She Has a SHORT Ford Transit DIY Campervan For City VAN LIFE Living, RENTS it Out to Cover Costs

this is Patrick with New Jersey Outdoor Adventures YouTube channel here in Brooklyn New York and today I'm meeting up with ra she's going to give us a tour of our custom Ford Transit camper band so join us hi I'm ra this is my Ford Transit 250 high roof this is my second van build uh I was living on the road for about 3 years and um I was in my first van for two of those years loved it it was a medium roof shorter wheelbase there were a lot of things I wanted to do differently though and and this van is essentially the product of that so the first thing that I did differently was I decided to do an awning I have a fyama F4 5S I think that says uh so this is a manual awning that comes out and is adjustable I really really like having that I can't believe I did two years without it honestly so come on in so first thing you'll see I have plenty of bench seating all around here's this and this um something that is is really important to me is storage so I have little pockets of storage all throughout the van this is my dog's little corner even little secret Areas like this for her leash things like that um my Webasto heater vent is right here and then at this bench seat you can see I have a adjustable removable swivel table and then something really cool that I like about this build is I wanted to be able to have extended seating for like when I have friends over or just want to Lounge because one of the things I found that I missed the most once I moved into the van was like couches I just missed sprawling out on a couch so watch me sprawl so that's just stored up there easy peasy and then yeah this is just so comfortable to be able to just Lounge out like this um and it's yeah it's great for having people over another great thing about this seating situation is I have this table that comes out like this so this is great for dishes extra counter space whatever but I also will use it as desk area so I'll show you the partition wall that I have my first fan did not have this but I decided I wanted to do it for the second build for safety purposes for keeping heat and cold out um and just for more privacy and here is the best part of my van this is my dog seoa she just turned 13 and she's perfect so um up here is a headliner shelf tons of storage because this is a high roof van um I keep the table for my swivel table up here the other components a little picnic blanket other things it can actually fit quite a bit and then here is another part of the van that is pretty amazing the ceiling so my Builder custom did this ceiling he laser and etched um all of these pieces of wood individually you can see they run across all the way and then there are different shapes that created this really cool pattern uh tons of storage over here as well so these cabinets are huge they fit a ton over here is my gnome and then underneath my gnome is my stove cook top it is runoff of propane um it's really nice because there's a very easy propane onoff system I don't like driving when the propane system is on so that is good for my anxiety below the propane switch is a USB 12vt system and then I have regular Outlets here as well those are powered off of my 2000 watt inverter my battery system is 200 amp hours of lithium um I also have 400 WTS of solar and my battery charges off the alternator over here I have some finished wall um it is insulated with thinsulate which is the same insulation I used in my first van because I really really like it and then I have this uh blind situation really easily goes up and down a friend installed it for me he just bought this blind situation from Home Depot custom cut it um and I really really like it the windows open part way and have a screen uh another difference between this and my first van my first van had only one tiny window and I really wanted to have a lot more like fresh uh air and light coming in over here I have a max air fan this is a remote controlled one it is really great for temperature control um over here is the system control unit I would say is what I would call it it makes me feel like a flight attendant just like pushing all the buttons and this and that um what we have going on is my wee boost I worked remotely when I was living in this van and so the we boost was really important for whenever I didn't have enough cell signal for uh working um I have a Webasto heater here's the control monitor water pump uh this controls the water obviously this is the inverter so that's so that I can use regular Outlets uh here's my battery monitor and the ceiling lights are dimmable my water system is a 20-gallon water tank this feels like such a luxury compared to my first fan my first fan had a teeny tiny Gall freshwater tank that I had to manually dump so I feel like a queen with this current system I have 20 gallons fresh water 5 gallon gray water tank that is automatically released whenever I pull this valve um an amazing huge sink really cool too because this goes outside so it can also be used as a little shower situation I'm not going to run it though cuz there's a pigeon and I don't want to alarm him another window over here this is a magnetic cover that comes on and off super easily and can also be rolled up really good for insulation and for privacy underneath my bench seat is some more storage shoes cookware whatever you need and then we wanted to keep everything in this build really lightweight so I especially love this pullout pantry you can see the wood is super thin um and it fits a ton in here over here is my composting toilet so I went with an Ogo and I'll tell you why it has the biggest uh PE storage tank out of any of the composting toilet systems I really liked that not needing to empty it out as much my first fan had a cassette toilet I hated it so I went with a I splurged on a composting toilet um I I really like it here you know is the system I cleaned it special for you guys when you open it up you can see we have the composting this is all fresh new composting don't worry and then here is the Pea storage as well it fits a gallon and a half um so yeah this has been a very good upgrade over here I have an upright fridge my last fridge was actually a chest fridge this is really really nice um I think there are pros and cons to both but this one fits a lot usually I have more than just a can of Trader Joe's dolas in there um but I'm kind of in between places right now underneath my sink um is a ton more storage as well so I have my trash can cleaning supplies broom all of that um and then I'll go over to my wardrobe if you will I really love this space it fits so much and the drawers slide out for easy access to everything more storage here for blankets and such another really cool thing is the adjustable Lighting on this mirror there are three different color temperatures really good for if you are obsessive about getting your eyeliner right like I am or really bad depending on perspective underneath this is more storage so pots pans things like that and then again a ton more storage over here this was fitting all of my workout clothes pajamas here we have some loose socks and a little scratcher I forgot about uh and then just odds and ends over here and here's another one of my favorite features um and I know I've said that about pretty much everything but I think that there is a lot of cool stuff in this van so I'm going to brag about it I have a senior dog um so I wanted wanted to have steps that would help her get on the bed these were custom built to slide out um as needed you can also lock it in place so that they don't move and then there is actually more storage underneath both panels as well I'm going to show you my bed I am taking my shoes off though it's extremely rude to take to go on a bed with shoes on even if it's your own bed disrespectful so this is a um fulls siiz mattress my Builder cut it to get it to custom fit in the rounded Corners everything like that um I really love this bed another great feature is over here my friend painted this mural and more window space sliding screen door um this is held up with just magnets it's a really cool set system and I love being able to just very easily open and close for lighting fresh air whatever um and above that is more storage space so clothes were all here back when I was living in the van fulltime over on this side of the bed I just wanted it to be completely open so that I could sit back easily hang out um and there's plenty of storage with the cabin cabinets over here um I wanted a fun pop of color typee of wallpaper so we went with this there's also a little more storage over here um that's where I used to keep my Taser and then more lighting again a really common theme that you can see is that my first van did not have a lot of Windows and I went complete opposite direction with this build so we have these sliding panels that open up to a skylight over here for added ventilation light any sort of emergency situation you can push these tabs pull these this way and then open this up easy peasy I really love having a skylight it's so nice to be able to like actually just feel like you're outside when you're inside and then having the sliding panels is great for someone like me who likes to sleep in until like 10:00 a.m. 11: a.m. uh back over here I really wanted finished back walls um and I the van didn't come with Windows and I felt like I already had so many windows throughout so I didn't want to install anymore so my my Builder um custom fit these in stained them the same color as the rest of the walls over here and um you can see some of the thinsulate is not totally finished up quite yet um here is some more USB charging area dimmable lights over here as well let's head around out back no let's take a look at the back by the way Patrick made my bed that's why it looks so crisp and fresh it this is great it never looks like this so there is a ton of garage space back here I have uh my starlink various random things um over here you can open this and that's where the water fill is over here is the propane system so it's a vented locker and a 15 lb tank back there really easy to turn on and off and then to replace as needed so over here is the electrical system it's really nice that it has this sliding door to separate things I have a 2,000 W Renegy inverter 200 100 amp hours of lithium battery here are all the fuses little cheat sheet so that's my van thank you so much for having me on Patrick thank you also for making my bed you did such a good job not a problem awesome to have you on the channel I appreciate the opportunity to film your van I like this layout I like how the front area is nice and open you got the little L Lounge you got a split gley kitchen and you got the big bed in the back it's very efficient flow now you traveled full time mhm what's next so I did 3 years on the road full-time I actually just moved to Brooklyn 2 months ago I kind of felt ready to just try a new adventure um I am going to be renting out this van which has been sort of hard to accept cuz I love it so much but I feel ready for other people to use it I'm not ready to sell it yet I want to be renting it out um so I can keep it for weekend Adventures but Patrick is going to include the link to the listing and you don't wear your shoes on the bed definitely put that in the comments that your van is for rent and that's cool that you're keeping it because like living in Brooklyn it's nice to kind of get away from weekend you can take this out to the Hampton you go up to caskill in a couple hours you're out of here but in the downtime it's available for rent exactly awesome this is Patrick with New Jersey's Outdoor Adventures YouTube channel see you next time

Channel: New Jersey Outdoor Adventures

Views: 82,928

Keywords: vanlife, van life, camper build, camper van, van build, sprinter conversion, van buildout, campervan, rv, camper, camping, glamping, van rantal, camper rental, campervan rent, city vanlife, nyc van life

Id: MouoaHjmmiQ

Length: 14min 24sec (864 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 27 2024