
Just Read: A Broom of One’s Own (Writing Book)
September 25, 2016
Van Life: The Road to Glamping?
September 27, 2016Can A Van Be a Tiny House?
After staying in town for a full week, testing all the systems, rearranging things, acquiring some items while tossing others… I wonder why it took me so long to actually take the plunge and leave the safety of the city. I’m not really a city girl… so why the foot-dragging?
I think part of it was decompressing my head – wrapping my mind around the fact that it really was time to break out on my own and try something different. Sure, this was something I’ve been dreaming of for years – and when my personal situation changed, I finally realized that the ONLY person capable of holding me back from that at this point in my life was me. So I told her to shut up and get with the program already.
Amazingly she did.
A Make-Do Vardo
I’ve been dreaming about the perfect Vardo (a Gypsy Wagon) for a few years now. It would be all fancified (yeah, I know it’s not a word, it’s a feeling), and it would have painted murals on the ceiling and fancy carved wood detailing, and a slew of other “home as art” details throughout, all while retaining it’s utilitarian roots.
I’ve sketched it and re-sketched it and then started over again… ad nauseam.
I’ve looked at trailers for sale to get started. I’ve calculated how much money it would take to build it and how much truck it would take to haul it and then I give up.
No More Quitting
Well this time, rather than trying to build the perfect Vardo, I decided to FIRST find a way to get out on the road and actually see if I like it before sinking thousands into the project.
After all, what if I do all this and then I take one trip and I hate it and I park the Vardo and the big-ass truck and hate myself for wasting money on something I *thought* I wanted, but found out I don’t? I don’t think that would happen, but it’s possible.
So, I decided to convert (to the best of my ability on a shoestring budget) the conversion van that my Mom and I split the cost to buy a few years ago for adventuring — that we never quite got around to doing past that one trip.
Thelma and the Louises
We named the van “Thelma” because my mother’s first name is Louise, and my middle name is Louise, so all together we are “Thelma and the Louises” 🙂 I’m hoping that the original Louise will be willing to travel with me some in the re-vamped van, once I get the bugs all worked out.
No, the van is not a Vardo, but it’s got serious potential and doesn’t require major construction or the purchase of a full size truck… so it’s a win. It’s now officially my “Make-Do Vardo.”
Stay tuned for future installments!