Living a free, independent life appeals greatly to those who don’t want to be tied down to a more structured and expensive lifestyle.
A 64-year-old woman from Australia named Claire decided to downsize after realizing she no longer needed a big house.
She had a home and mortgage, but her income was limited as an artist.
“So I thought if I had something small and beautiful that I own without a mortgage, that’s going to make me feel a lot better than having four empty bedrooms and a mortgage,” Claire said.
SOURCE:YOUTUBE – JORDAN OSMOND
So she sold her house, bought an empty van, and turned the van into her new home!
Claire spent about a year researching, reading, and looking at tiny houses and van builds to design her own.
She picked little things out of each tiny home she saw until she came up with her design.
She sketched the design herself. “I designed it down to the millimeter,” she told YouTube show “Home on the Road.”
She searched until she found someone to build her new campervan home.
The company that did the installation is called Roaming Wild Campers (Campervan Conversions), located in Mudgee, Australia.
The 19.5-foot-long van is a 2016 Fiat Ducato Maxi turbo diesel.
The vehicle cost $26,000, while turning it into a home on wheels cost another $45,000.
Claire calls her new home her “mouse house.”
SOURCE:YOUTUBE – JORDAN OSMOND
The van houses a desk, kitchen, pantry, bedroom, bathroom, refrigerator, and plenty of storage for Claire.
There is double insulation on the ceiling, floor, and walls.
“My kitchen is full of spices because I love to cook,” she said.
The van also has a hot water system, which requires the flip of a switch to turn on.
The kitchen has a three-burner stove, oven, and cupboards, where she stores her food, dishes, pans, silverware, and tools.
And her water comes from a 70-liter fresh-water tank under the van. There’s also a 70-liter gray water tank.
Claire lives fully off-grid in her van using solar power and a 200 amp-powered lithium battery.
Claire wrote down everything she did throughout a normal day to figure out what she needed inside the van.
“So I just thought about what it was that I did and what I really liked doing and what I would miss if I didn’t have,” she explained.
One of the things she needed was office space, so there was a small desk, computer, and drawers where she could work.
Other cool features inside the van are a kitchen counter that folds up to reveal her bathroom.
There is a toilet, and she can even hang up a temporary shower curtain to shower.
SOURCE:YOUTUBE – JORDAN OSMOND
The pump for the bathroom water is located under the bed.
A sitting area is next to the bed, and a table pulls out from under the bed, where she eats her meals.
The fridge is under the sitting area next to the “bedroom.”
The bed is a single bed, and there’s a skylight over the bed that completely opens up.
LP gas storage is located under the bed at the back of the van.
How does Claire ensure she always has the resources needed to live in the campervan?
“Living intentionally is a big part of it.”
“You know how much water you have on board, so you’re water conscious. You know how much sunlight’s been on the solar panels, so you know how much energy you’ve got,” she said.
So are there any downsides to living in a van? Only one, according to Claire.
“The only downside is when it rains a lot.”
