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Benji | Van Conversion

A Van Conversion for Long Trips

In Progress

From corporate passenger van to outdoor adventure wagon, our van we call Benji was designed for 2 adults and 2 dogs to comfortably live in for long hauls. It’s a 2018 Ford Transit Passenger Van that my partner and I are currently converting. For this project, I learned 3D software and designed a living space made for long trips; making it comfortable, functional, and aesthetically pleasing.

The van has a full bathroom with shower and composting toilet, enough battery power to last a few days without recharging, an entire solar setup, 40 gallons of water, a water heater, a second floor with a larger than queen sized mattress and 5 feet of storage underneath for gear, upper and lower cabinets for storing clothes, food, and another storage unit accessible in the front of the van that we call our basecamp.

There are some minor changes from rendering to real life; for instance, the bathroom wall that has an octagonal inset plant box in the rendering has been changed to a plant box that runs horizontally across the top of the wall with plants that drape down the wall. We opted out of having a vent in the bathroom ceiling so maximize space for the solar panels on the roof, but we didn’t want excess moisture to be trapped in the bathroom. To solve for that, I built a plant box into the bathroom wall that connects the bathroom to the main living space that allows moisture to be pulled out of the bathroom through the exhaust fan we have installed in the kitchen. It makes for a dramatic statement with draping plants as one of the first features you see when you walk in.

The bathroom has soothing green penny tile on the floor and white hexagonal vinyl tile for the shower walls rather than subway tile in the rendering. The lower cabinets are a light colored wood rather than white in the rendering to add more warmth to the space.

We’ve driven it across the US on a 5-week trip, have taken several trips up and down the coast of California, and another cross country trip from West Coast to East Coast. Its job was to help us find a home and after many trips we have happily landed in the Berkshires and about to buy our first property.

The van will be completed and for sale by end of October 2022

To left are progress photos and some highlights from a few of our trips in the van