Solo Female Van Life - Stealth Ford Transit Connect W/ Clever Storage Hacks

uh my name is eva kellenberg this is my 2013 ford transit connect i call her birdie i converted her this summer and i've been on the road for about 10 days now [Music] welcome inside first here's my kitchen so i have a sink that i just made out of a mixing bowl and drilled a hole in the bottom for the strainer and under this cabinet i have six gallons of fresh water and two and a half gallons of gray water and i use this foot pump to use my sink and when i'm not using it i usually tuck this away so it's not by my feet i mostly use this water for washing dishes and if i'm filling up my pot to boil water for coffee in the morning but for drinking water i have a separate refillable jug that i use and refill at grocery stores um this table flips up and i use this to cook i have a two burner propane stove and i can set it like this to cook inside or flip it around to cook outside if i'm standing up cooking the van has been great i have set off the fire alarm once but at least i know it's working and yeah i really like to cook so it's great to have this set up and it's worked well so far up here i have a lot of dry goods coffee spices um snacks and then down here i have the heavier stuff so cans of beans some apples potatoes i use this camping stove when i just want to boil water pretty fast and then if i'm cooking for real then i'll use my two burner i also have a nutribullet blender because i really like smoothies and hummus i flip this panel down to have extra counter space this is one of my favorite parts of the build it is one of those things you clip on your shirt to pull out a badge and i just mounted it up here and this adds extra stability to the cutting board so i don't worry about breaking anything and then it retracts as i close it in this main drawer i have all of my utensils cooking supplies pots pans i have my propane in here as well the jar for my nutribullet some tupperware so this is way more space than i thought it would be and it's nice to have all of my dishes in one place in this little cubby i have my trash can my tiny dustpan and a little vacuum and a screen for my back doors if i want to sleep with the doors open it keeps the bugs out and then i also have a little basket that has my battery monitor charger for my vacuum and the remote for my inverter for my electrical setup i have 200 watts of solar on my roof and i have a battery to battery charger under the driver's seat chair and that powers my 200 amp hour lead acid battery which is stored under here under this drawer i have all of my wiring so if i ever need to access it i just take the drawer out and do whatever i need to in there i have a thousand watt inverter which powers my ac outlets which i use for my blender and to charge my computer and other devices the electrical setup has worked out really well so far i haven't really run into any issues and i'm pulling in plenty of power with my charging sources i want to do a fun backsplash because most of my other surfaces are covered with white paint or kind of wood toned and so i chose this kind of orange backsplash tile sticker because i thought it added some nice color in this face and it also reflects light well so kind of brightens up the kitchen i would really love to have a drip coffee maker but all the ones i tried trip my inverter so now i use this french press which is lovely but maybe someday i'll upgrade my electrical to have a coffee maker and an oven but where am i going to put that so i wasn't sure i was going to put this shelf in but i really like it it stores my books my cd collection which might be the most impractical use of space in this van some pens and pencils some games and i just like that it kind of gives a homey feel having a bookshelf and i usually clip my fan to it too this is a usb rechargeable fan helps with the airflow i also have a max air fan mounted in my ceiling and between the two of those i haven't had issues with air in here i call this my junk drawer because i just throw in things that i tend to use a lot but don't have space for so i have my salt and pepper some aromatherapy spray super glue a lighter and a picture of my friends van life had a lot of appeals for me i do love being outside and exploring um and being able to be in both cities and nature but i think what i'm most excited for is to just be able to meet a lot of different people and live in a lot of different places i think i'm still figuring out what i want to do with my life and the way that i've learned the most is definitely traveling and being able to have those new experiences and so i'm really stoked to be living a lifestyle that allows me to do that all the time this has been a huge transition for me i graduated college in may moved home to convert this band over the summer and started working full-time so i think i'm still settling in to a lot of different aspects of this life um but i've just been so energized to be on the road and really lucky to meet new people along the way and really happy to be here [Music] [Music] so under here i have my fridge it has locks on it because it will slide out otherwise and it's an isco 20 quart dual zone fridge and freezer and so i keep my frozen fruit for my smoothies in here and basically everything else in here um it is full but enough food to to last me a little while and it's pretty quiet and pretty efficient so i've i've liked using this fridge so far these hooks were a late addition but i use them all the time i have three different bags two different sweaters a shirt and two hats and these are just things that i'll you know pick up if i need an extra layer or a bag if i'm running somewhere and i kind of like how it frames the space a little bit i also have hooks over here and here i keep my safety items so i have a birdie alarm which will make a very loud noise a pepper spray flashlight i usually put my keys here if i'm in the van and some sunglasses so this side of the van is the couch and bedroom and office and so when it's all expanded it's about a twin size bed and i have a couple different configurations that i use during the day so the first one is this one here which is couch mode it's very comfortable to kick back and look at the view and the double cushion makes it pretty comfy and then if i'm working then i'll usually take these cushions and put them up here slide this box out and then lower my desk and so to do that i have a table leg that i store behind the seat that goes in the ground unhook the desk and work eat um write whatever i need a table for i have in table mode if i'm working in the van i am a software engineer working five days a week so i try to sometimes use cafes public libraries and sometimes i'll grind out some work in here i also have a computer monitor for my work which i store back here and i'll pull out my laptop and have a nice workspace for wi-fi i have a netgear hotspot through atm t it has 100 gigabytes of data which i haven't run through yet and provides really good signal if i'm in a more populated area i think this space is very functional it has multiple purposes which is important in a tiny van i think if i were to do it again i would figure out a better way to put my cushions because sometimes they just feel like they're all over the place and just taking up room in this box i have my window covers and my sheets and a blanket so i store those in here during the day when i'm not using them and then i'll pull out my slots on both sides flip this extra piece over straighten out my cushions and i have a bed this is three inch memory foam and i sewed these cushions myself so they're not perfect but definitely do the job and haven't had a bad night's sleep [Music] i work remotely as a software engineer so the good part about that is i could work from basically anywhere um the challenging part is that i need wi-fi so i do have a mobile hotspot and take advantage of free wi-fi options at cafes and restaurants and public libraries i don't really have an expiration date for this i think as long as i'm still growing and learning and having fun i'll stay in it as long as i want to i think if i'm really committed to the lifestyle maybe i'll do another build maybe something a little bigger but that's a little ways out i think [Music] under here i have storage for my toiletries um i have all my shampoo conditioner face wash makeup you name it towel i also have a first aid kit an emergency toilet and sunscreen bug spray and then in this box i have all of my shoes as well as a big bag with all my cords which gets messy but fits as i said i have a cd collection and so i found this neat wall mounted cd player that i can just plug into here and jam out to the strokes um it also functions as a bluetooth speaker so i could connect my phone to it and play whatever i want and it has a remote so if i'm all the way across the van i don't have to get up above the cab i extended the front shelf to become a quite large storage area where i keep all my clothes i have bins for pants and sweatshirts and then storage packing cubes for about everything else i was able to fit you know everything i need in there so don't feel like i'm short for a tire it was really important to me to bring things that i love to do on the road and so one of those was um playing guitar so i have my bass guitar stashed away here i don't have an amp but i do have a device that plugs into my headphones so i can continue to practice and play music so this is my secret storage space it's a little bit hard to believe but i do have a full closet back here along with two skateboards winter clothes extra water solar shower tools dirty clothes yoga mat camping backpack sleeping bag tent hiking boots soccer cleats tarp so yeah this was a huge component for me just because i knew there's a lot of things that i wanted to bring that wouldn't fit on the inside or just clutter the space and so being able to use like basically every inch of this build um made it very functional and easy to transition into a tiny home [Music] [Applause] [Music] being a solo female traveler um yeah you think about it i think the first couple nights on the road i was just very aware of where i was and you know still still am and it's something that's always on your mind but i think that the more that you can challenge that and prepare yourself to be ready in potentially unsafe situations and try to avoid those situations altogether the stronger you'll be and you know the more you can encourage other people to do the same i don't have a huge social media presence but i would love to connect with anyone that wants to talk about my build or my lifestyle so you can find me on instagram at eee underscore instagram and send me a dm and i will be sure to reply uh thanks for looking at my tiny home i'm very proud of it it's might be the coolest thing i've done so if you're considering this lifestyle just go for it you so are so capable to do this and um to choose to live whatever life you want to [Music] you

Channel: Tiny Home Tours

Views: 452,784

Keywords: tiny house, tiny house on wheels, living big in a tiny house, tiny house movement, tiny home, small house, small spaces, small house design, alternative living, architecture, affordable home, off the grid, small space living, tiny house life, diy tiny house, diy home, van life, van build, solo female van life, ford transit connect, ford transit camper, ford transit conversion, camper van, camper van conversion, van life build, solo female travel, living on the road

Id: yM8Ck8ULaCA

Length: 15min 17sec (917 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 04 2021