In this video, I tour a budget-friendly Transit Connect built for part-time travel. Gale built
this piece by piece in her home, bringing pieces out to fit, and back and forth until built. And
instead of a house battery, she uses the van’s battery to power everything on 12 volt. While
I don’t think that’s sustainable for full-time use, it works great for her part-time travel.
And just a quick reminder, if you like this video,
it really helps others find it if you hit that like button, subscribe, and turn on notifications.
[Music]
I'm Gail Bauman and this is my van. It's a Ford Transit Connect 2012.
It's a used model that I bought pretty reasonably. So, and the build that I did cost about
maybe six hundred dollars and that includes the windows that I put in also.
Yeah this is a counter that I made out of several boards I glued them together
with clamps and then I did a stain on them and sanded some of it off to create a pattern. And
then... so I could work a little bit on here like with a laptop or something. And then I
put these plugs in to run any devices. I built this upper cabinet for extra storage.
It's basically sanded plywood. And then I bought these um support hinges and put
those up so it stays up fairly well and I put some 12-volt electric LED lights in.
Other than that just is a little bit extra storage. This is also a cabinet too. That's for
some food items and stuff up here
and there's lights in there also. I build things as lightweight as possible and then
I also put LED lights in. And also added switches otherwise these would have stayed on all the time.
So I put switches on everything pretty much. I watched a lot of different uh YouTube channels
that helped me. I also had some prior skills with carpentry and repair so that helped a lot too. So
I worked maybe uh four hours a day on it. Not every day, but maybe about a couple months. And
then the sink is basically just a three-gallon jug underneath the sink and then just a hand
pump for this. Joni: nice Gale: so that's pretty basic and soap dispenser and uh propane stove.
And I also put these windows in. It didn't have windows so I added windows on each side
for ventilation. There wasn't a lot of ventilation in here so. And then also this fan
on top which is a three-speed fan and that helps a lot. And I also added a television that I hook up.
It's all hooked up to my car battery. There's no solar it's just wired into the fuse box. And then
I built the bed with some storage underneath. And I also added lights underneath there.
Um, it's pretty basic. I have a cooler under there, a portable toilet, and just
some storage... storage area. And the bench just basically um with slats that supports it really
well and then it's still really lightweight. It's not very heavy. And these are just some storage
boxes I built to put stuff in so it wouldn't go everywhere. I also have an extra fan here.
Basically, just uh storage and this is the propane tank for the uh stove. So I just have the small
one I didn't want a big one in here. And then I have some utensils that are in there, and
pots and pans and stuff. Yeah the shower is pretty basic um it's just this is the pump
which goes into like a bucket of water and then you can just put it up here
like that. What pumps the water and I wired it into also into the battery
so pretty basic but works pretty well.
Joni: I just love that Gale built out her budget-friendly adventure van to
suit her needs and get where she wants to go. If you’re wanting to get on the road,
I hope you find inspiration from women like Gale who are out there making it work!
If you liked this video, please share it, and if you’d like to see more van and rig tours,
vanlife tips, and other information to help women get on the road,
hit subscribe and ring that notification bell so you don’t miss any upcoming videos.
If you’re a woman who would like to join in deeper conversation,
join our Facebook group, Gal Adventurers where I organize our
weekly Nomadic Women’s Virtual Happy Hour every Thursday at 5pm Pacific.
This is Joni, with the Galavan, Enjoy Your Journey!
[Music fades]