Hey Ya'll ! Hope you're having a great day! The weather has warmed up ( a bit) and I've been busy. I took the adventure van out for its first outing. Just a day trip but it went well. My wife and I were celebrating our 44th wedding anniversary and we went to the coast real quick. The van did well. It still has less than 2000 miles on it but I'm itching to put more on it. I first got interested in Vans probably before COVID and have been yearning for one ever since. But the prices on professionally built out vans are enormous! From 100-150 thousand and more depending on what type of van and buildout you get. So I used to call them made out of "Unobtanium" because I could never afford one. When me and my photography wing man Robert went to Utah it seems like I saw one on every corner. We went to Capital Reef National Park visitor center in Utah and I counted 27 of them in a small parking lot. About a year or so I came upon a company that did conversions on vans that you purchased (new or used) and they would do a basic conversion for 25 thousand dollars. Now this is just basic no electrical no AC or Fan just cabinets galley bed and walls and flooring . All done very nice and simple. So I got to thinking I could swing that if I found a good van at a good price. But trying to find a used van is tough especially one that isn't beat to death. They can also find a van for you. So I went and had them find a van. It was a 2026 and with the basic install, AC, Electrical and fan. The total price came to 100 thousand dollars. I almost got it but decided to keep looking for vans. If I found a good used one I could maybe do the whole van for 70 thousand. Well I found a van a new 2025 with only 300 miles on it. It had been up fitted to be an office of some sort with a desk but it had walls ceiling and flooring in it. It had a ladder rack on the top to hold work ladders that I had them remove. It was 38 thousand. So I got it and now I had a van with walls and ceiling and floor. Now could I do the rest? Well I'm pleased to say that I have ! Whoop Whoop !  I completed what I would have paid someone else to do and came in under 50 grand give or take. Thats Total! Van plus Conversion!

What I've done. I removed all of the office stuff that they had in the van. Including a bulkhead wall that was behind the drivers seat. I installed electrical system so I can charge my batteries when driving I have a 2000 amp inverter so I could have AC current and I have a charger that can charge via solar panel if I decide to get one. I have almost 6000 watt hours of Lithium Battery power which is enough to run my AC for up to 13 hours straight. Almost 500 amp hours. I installed a 12 volt exhaust fan and AC unit. I installed vinyl plank flooring over the subfloor. Here's a link to a time lapse of the floor install. Floor Install I installed a galley with fresh and dirty water storage with water pump for the faucet to work. I installed above head cabinets above the galley and the bed that I made and attached to the van wall structure.  I have a full sized platform bed with memory foam mattress.  I built a shelf to go above the head of the bed. Under the bed I have built a wheel well box that covers up the wheel well and serves for storage for dirty stuff like tents and chairs and the like. I have installed a swivel to the passenger seat so that when we are camping I can turn it around toward the camper portion and used as a chair. I have installed a Lagun table that will mount beside the passenger seat and I can work on my computer or eat there if it's not nice outside. I have purchased insulated window coverings that will help with the heat and cold when camping and keep folks from looking in. I have purchased bug netting that will cover the sliding door opening and rear door opening if we want to keep the doors open in a buggy environment.  I have installed "L-Track" on the floor under the bead to attach hooks so I can strap stuff down when traveling. I've made a bench with another Lagun table. It's basically just a box with a lid that can open up for storage (our Potty) and the top has a custom made cushion on it. Instead of staining it like all of the other furniture in the van I painted it green and the cushion is orange. (my favorite color) The Lagun table will serve as a workstation and eating and can serve as extra counter space when needed. When not needed it will swing under the bed and can be secured so it doesn't move around when traveling. I have more than I would have gotten from the van conversion company for a quarter of the price. Mostly my labor cost. Is it as nice as the conversion company that does it for a living? No but it is nice and most of all it's functional! Thats the important part. 

Other things I got for the van. I got an induction cook top. Wanted to give this a try and we should have plenty of power to support it. I will be taking a propane cooktop for backup. I installed a shore power plug so when we camp where there is power we can use it instead of the batteries. I purchased a Starlink dish so we could have high speed internet wherever we are. So even if we don't have cell signal we are still connected to the world. I purchased a security system with camera's I can monitor the van with when we are camping or out of the van. I can also keep track of "Forrest the Wonder Dog" to make sure he is okay if we have to leave him for a while and to make sure it's not too hot inside the van. I won't get into details for security reasons. So by the time this blog gets out I will have already camped in it and will be ready for a real trip!

Things I may add later on. There are a few things I may add later one. One is an awning. The one I like is just over a thousand dollars but I already have the roof rails to attach it too. I got a feeling my wife will have the final say on this and it will be added soon. The other big item is a solar panel. If I decide I need to add a solar panel I can easily do it and add it to the electrical system . I already have the roof rails and will just have to poke a hole in the roof to run the power wires from the panel to the solar charger already installed. We'll see if I need this or not. Other than that I can't think of any big items I'll have to add to the van. I know I will be adding small things and tweaking this and that. But I'll always be doing that. So with that said this will be the last blog about my van build. I'm really looking forward to getting this out on some trips and I have a few trips already in mind. Until next week "Get out and Shoot!"

Here is a video link to a virtual tour of the van. Max's Adventure Van Virtual Tour

Hey if you want to check out my photography go to my instagram account Max Stansell Photography there are over 2000 posts there. Here is the link

 Max Stansell Photography Instagram Link