Minimalist Living in a Minivan

[Music] hi everyone welcome back to my next video today we're going to meet kit who is in this really nice this is a Dodge Caravan it is a Dodge Caravan huh and are you full timing it or just trips I'm currently full timing I've been on the road since June of last year oh yeah a year and a half then ya know June of 2017 70 yes yes almost six months six months and what do you think so far I'm having an amazing time it's been it's it's been a real adventure for sure and it was something you choose you wanted to try out a new way of life and how has the minivan worked out it hasn't been enough space yeah so surprisingly a lot of people think there's no way to make a minivan be livable for any length of time but for myself and my little dog it's it's been perfect for us really yeah I'm I'm a bit of a conscious minimalist to start with so I I tend to just have what I need and if I need other things as I go along I'll add and subtract as necessary but I'm really happy good I am too I live in a van and for a long time and I'm really really delighted to find people so what made what attracted you to it what well if you were a man I'd say you must have a midlife crisis right but what attracted you to it well I had a midlife crisis and I guess and I I guess I I remember thinking I am I going to have a crisis or I'm going to have an adventure and I decided to have an adventure so I my background is in Social Work I was a social worker for years I went into the Canadian military as a Social Work officer and I was injured and suddenly life change there were things that I wasn't doing that I had done before and there were a lot of gaps in meaningful experiences for me and it was time to look for a path to start adding those important things back into my life and it just happened to be the right time in my life my kids had grown up my work life had changed and it was just a good path for me and has life been an adventure for the last six months would you yes it certainly has so I I think I've traveled about thirty thousand kilometers since I got on the road I'm from Canada so I currently calling Ottawa home so I set off for the east coast of Canada and then I turned around and I went all the way to the west coast my daughter joined me my 24 year old daughter for six weeks and she traveled with me we were able to travel comfortably for for six weeks together and so are you going to what's your future hold for you then okay so I can only leave Canada for six months at a time right so I need to be back in Ottawa beginning of me and right now I'm time sharing an apartment with my son who goes to school in Ottawa so he's looking after things I go home and then he goes away to work and I think we're going to be able to do that next year after that I'll make a decision as to whether I need to keep an apartment or not keeper what are they saying sticks and bricks right whether I need to do that um right now I feel like I don't live there anymore I'm quite happy to live exactly where I am right just wherever I am but I have no doubt that that this is now a part of my life I'm just not sure the technicality of how that will unfold yes it's sorry it's harder when BC Canada because you got cold winters that's right yeah my daughter and I did six weeks coming across the Rocky Mountains and our goal was to have a week of winter camping now paying for it and we did it it was successful but it's kind of one of those experiences you look back on and go wow you know you're proud that you survived but you're not really sure you want to do it right yes so I'm really impressed with what I've seen in your van would you mind showing us around kit I'm really this is the most unusual van setup I've ever seen I mean I've seen a lot of them look exactly the same and I've never seen anything like this this is your design it is and did you build it I didn't physically build it so what happened as I watched videos and looked at Pinterest and talked to people on Facebook just getting an idea of how people set up their vans and then I spent about three months in an empty van once I took the seats out and I had a just a crate that I would sit on in there and I'd sleep in different directions and I would think about how I wanted to use it I started sketching what I wanted I laid out everything I thought I wanted to bring I thought okay where am I gonna put all this and then I had a friend who helped me do a 3d drawing and that led me to start interviewing cabinet makers carpenters people on Kijiji which is kind of like a like a Craigslist kind of thing like just in the classifieds people looking for work until I found a pair of fellows who were just the perfect team and they tolerated me being out at the work site every day for about six weeks while we figured out how to do this day by day right so they built it and they just use the plans that I had okay so I guess I have to start with saying that I'm 5 foot 2 and 3/4 and do not drop that 3 I think of those matter portent they matter when you're in a space this small really I'm kind of kidding but kind of not kidding I'm able to side sleep in the van so that makes a big difference for this particular build because I was able to think about the rest of the space in a different way right so my bed goes side to side I've got over 3 feet wide and behind the drivers area that's really unusual I don't think I've ever seen a van do is that right yeah I like it though thank you so in terms of a sleeping space I'll just add that there's a table that slides in here so there would be a table right here there is but it's only this high right it's only about five inches off the ground and the point is for it to butt up exactly to that bed so that I can take the two cushions off the back of my bed which that's now in sort of coach couch mold right no if I just wanted to sit around during the day but if I if my daughter traveled with me again I would I would leave the table in here and I would bring those two cushions down she'd sleep with her head at this end and we would share foot space and this whole unit on the side is totally unique to me I've never seen anything like and this was your idea the pullout here is is unbelievably creative and brilliant to me so tell me so tell us all about that you just wanted to get again more space yes so there was a couple things one is I knew that I did not want to cook in my minivan okay for a number of reasons cool whatever people do it works for them but I didn't want to I didn't want the steam I was worried about condensation I cook a lot that's the other thing you know I often spend half an hour of cooking because I enjoy it it's like a hobby so I didn't I knew I would never want to cook inside so then that became obvious okay so I'll cook outside how will I do that and then I just thought well if everything is in one drawer it just simplifies the design the whole kitchen the whole kitchen so now it didn't happen overnight because of course you have to find the right component like the right pieces of appliances that actually fit so and I just kept things simple this is just wood on wood yeah so so it's kind of old-fashioned furniture right just you just glide it in and out so the other thing was finding a faucet that I could tuck in right because of course most faucets do okay sure yep just like that this actually goes all the way up and over Wow we're watching you so I needed clearance there and I needed clearance underneath as well because it's like a it's like a sled yes so there's a two-inch gap and I use that so from my from my sink I just have a hose connected so that my gray water just comes out I don't collect my grey water I just use a biodegradable soap and you know minimize it mm-hmm yes so that tucks up and then it the whole thing just slides in and it's pretty easy so you just lifted input like it's really not hard now sometimes I have to stop in and just tuck the hose up a little bit but it just goes like that it's that didn't look all that hard and then it's gone amazing so the other thing is that the cutting board is designed by one of the builders had this idea and I just loved it he said why don't you make a removable removable cutting board so that you can access your propane tank so yeah so I just it's got a regulator on I just turn it off at night I vent lead inside and so this way when I wear out the when I wear out the cutting board I can replace it easily so yeah I see you have a fridge I do that is a trucker's reaction so this whole area is essentially my it takes care of all my foods so I keep my tins lying down because I can't stand see what they are the solar is it's a samalex msk 135 135 35 watts and it's a portable system that goes into a little cat like a suitcase yes and that has served you and that's all you've been needed for your food in Japan in fact this solar because I live in Canada half of the year where the Sun is not as dependable so most camping trips will involve at least one or two rain days and sometimes in certain times that you're a lot more so I have the van mechanically altered to charge my in-house batteries and I for me that has been probably one of the best decisions I've made in terms of my whole power how I think of power in this man because it's a minivan i toot around really easy right like I it's easy for me to run to town I don't have to disconnect anything so a half an hour it seems like it's all I need to charge my battery so most days I'm rarely somewhere although the next part of my trip I'm gonna slow down for sure but so far I've never been somewhere long enough to drain my battery without the solar so on this end you just have some storage at the end of your unit yeah my kids cabinet kinda laugh at me because I call everything something but this is the this is the bathroom here this is sort of is where I keep all my toiletries yeah this is the library I just keep my journaling books whatever I'm reading I don't know if you can see the bars on my windows yes so I struggled for a really long time with Velcro and suction cups and how am I gonna make this go up and one night I had a dream about a yardstick that was plastic that could Bend and I was like that's it that's that's the answer so I just had these carpet things cut and they flex just enough that they sit in the lip of the window and when I'm not using them there's a little place down there that they can be anchored slide down it's just a little storage spot no and so this is where this is also what I I call this the control center here there's an awful lot of electrical stuff going on but it it's useful so I've got a propane and carbon monoxide detector just in case I have an overhead this is like a marine light that I got that's also very underused resource for people because boat people know a lot about electricity and they have a lot of products you can't find at the at the RV store so I got a marine light I've got a switch for my fridge so that when I'm not using it I can turn it off a place to plug in with 12-volt I don't know I kind of overdid the electrical but I have a 12 volt and a 120 a 120 and a place to plug in my computer so I do a lot of writing so it's important for me to have connection and enough power for them for using my computer this is where I hang out like this is my couch and on a hot day I can open both doors and have a nice breeze and on a cold day I just leave the back open or close up but so this gives me a spot I can I can sit with my head I'll just move this little fan that's just for condensation if I if I need it but yet these two come off and I can either just put them on the floor if I just want to lounge down there and use this as a bit of a pillow or it becomes the bed for a guest and then storage underneath the bed big area down there there is a big area so this particular van has a basement and it's it's called a stow and go but it's not where the seats were they actually created this is the 2017 I'm not sure when they went else they've done it but they created a basement essentially that had a bifold door and I just took the bifold door off and I used that to put my battery in my inverter mm-hmm because they're very heavy right so I wanted it really low and also I kind of wanted it to have its own compartment so yeah so these cushions are this cushion split in half so if I'm inside the man I just have to take off half move it to here and then there's a trapdoor just to lift up and get in yeah it lifts up it stays up by itself so it's not caulking me and so with the stone go there's a huge amount of space under there yes don't go under here no no because this this variety just the middle seats just come out okay and then the back stone goes I took those but this basement is just part of the storage that this man has not to leave this is essentially my you know my closet so I determined right from the beginning that I would only allow myself as much clothing as would fit and so I found two bins that fit perfectly in that space morning just pull them out so essentially they just slide in and out and just like on the other side I can take the cushion off from the inside and lift the trap door so I can also access my clothes from inside I put my winter jacket my winter boots Mike my hat my gloves my bathing suit like things that I offseason offseason stuff and it's just that's where it lives uh-huh and this you can see that the wiring ran along there and then you can kind of see into the other side right you see the plug things right I mean I asked three standard questions and you tell me if you don't want to answer that sir you're on some kind of Canadian disability to support yourself yes if you don't want to tell me no I don't see any reason to hide at this point so I I was medically released when I left the military and so I have a military pension and how do you go to the bathroom did we cover that no I don't think you did so that was kind of an interesting I would see the big porta-potties and all these screen you know quite elaborate setups for that yeah I'm just not that complicated so I have a 50 milliliter yogurt container with a lid on it that I use if I need to pee in the night and I'm fairly predictable otherwise so I just go to wherever there's facilities okay and most often you know when I started out I was at the federal campgrounds than a provincial campgrounds it's not too often that I've needed to be you know out completely without facilities and so how do you shower so I guess I have sort of two or three different ways one is I have a wash basin and I warm up warm water every day soap and water just in my van have a nice I call it a sponge bath or just a washcloth that every three days eat it or not I go to town and have a shower so here in court site awesome facilities you know $8 get to twenty minutes with shampoo and a bar soap and a towel and a washcloth and a little room truckstops also have that Flying J back in Canada I'm pretty sure I've seen them down here yes and I like to swim so anytime I see a recreational center for four bucks three bucks not only do I get a shower but you get to have a swim and talk with local people about what's going on in their town and I enjoy that so it really hasn't been a problem either soak it do what do you have any way for people to get in touch with you or follow you yeah I do actually so I after years of not using Facebook and online media very much I found it a wonderful way to connect with other travelers so I have a Facebook page that I consider like a public page and I just invite people to come and follow along I post almost every day about the day to day part of this adventure and they can find me as kit fantastic with a V fantastic there's a couple YouTube videos I wouldn't go so far as I say I have a youtube channel although I do but one is just a tour of the van when it first got built and the other is a bit of a story of a winter camping in Canada and I have an Instagram account this fantastic life and then I have a tribal blog and it's called this fantastic life and it's at dot CA and it's more of the storytelling aspect of this adventure and I'd love to hear from from anyone really it's so many people shared with me when I was coming into this and I am so happy to be part of a community and if I can help anyone along the way I'd like to do that very good thank you okay what can't thanks so much for sharing your your home with us and your really creative ideas I just really appreciate it thank you and folks if you got some great ideas out of this night I can't see you how you didn't like us on YouTube subscribe to the channel and we'll visit with you later [Music]

Channel: CheapRVliving

Views: 390,800

Rating: 4.9346628 out of 5

Keywords: live, living, car, van, RV, Full-time, nomad, gypsy, camper, camp, boondock, travel, snowbird, caravan, tiny, house, tribe, RTR, adventure

Id: 2Ao9Pgx6_jE

Length: 19min 59sec (1199 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 08 2019