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Building a tiny home on wheels

April 23, 2019

We built the van interior ourselves over the summer/autumn of 2017 and hit the road full-time at the end of that November. Andy’s a designer so he was able to draw up detailed plans. We watched endless YouTube videos of other people’s builds from across the world so that we could get a feel for what would work for us. We’d also converted a VWT5 the year before for holidays which gave us a good idea of the space we could realistically live in while working full time on the road, which is why we went for a Mercedes Sprinter HiTop LWB (long wheel base). Andy’s 6ft tall – nobody can be expected to stoop in their permanent living space. Windows are important to us – getting that daylight in the van even on rainy days like this one is essential (it’s tipping down outside). We needed extra help with the solar panels and electrics so after fitting the panels (sitting on the roof of the van and drilling a hole in the metal is one of the scariest things I’ve accomplished) we went back to our supplier Remote Power UK and spent a few days at their site in Bala watching Graeme wiring up the electrics and getting advice. Spending a bit more on quality products and advice was a good move – our solar panels, leisure batteries and electrics are nearly 2yrs old and have run perfectly from day one. More info on the tech aspect of our build is on their website (link here). Apart from the solar energy, I also love our kitchen work surface and the overhead cupboards as they’re recycled from my old writing desk, which was originally a dining table & chairs bought for £40 in a charity shop. I’ve had this desk for years and didn’t want to let go of it so Andy repurposed it into the kitchen. Anyway today we are hiding out from the rain (the two lumps on the back of the bed are the snoozing hounds), these are the days when we appreciate the functionality of our tiny space the most. The kettle is on, there’s words to write… #vanlifeeurope #poetlife #tinyliving

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