Tour of Tracy's AWE-Mazing DIY Camper Van Conversion - a day in my nomad RV life

hi everybody deborah dickinson here welcome back to my channel and thanks for being here today we are following up with the tour of tracy's van if you haven't seen her interview be sure to go back and do that and i can't wait for y'all to see this it is incredible stay tuned come back we'll see you in a minute [Music] hi tracy thank you for showing us your home today hi welcome thank you and uh so why don't you just start by telling everybody what they are looking at right now it's from about here back okay this started out as a passenger conversion so i've already got the fabric paneled walls um if you get a cargo van you're gonna have bare metal so that's a little different this is nice so it has lots of windows and a lot of them open almost all of them open so that makes a big difference that is nice but i built this bed um out of i over built it which is how i roll and i've got a nice big thick eight inch mattress on it because why not exactly what size is it twin it's a twin xl which makes it a couple inches wider okay it had some at the bottom i had to cut off but i'm only 5'4 so that worked out okay and that little cut off bit is what sits underneath hazel's bed so she feels like she's sleeping with me when she's really not well hazel's bed looks more comfortable than mine it's pretty posh she does okay until it gets real cold and then she's like no i'm in bed with mama that's so cute now i i know that you are a seamstress extraordinaire oh you're welcome i see the gingham curtains and i see your red striped pillow and her bed is red but you striped but you didn't did you cover the bed no i did i bought it specifically they had a blue one i'm like no we got to get the red one there you go yeah so but these this is old tablecloth i started out like i said pinching my pennies so tight this was an old tablecloth um it was a quilt i had some things that i just already had and you built this out yourself you said you built the bed i built the bed and then this is i didn't build this kitchen cabinet thing i have here it's actually an old dresser and i cut the extra doors off the bottom and messed with the top a little bit we'll show you that in a minute and your storage above your head was that already there it is this is the original roof uh so they they only cut to here when they did the the put the high top on it so that's nice that it gave me these shelves because without this i would be lost i would have had to build them and did you put the high top on or was it no it came that way but you painted it i did paint tell people about that you know it was dark green like the rest of the van and so it just heated up like crazy it might as well be black it's so hot um but i painted it with white truck bed liner paint from a company called durabac durabac and you put it on with a a roller a roller yeah you gotta sand it and then you roll it on it's great stuff i highly recommend it well it just all looks lovely anything back there in your bedroom area you want to tell us about my pretty pretty fairy lights yes i don't know if you can see back down in there there's my electrical system back under there okay um and i don't have an inverter everything is 12 volt or you know usb which is essentially 12 volt um and so i get away with a lot with just one battery all right and is it an agm it is it's a 100 amp hour agm okay in that bag that you took off of your uh wire basket what is that that's my little rechargeable usb rechargeable lights so they're a little harsh so of course they have to be ensconced in cuteness and so this was an old dish towel that is adorable so i just and every and you make it so homey and this is what i'm seeing up here what is this this this is an indian flute a native american style flute which i'm trying to learn how to play i'll inflict it on you yeah strike a [Music] chord fun it sounds so pretty it sounds so pretty so awesome you're just one of the the most wonderful neatest people i have met on the world i think you're very kind i'm mostly easily easily bored so i have to have things to do well i've just been looking forward to this so much and you of course you do have a leather flyswatter of course of course you do and where did you find that amazon you know i even know such a thing i have a rule of thumb aesthetics are important to me yes um i like that to have my environment pleasant to look at and if something has to be on display it needs to be interesting or attractive and this was just kind of cooler than a plastic one i'm not going to tell you that i paid 15 bucks for it but i did well everybody will appreciate knowing that because i got to be honest i'm going to go get me one i just love it so much well i love seeing your bedroom and all that you have done back there are you ready to show us the front sure sure all right well we will continue this tour and when in a moment after you tell me about the front that and what everybody is seeing i'm going to step out and i want them to see your kitchen and then i want them to see your porch where you sew and everything so we'll do that next okay for now what about the shelf overhead look at that again that great shelf this is great because i can put all my clothes up there the one that you showed that was on the other side behind me when i was on the other side is behind you right now that's like books and art supplies and my fishing pole and you know stuff painting stuff yep and then this is close yeah it's just organized so beautifully and you made that uh the um border the what is that called yeah this this board here it was covered in this fabric but when i when i went to cut it all apart i made such a mess of it because it had i had doors and things here i didn't want so i i opened it all up i cut some stuff out here and i made such a mess of it i couldn't salvage the fabric so i had to cover it with something else but it matches your flute cover so it doesn't it was remnants it was remnants i had to like piece it together in three different places well you sure can't tell it and so and you did you make your uh driver's seat cover i did i did the one that's got kind of velvety and it makes it hard to slide in and out of it it you know and i kind of have to slide out it's tall over there so i slide out when i get out and so i wanted something smoother so i just made it i that's brilliant i have uh these black things that don't fit and they're solid black and there's no they're the commercial ones are terrible it is so so we may have to talk not that i'm gonna get you to do it but maybe you can teach i can yeah i can give you some good pointers it's easier than it sounds it will it has to be it's just visual you don't have to measure anything all right well thank you and you don't have the uh walmart tea kettle like the rest of us have you have an antique picture you know it i just got it at the hardware store and and i ditched i don't percolate i pour over so i just ditched the guts and it's just my regular camping coffee pot from when i used to go camping well that's wonderful and how did you adhere your storage baskets they are screwed on they have screw holes those have hooks that they hang from the ones in the back so i can lift them off to get into them that is so cool these were an amazon find and your curtains that you have up they are with tension rods they are they are with tension rods okay and i see your cooler there too this is a refrigerator it's a refrigerator yes it's a 12-volt refrigerator oh my goodness how awesome is that so you removed your passenger seat i did it was that was kind of a big commitment you know i was like huh yeah i'm in it now yep but i can take her bed which is a car seat and has straps and i can strap it on here and so she sits here when we ride so the red and white dog bed is also a car seat it is it has the latch for her harness and everything oh isn't that lovely thank you for sharing that so tracy yes people always want to know the big questions you knew what was coming next didn't you what do you use for facilities when you're traveling i like most van dwellers go in a bucket well it's not it's i it's not that basic but close all right it's the luggable loo i have camouflaged it and it's a cushy but it just comes right off oh that is so awesome and because the luggable loo hinge never lasts there's that and it's just this you know comfortable seat i use kitty litter that's what i did and kitchen size bags and nothing unpleasant ever stays in this bucket i have another bucket that has a gamma seal lid you've heard of those and those bagged items go in that gamma seal bucket and then you never have any odors except when you take it outside and open it i think it's important that people know that you can you can be very hygienic it sounds really disgusting when people say oh poop in a bucket like you carry it around in a bucket but it's not it can be very hygienic so not only is your van beautiful and the colors and everything just make it so homey and so pleasing it is also you've been out here two years everything is functional so you don't have to trade functionality and simplicity for beauty would you agree with that or can you address that on on how you how things function for you and if there's anything you would change um i took a lot of that into account when i first got in like i said before i didn't build anything until i'd been in it for a while the back seat folded down i used that as my bed and i just had a folding table with baskets in here until i figured out where i wanted things and if you do that then all that starts to flow how you want things more functional when i built my bed i built it the height i needed to get the things i wanted underneath it and i wanted to be able to get milk crates underneath it so i built it a little over 12 inches high underneath and that made a big difference um i like things i can move around i can rearrange all of the things under the bed i've got some things that have been hard to get to and i'm thinking they need to go someplace else you know that constant juggling of the things you don't use very often being the most difficult to get to and then the things you use most often being the easiest to get to kind of like just at home stuff is in the attic and stuff is in the kitchen counter you know and so that's a constant process but i i wanted it simple and i didn't want a lot of built-in stuff and i wanted a lot of air circulation like under the bed so i didn't do doors it's just lovely so now i want to show them the kitchen and your patio because it's even your patio i just want to live there it's the lanai but of course the outdoor sunroom all right so the the things that you do to me tracy just make your home so beautiful i love that you have for example i don't know if people can see it or not but behind your driver's seat is a two gallon two and a half gallon something like that that little baby tank right the baby tank and you have a two-way burner container propane and you the adapter and so you can go you can do the butane or propane but you have that propane lasts a long time using it that way and i can unhook it then still use the green bottles too oh yeah because i buy the green bottles for my wave 3 heater and i was going to ask that it's going to i was going to ask you then do you use that for but you use the bottles on your wave 3 heater yeah i have my wave 3 attached to a board that i can move around like lean against the doors when they're shut i didn't want to mount it on the door because the rattling is not good for it right this lovely basket sitting on the floor is hazel and you store her stuff in there and it serves as her footstool right or to get a step to get stuff to get on the bed and you made the top to it you know but what i love is that you were telling me and i'm going to do that because i need a storage ottoman but i don't want a regular storage ottoman i like unique things just like you you were telling me and even a pvc pipe or any hard cardboard cardboard like what crap carpets wrapped around yeah that tube yeah cut those to size and put in the middle and then you can still store stuff in them but it supports the basket lid so it doesn't ever collapse and so i can use something like that for my footstool yeah thank you for that information now tell us about this wonderful stove i mean uh kitchen area this is a dresser that i got from a thrift store for 15 it was painted a really ugly shade of brown with plain brown knobs and i had two more drawers on the bottom i cut those off and took the knobs off and painted it and sanded the top and put linseed oil on the top and made this i've got room for my shoes underneath i did want a little more counter space so last summer i had a brain wave that i could make a slide out like a breadboard by just putting a new piece of board here and some spacer boards here and then putting the original top back on left just enough space for a piece of shelving so it can go like that it can go anywhere oh my goodness so it's almost as good as a lagoon table and so if i'm sitting in bed and i just want a cup of coffee right here or whatever that is just brilliant and when this one door is shut i use it to keep hazel from going outside that's good multi-purpose multi-purpose everything needs to be a multi-purpose but that one is a brilliant where did you learn your carpentry and painting skills and all of that uh being a homeowner for 30 years there you go you just so self putting up shelves cutting things apart making it work i'm just so so proud of you my favorite little toy i got is this water pump this has a tube that um i actually have a hole goes through the dresser goes down to my water jugs down there and it is usb chargeable no so about once every two weeks i recharge it with just plug it in but watch what it does uh-oh i changed my water jug so now it's oh edit edit there we go water that is wonderful no big jug up here i see people mount the jugs up high and use gravity but it takes up so much counter space and did you get that on amazon i did like 35 one more thing i want people to know is of course they know by now you made your pillow cases and your bed spread but you knitted that you just told me you needed that blanket yeah and it's made out of what well shetland wool shetland wool you're just you're just amazing thanks this is the simplest form of knitting so well why don't you step back and i'll show them your curtain on your door these i did out of um mattress ticking and they just roll down and there's a little magnet right there there's one magnet and that holds it yep ah this is a 6x8 tarp i believe came in a two pack from amazon um and i attach it to the van with these um or old antenna mounts that clip on the gutter and so i just clipped it to that these are extendable collapsing tent poles and double guy lines on each you can't really see them from here but just some some guy lines here and it stands up really well to um pretty stiff winds it stands up better than the automatic ones do a lot better that is great so it was on the cheap it's just it's like i said everything is so homey all right the piece the resist thong says they say your pride and joy your sewing machine show it to us this is beulah yes i named my sewing machine oh tell them what the name of your van is oh tawanda the adventure van you know what i got so excited to show them the inside we didn't even tell them anything about your van so the sewing machine has to wait a little bit more tell us the the tuwanda tell us all about tawanda towanda the adventure van because i'm older and i have better insurance and fried green tomato fans will get that reference and i love the store on the on the on the back of your van but what year is she in 2002 dodge ram van uh with the 1500 engine a 1500 engine all right thank you dear i was like they might some people might want to know she's been great she's been great i'm so glad to hear that how many miles does she have on her do you know i'm working on 140. oh good it was 116 when i got it uh that's wonderful all right all right so it's the sewing machine this is tawanda she has a key but i've already unlocked her so i kind of took some of the drama out of that didn't i no that's all right or this is a beulah not tawanda this is beautiful yeah this is a 1919 singer hand crank and handle folds out like that and away she goes and that's how you do all your magic yep that is so fantastic but thank you again for having us in your home and for sharing so much thank you i'm so grateful to be able to spend some time with you and i hope we get together together often me too if you guys have any questions for tracy be sure and leave them in the comments below and give her some shout outs for all the tips that she gave us and for the wonderful home that she's built out here thank you again see you down the road everybody keep on keeping on [Music] so [Music] do again thank you for the tour this is a bonus for everybody that stayed to the end tell them about your tattoo oh well we're talking that i knit but i also spin the wool to make yarn for some of my knitting so i got a tattoo that's a spinner off of an old grecian urn she's spinning wool into yarn that is so so awesome hazel you have the most awesomest mommy and there and there's your friend troopy over there we're going to tour them later [Music] three like a fireplace i can get it to light up let's see if we can no no it doesn't want is it on it's just not dark enough i think it's just not dark enough my cup there we go aren't they fun [Music] you

Channel: Debra Dickinson

Views: 50,962

Rating: 4.9632106 out of 5

Keywords: Debra Dickinson, TBI, Traumatic Brain Injury, KOKO, Keep On Keeping On, See You Down The Road, Nomad, Fulltimer, Fulltime Traveler, Boondocking, Travel, Camping, Adventure, Life on the Road, Nomad Lifestyle, Travel with pets, travel with dogs, Fulltime Nomad, tbivangirl, debra does rv life, debradoesrvlife, DIY Camper Van Tour, DIY Camper Van Conversion, Dodge Camper Van Conversion, Van Life, VanLife, Van Tour, Camper Van Tour, Camper Van Conversion Tour

Id: U3SoRvWT5wU

Length: 20min 24sec (1224 seconds)

Published: Thu May 20 2021