My new emergency kit for my car. Also known as a BOB, or Bug Out Bag. I'm sure there things that are missing, but I think it's a good start :)

Sent from my iPad

Step One: The Budget

Step One is really "study the hell out of camper van conversions so you know exactly what to include in your budget" but that would've been a ridiculously long title, and I didn't have a nice spreadsheet to go with that step, so I didn't post it.

I've allowed myself $5,000 for this project. No, I don't ACTUALLY have the money yet, but I will. In like six months :) Anyways. I had no clue whether or not it could actually be done for this little, so I made a handy dandy spreadsheet with everything I could think of that I would need. Then I spent the morning scouring homedepot.com and eBay looking for and pricing everything. This is what I came up with:

My lease is up in April and there is no way I'll be ready by then. So I guess that means I'll have to sign another lease :( I'm giving myself 6-7 months to save up the cash, then plenty of time to find the right van and then PLENTY PLENTY of time to actually do the conversion. The conversion will be a bit difficult because

A: I don't own any power tools
B: I wouldn't know what to do with the power tools if I did own them
C: I know absolutely nothing about wiring, let alone how to wire a solar panel to a battery bank and make it charge things.

My hope is that one of my more handy family members will be willing to help me out, or that I find some friends locally who know their way around a table saw and lots of wires. Any volunteers?

It Starts

Hi. My name is, well, you don’t really need to know my name. I WILL tell you that I am a 26 yr old female living in Atlanta, GA and I don't actually live in a van. YET. I am in the process of saving up the cash to buy a cargo van and convert it to a camper so I can live in it full time. Complete with camping stove, 5 gallon bucket toilet and sleeping in Walmart parking lots.

Am I homeless? No.

I’m a college grad, I have a good job and I make really good money. Why would a girl like me want to give up my beautiful two bedroom, two bath, 1,300 sq ft apartment with huge walk-in closets and a sunroom with amazing wooded views to live in an old van? The obvious answer is because I’m completely insane. That’s the consensus anyways. I would, however, disagree.

I have a dream. My dream is to be debt free, own my own land, build a house and grow things. I want apple trees and chickens and beehives and rows of corn.

Too bad I didn’t figure out what my dream was until AFTER I racked up $50,000 in student loans, car payments and credit card bills. Unlike many Americans, I’m not ok with credit card companies owning my soul. I don’t want to be paying student loans until I’m 50. I want land in the next couple of years, not 30 years from now. I want to be able to pay cash for my land and the house that I will build. After this debt is paid I refuse to get into more, not even a mortgage. I’m willing to make the sacrifices I need to in order to achieve my goal sooner rather than later.

I am beyond blessed to have had the opportunity for higher education. I am blessed to be making as much money as I do and to have good health insurance. I am blessed that I will be living in this situation by choice and not necessity.

In this blog I will chronicle the whole journey. From finding a van, the conversion process, living in it and everything I experience on the way.