The Build

The “build” is the creation of your campervan from whatever condition it is currently in. Regardless of the eventual type of build, you may find benefit in using a standardized order of events.

Builds range from bare essentials to technical wonderlands to luxurious. There are no fixed lists of “Must Have's” or “Most Avoids”, because the whole point of building a van is that it has what you want. How fancy you get is up to you, from the most basic usage of a “metal tent” with nothing but a sleeping bag and a camping pad in the back, up to the $200k+ pre-made luxo-barges.

Here's some very rough estimations of build types, from the simple to the complex. Everyone can freely pick and choose the level of complexity of any sub-system that they want; there exist plain metal tents with multi-thousand dollar lithium battery setups, or finely crafted artisanal woodworking builds that have no more electricity than a few AA battery powered tap lights. It's completely up to you.

Note: These builds are targeted at people who are van-dwelling by choice. If your situation is different, please see Involuntary vandwelling.

Fast and simple, this is as minimal as it gets. You're in a metal box that keeps the elements off of you, and everything else is done in a similar way to backpacking. Also see frugal camper builds.

• Interior
  • None, or Factory interior
• Sleeping equipment
  • Foam sleeping pads
  • Sleeping bag
  • Stuff some clothes into a plastic bag for a pillow
• Food Storage
  • None, or a plastic bag of dry goods
• Cooking
  • Jet-boil or similar minimal stove to heat up hot water
• Clothing & Storage
  • A backpack or few.
• Electricity
  • Vehicle battery
• Internet
  • Cell phone

Good for casual overnights or weekends in campground near services, you're likely not making too many permanent modifications to the vehicle. You're still looking to be simple and efficient, but now you may take a few more of life's luxuries with you.

• Interior
  • None, or Factory interior
• Sleeping equipment
  • “Car Camping” inflatable sleeping pads or air mattress
  • blankets or sleeping bag
  • Maybe a proper pillow at this point
• Food Storage
  • $30 Wal-Mart cooler with ice
• Cooking
  • Jet-boil, or upgrade to a Whisper-lite type stove for a wider cooking ability
• Clothing & Storage
  • Still duffle bags, or potentially clear totes
• Electricity
  • USB Power bank
• Internet
  • Cell phone, maybe hotspotting it to a laptop for a couple hours.

By now you're started to think you might like this whole van-life thing. You're going to spend multiple nights in it, maybe go a little farther and try your hand at the occasional boondock. You're going to start the build and have some tools, and abilities to make more permanent modifications. A little bit of interior build out can make things feel more put-together.

• Interior
  • Factory interior is still great if your chosen van had one, otherwise
  • Basic Plywood on the walls, maybe some rubber mats for the floor
• Sleeping equipment
  • Folding cot or 2×4 platform to get yourself off the floor (this helps a LOT with storage, and having someplace to sit)
  • Thicker camping pad and blankets, or sleeping bag.
  • A real pillow
• Food Storage
  • Higher quality & larger cooler with ice
• Cooking
  • Whisper-lite type stove, or perhaps a countertop stove.
  • Maybe a second pot and some dollar-store cooking utensils.
• Clothing & Storage
  • Plastic furniture, clear totes, or hanging closet organizers can be a very useful way to utilize vertical space
• Electricity
  • Larger USB power bank, or potentially a small solar generator.
  • For weekend+ adventures, a portable folding 100w solar panel can greatly extend your capabilities
• Internet
  • Cell phone, maybe hotspotting it to a laptop for a couple hours.

Starting to get committed now, and you're looking at spending a solid week+ at a time in the van. You may even be full-time, but keeping it to a budget. Modifications may be more serious/permanent, and you're doing actual construction. Maybe you're bringing your partner? The quality of life can go up a lot as you're capable of bringing more capabilities/comfort with you.

• Interior
  • Maybe a nicer interior with 4-way stretch or wood paneling on the walls, and a finished floor of some kind
  • Good insulation will help with heat retention/blocking, as well as noise suppression
  • The amount of effort here is very optional! To many people though, being able to look at something nicely finished and decorated can make it feel much more like a “home”. Many others don't care.
• Sleeping equipment
  • Fixed sleeping platform, with something like an air mattress or very nice “glamping” sleeping pad or slab of memory foam. A real mattress can be a great investment.
  • Real sheets and blankets
  • Real pillows
• Food Storage
  • 12v Refrigerator
• Cooking
  • Countertop stove. Larger dual-burner folding camp stoves can greatly increase your cooking options
  • A more complete cooking set of pots, plates and utensils.
• Clothing & Storage
  • Building in fixed shelves/drawers can help keep the relatively small space organized. Hanging closet organizers can be a very useful way to utilize vertical space
• Electricity
  • 12v house battery setup (Particularly critical if you're running a 12v refrigerator)
  • Starting to put in fixed lighting and exhaust fans can make a huge increase in your quality of life
  • Larger solar generator can be an option, but they get unreasonably expensive. Unless you desperately NEED the portability, it usually ends up being much cheaper to assemble your own fixed-in-place system.
  • Portable folding 100w solar panel can greatly extend your capabilities
• Internet
  • Especially if you're a digital nomad and working remotely, a dedicated Jetpack device will be a solid investment.

Some suggestions for longer month-ish trips focused on outdoor rec activities and looking good in staged photos

Suggestions for real full-time van living

More luxurious builds for the digital nomads tapping at a laptop

There's no “Right” way to plan. Various methods are used for planning:

• pen and paper
• sketchup or other design/CAD programs
• Cardboard Aided Design²⁾, 1:1 modeling the van space in the real world
• the “sit/stand in the van and think” model recommended by secessus

• A clean, functional build for $1200, which could have been considerably less without custom welding and powdercoat.

• a woodworker's build