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DIY Adventure Van - Our Stealth Base Camp

Nikki Wynn

Nikki Wynn

— 6 min read
DIY Adventure Van - Our Stealth Base Camp

Our Stealthy Adventure Van Is Finally Taking Shape!

We’ve been chasing our curiosity around the world on wheels and keels since 2010. But it's always been one or the other. Camper or sailboat. And now...well, we're aiming to do both simultaneously 🚐⛵. We’re building a stealthy little base camp on wheels while we're searching for our next floating home.

Finding the right boat for what we have in mind will take time. But a base camp on wheels, that one is much easier. Mostly because we've owned, rented and borrowed enough campers to know what we do and don't want. And for this next chapter, we're sticking with the motto: Keep It Simple Stupid

Stealth and Function Over Flash

We prioritized adventure-ready functionality over Instagram-worthy aesthetics. The less attention, the better – especially when we're planning to take this thing through Central and potentially South America. Every decision was made with three things in mind: weight, simplicity, and getting us from one adventure to the next.

Our van build is light, unique and wildly functional.

But here's the fun twist, we're bringing a little boat logic into van life. It has saved us a ton of weight and money. However, only time will tell us how well blocks, lines and cleats work while off roading.

In this video we are walking you through our very DIY, still-in-progress, van conversion. It’s rough and tough in all the right ways and filled with tiny hacks that make life on the move way more enjoyable.

The DEETS

This list is intended to provide a little guidance if you're building out your own tiny home (land or water). 

Some of the links below are affiliate links (meaning we make a small commission if you click and order) and others are to companies (for example Just Cats, Upfit, etc.) that we don't get commissions on.  We're sharing because we hope it helps you the same as others have helped us.  And if you can learn from our research and/or mistakes, that's a win.  Also if you're reading over this post and think of something you love and think we need to know about, please share it in the comments!  This post will be updated over time and it will be even better with input from our experienced crew (that's you!).  

Electrical

We worked with Just Catamarans to select the best electrical gear for our needs.  They had suggestions for everything from Stupid Simple (what we went with) to run-everything-like-you're-on-the-grid upgrades. We know what our goals and travel plans are for now. If and when our plans evolve, so will our set up.

As we mentioned in the video, the Victron inverter is only a backup that allows us to charge laptops, phones, and other low wattage devices while driving. Most importantly, it is an easy backup should there ever be an issue with our battery pack. We can use it to charge our battery pack too, but hopefully our solar will keep up with our needs.  Because charging the battery pack with the inverter is not the most efficient solution. Should we find the solar isn't keeping up, we will install the Car Charger listed below.

Interior Buildout

Instagram and YouTube are an endless feed of beautiful, built to look like a tiny oasis van builds.  And some have EVERY piece of tech and gear you can find installed.  But I can't imagine many of them fall within the manufacturers payload limits.  For our van we were motivated by simplicity, function, weight and price. 

We found Upfit Supply on YouTube and when we called, a real person answered the phone! Novel idea these days. The guy knew the products well, answered all my questions and confirmed we had everything in our cart for our specific model of van.  However, they didn't carry the 3M insulation we wanted, so we ordered that from another company.  Our Transit came with an insulated rubber floor, so we laid the new floor on top of it to insulate it even better. Overkill, but it's soo much quieter now.

Walls and Floor $2861 + Insulation $655 + Cabinets $360 = $3876

Best Sailor Inspired Lifting Bed in a Van(?)

We wanted a lifting bed that was lightweight, affordable, easy to install and not electric powered.  Which did not seem to exist. Even the general fixed platform bed kits were at around $2k. Soooo expensive! We weren't in love with any of the options out there.  So, we turned to our sailing roots and we found a solution that we think is genius. 

But the one thing we're not in love with is the bed frame.  I've reluctantly linked to it below. Use it as a guide for what not to buy.   The issue is the frame folds in half for shipping purposes, which makes it less user friendly for a hoisting system.  We needed a solid frame. We added some additional support and it will do fine for now, but I'd guess there's a better frame. We'll keep our eye out and update if we find something better. 

As for the Japanese mattress...it is comfortable (firm support), yet thin so we can hoist the bed to the ceiling.  And the kapok pillows are awesome. I would like a whole mattress made out of the stuff!

NO AC?!? Just Fans

We lived on a boat for years without A/C and were fine 90% of the time. So we're keeping it simple with the van for now.   If we're in a situation where it's unbearably hot we can easily rent an AirBNB or get a Hotel.  But ventilation is super important in small enclosed spaces and having a rain cover is essential.

Practical Van Gear

There are a few vanlife necessities that make living on the road more tolerable. 

Water Without Plumbing

We've kept it super simple in the water department.  A fully portable faucet that works for showers and a pop-up sink basin for doing dishes. 

Kitchen

We splurged for the 1200 watt blender because it needs to crush ice (we like smoothies), we found the best little multi-cooker that makes whole meals in less time, a people powered coffee system, and magnetic dishware that doesn't rattle or move while driving down the road. 

Yes, Silwy is a paid sponsor in the video, but we would have had their gear regardless. They seriously have the most clever RV and boat friendly products.  We have the plates, bowels, paper towel holder, bar tray, whiskey glasses, wine glasses, magnetic XXL kits, spice jars, insulated mug and more.  I love it all and highly recommend checking them out.  And, if you use our discount code WYNNS, you'll get 10% off your order. 

Portable Toilet

If the need arises we may upgrade to a composting toilet in the future.  The Nature's Head we used to own is still a great toilet, but there are more compact options now that are even better for a tiny van build.

Convertible Office & Dining Space

The bases of the tables and chairs are heavy enough to keep them in place while driving (we still secure them for good measure), but not so heavy they can't be easily moved outside for alfresco working or eating.  The tables raise up and down so they can double as a kitchen prep space, standing desk, or sitting desk.

The chairs are outdoor chairs that may be a summer find only. Outdoor is best because we 100% will use them outdoors. They are comfortable, breathable and not too loungy to act as an office chair.  If I find a non-Ikea option I will link it here in the future.

We purposely chose not to have the captains chairs swivel.  While this feature is nice in theory, we found we rarely used it because it's not the most comfortable.  In the future should we decide we want a swivel, it can be retrofitted fairly easy.  

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