely secured while driving. The Sprinter came with (2) three-person bench seats, and (1) four-person bench seat – both of which would occupy more space than necessary to carry two small children. In a fit of overconfidence, I first tried to solve this problem by cutting down the four-person bench seat into a two-person seat and trimming it out with wood to make it look like a small bench seat. It took a lot of time and work, but I was able to make it work. Success! No. On our first road trip with the boys in the seat they fought and bickered and taunted each other mercilessly. Ultimately, I had only succeeded in turning a perfectly functioning seat into an ornate child (and parent) torturing device. 

Enter Plan B! I scrapped the factory seat and had the cabinet builders design a large bench seat with enough space between the boys that they could tolerate each other for long stretches of time. As an added bonus, we were able to also have large full-extension drawers installed under the bench seat where we now keep our shoes, cold weather gear, and dry food. 

When we had the upholstery for the bench seat done, we also had them install two seat belts for the boys. The seat belts are secured using heavy duty bolts and mounted through two layers of ⅜ inch marine grade plywood. It may not meet DOT safety standards, but the seatbelts are very secure and the seat is now comfortable enough that they aren’t begging to ride on the bed unsecured.

Power

This will be its own blog post at some point, as powering a camper van conversion is a favorite topic of debate among van conversion enthusiasts. In summary, to borrow from the infamous words of Captain Kirk, “we need more power.” We needed a power supply capable of running a series of 12v LED lights, a large 12v refrigerator, all of our electronics and number of small 110v AC appliances. To accomplish this I decided to go with a plug and play option made by Inergy. The Inergy Kodiak is as simple as it gets. Plug in solar panels, plug in cables/cords, push the power button. It’s an oversimplification, but using a few simple adaptors I am able to power the entire van. 

Insulation

As a mentioned above, sleeping in the van is warmer than sleeping in a tent, but it still gets cold! Our Sprinter came equipped with an auxiliary heater, which is tapped directly into the fuel tank. This heater will run with the engine off, but it has to be turned on manually from inside the van and requires that the outside temperature be 39 degrees or below (don’t ask me why). When it gets below 39 degrees, we run the heater and can stay toasty. When its just above 39 degrees, it can get a bit chilly in the van.

To avoid having to run the heater as often, and to help eliminate some of the road noise from the van (it’s a commercial vehicle after all), we used 3M Thinsulate to insulate the van. It was a bit more expensive than other options, but it was also less messy and less complicated that other options.The insulation should keep the van cooler on hot summer days, and warmer on winter nights. This will allow us the ability to explore year round in most climates. 

Everything Else

Alexis and I talked at length about things like a shower and compost toilet, but given our van size, it doesn’t seem like a major priority right now. (Trust me, I know how that sounds! Stick with me…) While we’ll definitely lean into dispersed camping, so we have a pop-up tent that we can utilize to take bucket showers with a submersible shower pump. We also use the tent for our pop-up toilet, with which we use a double-bag system. We also hit up Hipcamp locations or recreational campgrounds where those amenities will be covered when we need the real deal.

We also have a pop-up table and a tub with all of our cookware. We do 99% of our cooking outside, unless the weather doesn’t permit (in which case we’re likely already driving somewhere with better temps!).

For those of you who’ve built out your van — or plan to — what are the big changes on your radar? If you’re still wondering how we manage to live out of our van, what questions do you have for us?