hey guys jenna here welcome to my channel where i feature tours of creative spaces
and alternative homes today we're going to meet kara and take a tour of her self-built
van dwelling which is her full-time home on wheels cara built out this fan so that she
could embrace a free-spirited lifestyle while working remote and she has an interesting
outlook on what it's been like to be a solo female van dweller living a nomadic life
i want to see how many of you think you could live van life like kara
so comment below if you think you could live a nomadic lifestyle
hey guys i'm kara and this is rocco we're out here in sedona
arizona and i'm stoked to show you my custom van
i've been living in the van for two years now almost i was working a corporate job
in baltimore full-time i just found myself constantly looking forward to
the weekend constantly looking forward to things and i kind of got sick of it i wanted to get out
i met some people at a climbing gym i saw their vans built out and i just remember looking in
there and i was like hey i can do this the van build was an interesting time in my life
it was stressful but it was also fun it was a growth and learning experience
i built it out next to my regular house that i had lived in
at the time i had a little driveway so i did most of the work there the total cost of the van itself
it was completely empty nothing was in it it was 24 500 and then i put about 15 000 into it
people would ask oh who built this for you did your dad do that or did your husband or
boyfriend build it for you i'm like no i built it and it feels so good to say that like i built this
it was really empowering in the end honestly it felt really good
since starting on the road i've definitely been exposed to a lot of the stereotypes that
our society has i got a lot of oh you're going out on your own like
aren't you afraid to do this on your own a woman you know you shouldn't be traveling alone
you don't really encounter that as much when you're living more of a traditional life
and it's an opportunity to empower yourself take on challenges and like i did this i beat these
stereotypes i beat these people's expectations it's been a good experience it really has
i went with a 2017 ram promaster with a 159-inch wheelbase i went with this
van because it had the best bang for the buck there was one locally available that
was lightly used so i didn't have to pay that mark up on a brand new van
we are in the backyard garage as you can see the van is is quite filthy because i like to use it
it's clean for about uh 30 minutes after you go to the car wash twice a year maybe probably
wondering what this weird thing is this is a hang board so i can train my fingers for climbing
we are in the gear garage now where i keep all my extra items all my climbing gear adventure
gear and there is a lot more storage than you would think back here it's really great
when you're limited with the amount of items you can bring in the van these nets amazing purchase
super easy to store items of all different shapes and sizes so we've got a tire inflator
which is fantastic i also have a tire repair kit somewhere in here so i can do it all myself if
i've got a nail in my tire i've got tents i've got my climbing harness and shoes this is great
for when friends come so they don't have to get cozy in the bed with you you can set up a tent
next to the van or on the roof a bike actually fits in here with the front wheel off that
is tucked back there didn't think i'd be able to do that but it just fits and these
are my pride and joy of the gear garage so my dad helped me build these he is a cabinet maker
super good with stuff like this where you have to be exact with all the drawers and measurements
come out pretty far got some heavy duty drawer slides on here and i can keep the dog food and
this bin extra stuff we've got a floaty in there for the river days more climbing stuff
these are heavy duty marine latches they're awesome they just hold these things in place
no matter what they've never come open these window shades my mom dad and i made those together
they are an inch of poly iso insulation and my mom is a wizard with fabric and sewing so she
helped cover them by stretching the fabric tight over it the other side has reflectix on it so
it keeps the sun out keeps the the van nice and cool and privacy as well it's great to have those
all right let's head up onto the party deck
i created a big space up here so i could do yoga on the deck and escape the dust and dirt
when necessary you can fit a whole boatload of people up here so it's great for sunsets
we've got a 175 watt solar panel here this is much less than most people have i feel like
but it keeps me topped off at 100 percent as long as i'm in a sunny area even in the
winter getting dark at five o'clock now it doesn't matter i still solve 100 i do not run
a lot of power hungry things like tv or electric heating devices or anything like that so
you may need more solar if that's the case but uh this this 175 works just fine for me
all right there's not too much to point out on this side of the rig these windows i put in
after purchasing the van they didn't come with it they are specialty cr lawrence windows down here
i've got the tiniest little hookup ever all i have is a shore power plug so if i'm at a
campground or you know on the side of some random person's house in a neighborhood just kidding
at a friend's house maybe i can plug in all right let's go on inside and check out the interior
let's talk about the kitchen i've got a two burner propane cooktop by ramblewood and it
works great for me i really feel like i can cook outside and enjoy the outdoors with the
stovetop in the doorway in this position and it's really easy to air out the kitchen when
i have something messy cooking i do wish since cooking is so important to me that i had done
a sort of fold down extendable countertop here the only problem is don't know where i'd put the
heater so still kind of figuring out that's something i could add later if i wanted to
i also regretted not putting an oven in but i found the omnia stovetop oven which acts
like an oven and you just simply put it on your stovetop and it has holes in here to circulate
the air so things don't burn you can make pizzas rolls pretty much anything you can make in an oven
right here you can see i've got a heating element this is the olympian wave 3 catalytic heater
it runs off propane and it's not my ideal heater it does produce some condensation if i turn it on
high the good thing is is i stay in climates where i rarely need to do that it's usually just on low
for a few hours ideally i would have a diesel heater under the passenger seat or somewhere
else in the van which runs off a small diesel tank that you don't have to vent your van with you can
leave it closed keeping the heat in more so that would be my ideal solution in the future come
on in and let's see the rest of the inside as we move through the kitchen we have a hammered nickel
bar sink so i went with a smaller size i just didn't want to take up so much
counter space with a regular size sink here we have a countertop with wood veneer from ikea
and i do wish i had done a solid wood countertop maybe that's an upgrade that i can think about on
the edges where i had to cut it there's just kind of you know a bad veneer stick on thing that keeps
coming off and it's warping a little bit because it's not watertight so solid wood for the future
a lot of people ask me about these reusable paper towels or on paper towels as they're called and
i got these from etsy from an independent shop owner who is a really good sewer and
makes all different patterns these they got terry cloth on one side and then a beautiful
pattern regular cotton on the other side and they're just like a paper towel roll you
unsnap them here if you had this paper towel roll secured better you could rip them off but
i'm afraid to rip it out of the under cabinet so they're great little squares and i can use that to
wipe up the countertop dry dishes and i don't have to constantly be using rolls of paper towels and
creating so much more waste than is necessary i also have a magnetic spice rack here
with some different common spices i use every day and you'd be surprised
how well these stick i've driven down many of forest roads and they've never come off before
these overhead cabinets here i made with my dad he is a great woodworker and i couldn't turn
down his offer for help with the cabinets in all the drawers here for storage so this is my main
pantry these struts were a great addition about a year into my build i installed them i didn't have
anything as nice before so the cabinet didn't stay open and kept hitting my head on it like this so
definitely recommend the struts if you're going to do a similar design for your overhead cabinets and
this is a little cut out of mary from mary's gone crackers if anybody knows how delicious those are
they reprinted the box to have a new design and they stopped printing mary
on the back so i cut her out so i have a little keepsake that's really creepy
but i don't care you'll notice that i have a lot of storage in the van and i don't really need all
of it since i downsized quite significantly when i moved out of my house especially you
know when i buy too much food i kind of slip some of my items in the clothing drawers and
hide them around the van because i don't have quite enough room in here for my appetite
so these are great this is my dresser i can access the top drawers if i'm in bed
i'm gonna grab a sweatshirt actually because it is getting a little cold in here
i do have a microwave which you don't come across too often in vans it runs off the batteries which
is awesome i can't run it for too long or i drain them but i only need it to reheat coffee
for you know 30 seconds one minute so it's nice to have so i don't have to get a pot out and dirty
another dish these are the drawers that hold all my kitchen utensils and my junk drawer and i use
these little push button lock drawer pulls which have worked out great do wish i'd used something
a little more heavy duty on the bigger drawers they're a little hard to grip when there's more
weight in the drawer but they still work just fine just more training for my climbing fingers
this is my pride and joy of the van i love food and i love having a big fridge it is the isotherm
drawer 130 fridge freezer combo i went with a bigger fridge i was a little concerned that it
would draw too much power but isotherm makes super efficient refrigerators and this runs
on 12 volt electric there's no propane hookup or anything it's strictly electric and i haven't had
a problem with it drawing too much power if you're going to be off-grid for a while you can fill this
thing up with anything and you know fresh produce is great to keep in there too so you don't have
to be constantly making trips to the grocery store i have a queen size bed back here and it
spans the width of the promaster so i really went with this fan because of that i'm tall i'm 5 11
and i can sleep almost perfectly across here i kind of have to sleep a little angled with my head
over here and my feet down here so it works out perfectly and it's actually a queen mattress with
about six or seven inches cut off the end so it's a little bit shorter but it works great and i can
fit my dog up here with me so that's a bonus and the bed is pretty high up i kind of have to do
a little parkour move to get on the bed but it gives me a lot of storage underneath in the back
and down here as well with those dresser drawers the ceiling is actually quite deceptive a lot of
people are like oh cool like tongue and grooves cedar planks these are actually furring strips
from home depot and if you don't know what furring strips are they are the crappiest
wood you can buy to put behind drywall in order to secure it to the wall so these were like a
dollar something each and i was just not ready to pay like 300 to 500 for a solid wood ceiling
welcome to my workspace this is where i get most of my work done on my laptop i've got a nice table
and comfy set up here with some cushions and this great window to remind me that this is my office
now in the middle of nature usually or a walmart parking lot but usually something like this it
really reminds me that this is my life now working out here not having to go into an office every day
this is a router with an at t sim card in it and i get service through adventure wireless it's 100
a month for unlimited internet which is really important for me to have as a web developer
i'm dealing with photo and video files all the time so i have to have a solid connection which
this definitely has it because these antennas are like on steroids i renamed my
network fbi surveillance fan so i actually get people who come up to me and they're
like oh are you fbi surveillance it's kind of funny i get a kick out of it so
rocco's a little man cave he keeps my feet warm while i'm working and he loves going
to his little space under there a lot of people see this dog in the van and are like oh poor dog
stuck in the van all day this dog lives a charmed life
he's outside most of the time he's hiking most of the time he's not stuck in a house
anymore for eight hours a day so if you see him in the window he's not a poor dog
it is sometimes hard to stay clean in van life especially when you've got a dog like this who
just sweeps up all the dirt and dust my van does have a white interior but i use the high gloss
paint so i can easily wipe down the cabinets and the floor as well it's super easy to clean
all right in here underneath my seating area is my electrical box i got my two battleborn batteries
here they're 100 amp hours each they're lithium ion phosphate and i also have a victron 2000 watt
inverter in here this blue thing in the front and that allows me to plug in my computer to charge my
coffee grinder anything that's on 110 volt system i love having this extra seating area here i put
swivels on both of the seats so over here i can kind of have like a date night dinner table feel
um and have seating for two here maybe to play card games or whatever it just really opens up
the van too when these are turned around creating more space is key when you're designing your van
when i was working a corporate job i just remember always being tired and then always looking forward
to the weekend or until i got off work it's a in a way it's kind of living in the future that's not a
way to live like i want to live in the present i want to be like oh the week's starting like great
what's going on this week you know i don't want to be dreading it there is a way out it
doesn't necessarily mean living in a van you know there's many other options but being willing to
sacrifice some things to escape that was key people often ask about living in the van and
you know it being scary and risky but i find that not doing these things you love and not
getting outside of your comfort zone i feel like that's more dangerous that puts you at risk of
living a life that you're gonna look back on and realize that you didn't do these things you loved
because you were too afraid i realized that i put such a high value on comfort and security
i changed that and i think once you change that and are willing to make those sacrifices things
like this become a lot easier personal growth comes in when you take risks you get outside your
comfort zone as cliche as that is it's so true i've realized that a lot since moving into the van
thanks for watching this week's video make sure to like share and subscribe and i'll
see you next week with a really cool video tour so make sure to tune in see you then