How To Build The Perfect Van After 5 Years On The Road

We’ve built two different campervans and can honestly say, neither of them were even close to what we expected, but both were perfect in every way.

Perfect doesn’t come from a checklist of things you’ve seen in every other van build.

It doesn’t come from a life portrayed online.

The perfect van build comes when you follow the guidelines below instead. Let me back up a bit to explain why.

Small wheel base sprinter van, low roof, with inside built out and solar panel hanging between the open front and slider door.

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Izzy, Our First Van Build

When we lived in Scotland, we thought we would be settling down, living in an apartment in the city, and starting to have kids. None of that happened.

Instead, we chose to ditch the flat, not start a family, and build a home on wheels. In the planning stages of our first build, our perfect van was a long wheelbase, high-roof van, with lots of space for a fully made bed, bathroom with a shower, and a separate dining area so we could have friends over.

What we ended up with was a short roof, small wheelbase Sprinter, with a bed we had to make every day, and very little space for more than two people.

But holy smoke.. Izzy was the absolutely perfect van.

Her small size was cheaper on ferries, allowed us to get into car parks with height bars to limit campervans in the parking lot, and the low cost granted us a life of freedom we never dreamed possible in Scotland.

Looking inside a minivan campervan conversion with orange cushings as the bed and white paint for the wood with a cat hole by the door. — Our first bed in Willy was made from outdoor couch cushions, before we upgraded to Ikea matresses.

Willy, Our Second Build

When it came time to build out our second van, we again had an idea of what the perfect van looked like. It would have space for a bed that was made all the time. We would be able to stand in it. And we would be fully self-contained, able to live on the road anywhere.

What we ended up with was a minivan campervan. We converted a 1992 Toyota Previa to a home on wheels and have been living in it since June 2022.

We cook out the back. Shower in the bushes. Have to bend over to sit up straight, and make the bed 365 days a year!

It’s again, not at all what we had imagine, but it’s again the perfect van in every way.

What We’ve Learned Makes The Perfect Van After Building Out Two

Grace

Timelines and perfectionism don’t mix well with a van build. Things always take longer than they seem, measurements are wrong, even after measuring ten times, and little imperfections are to be expected.

When building out your perfect van, remember, that perfect means something that’s done and can get you on the road.. not something that’s perfectly squared and has no imperfections in the build.

Flexibility

Flexible timelines, flexible floor plans, and flexible ideas are what make the perfect build. As you build, some things just won’t work out the way they do in your head.

That’s okay!

I’d argue that van builds never turn out exactly how they’re mapped out in people’s brains or mockups. The build process is ever-evolving and constantly changing as you go.

Granddaughter and grandfather sitting in a minivan in the middle of building out the van into a campervan. — Beer breaks were better with grandpa around during our first build.

Celebrating Wins, No Matter How Small

It’s important to celebrate the little victories along the way. Even when they take longer than expected.

Finish a single cabinet? Celebrate!

Complete your entire electrical setup? Celebrate!

Didn’t question all your decisions up to this point? Celebrate!

Celebrating as you build can look like taking the van out for a night away after the van vent is installed. It could be cracking open a cold one once you finish laying the floor. It can even be a day off after pushing through multiple days on end with the buildout.

Letting Emotions Flow

Not to be dramatic, but every emotion you thought possible and then some will come out while you build your perfect campervan.

happy
sad
mad
proud
frustrated
excited
overwhelmed

You’ll literally be second guessing every thing as you try to get the cabinet right for the tenth time, and then once the cabinet is installed on the 11th try, you’ll sit back and be so proud you freaking did that.

All the negative emotions will blow into the wind, and positive ones will surround you.. That is, until the next part of the build doesn’t go as swimmingly as you had planned.

Be prepared for the rollercoaster, and just know.. the perfect van will come out of all the hard work and crazy emotions you pour into it.

Woman sitting in a chair trying to figure out the back of her camper van build fold out table. — Working out how the heck to make this fold out table idea come to life.

Being Willing To Make Mistakes

I’m not sure if you’ve caught on yet, but mistakes and redo, and all the things will go on during your build. Be willing to make those mistakes, because in the end, you’ll learn from them.

It’s okay to try something and it not work out. In fact, I suggest you do that.

You’ll never know if something is a mistake, until it’s clearly a mistake.. so just go for it. Try and try again! You’ll work it all out!

Documenting The Journey

Whether you choose to document on social media, or in a private folder on your phone — document your build out.

Documenting your build is dual purpose.

First, when you’re feeling down about the build, whether that’s the duration or the look, or imposter syndrome of not feeling like you can finish.. you can look back at photos and see how far you’ve come.

It’s amazing the encouragement just looking at your previous successes can bring.

Second, documenting the process allows you to go back through and make sure you did something, or look exactly where a wire is when you’re all done.

The photos provide a digital blueprint for each and every step of the way. Great for when you need to update something, or have to take something out and put it back together again.

Looking inside a campervan conversion with hanging jars holding dry foods, a white drawer basket shelf and stove on top of counter below the hanging jars. — A peek inside Izzy, our first campervan build.

Innovativeness

The bike rack on our second van build, the minivan campervan conversion, was a total Hail Mary. We had absolutely no idea if it was going to work, and at first, it didn’t.

But then we could see we needed to give an extra bit of height to the fork mounts, so we just added in a pressure treated block to do the trick.

There was no design. No rough idea we were going off of. Nothing that we’ve seen that even looks similar.

It was an idea that Jay created in his head, and with a bit of innovation, he made it work.

We’ve actually had multiple engineers come up to us and ask how we did the measurements, and they’re always baffled when we say we didn’t measure a thing.

A little innovation goes a long way.. turns out you don’t need an engineering degree to build out a van.

Sunsetting on the horizon with woman working at outdoor camping table and minivan campervan conversion behind her. — Check out how the bikes move with the back hatch.

Creativity

One of my favorite bits of our first van build was the way we did the decor in the van. Instead of going out and buying new stuff, or more paint for the cabinets, we decided to take what we had and make it work.

We used modge-podge to glue old maps to our cabinet doors, creating a cleanable seal and adding a fun bit of color to the van.

We also used an old wardrobe cabinet as all our extra wood in Izzy. The tall cabinet doors we cut in half and used for our cupboards. The sides of the cabinet were used for our countertops and shelves, and the back of the cabinet was our entire table top!

Creativity goes a long ways, both for helping keep costs down and for adding a fun spin on your van build.

Thinking Outside The Box

While there are so many great resources online for dreamy builds, those builds aren’t the only way to make things happen.

Think outside the box. Create your own style. If something doesn’t work one way, take a step back and try a different angle.

Shoot, take a day off from the van build, go outside and enjoy nature, then come back to it and look at it from a whole new approach.

Limited on space? Double things up. Make a movable table top that cover’s your fridge. Have your cabinet shelves fold down with string holding them in place to be a table top.

Make a shoe rack that can move to be part of your bed. You get the idea.

Minivan campervan conversion sitting along the river, with tent footprint hung for a canopy out the sliding door. — Getting creative and using things like our tent footprint as a canopy.

Sticking Within Your Budget

This one is probably the most important one of them all. The perfect van build doesn’t cost you your entire life savings and doesn’t put you in a ton of debt.

Create a budget, and then stick to it.

We built out both of our vans with reclaimed wood and stuff we either found for free on the side of the road or were given for free from family and friends.

And you’d never know if we didn’t tell you.

When we built out both vans we were set on not spending a ton of money. Instead, we wanted that money to go to traveling both in the vans and outside of them.

And we’ve lived in both vans full time for over two years each… never having a problem with our reclaimed wood, bedding, and more.

Upgrades can happen later. Build what you can afford, and see if you need the fancy schmancy stuff in time.

Are Bigger Vans Better?

Now, you may be thinking, both your vans have been small and you can’t possibly be in your dream home. And while we’d ideally have a bigger rig that’s 4×4, high clearance, and has a few of the extra comforts the smaller ones don’t offer….

We’d still argue that both vans have been perfect.

Both vans have allowed us to chase our dreams, see some epic beauty all over the world, pay for experiences we wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford. And both vans granted us the opportunity to live life differently. In a way that we get to create. Both vans have gotten us out doing it.. and whatever rig makes you get out on the road, allowing you the freedom of vanlife.. that’s the perfect van for you.