About a year ago, we purchased a Dodge Promaster 3500. It's one of the biggest conversion vans you can buy for an affordable price. We had to travel to a town in Indiana just outside of Chicago to purchase it, since this kind of van isn't exactly common or easy to come by. We bought it with the intention of converting it into a camper van with a bed, a shower, and a kitchen. We knew that it would be a lot of work, but I don't think we realized how much work or how long it would take. Our original plan was to have the van finished by August of last year. That did not happen.
We had just gotten our finances back up and bought the basic things we needed to start the build when COVID hit and Michigan was put under lockdown. This meant that all hardware stores were closed and we could not buy the things we needed to continue our project, so we had to put it on hold until stores were open again. Until then, we worked, saved our money, and waited. During this time my husband ended up getting a YouTube channel about Dungeons and Dragons going that is currently doing fairly well and bringing in a little income.
Once stores opened up again, we continued our build. Now, I'll admit that my husband has been doing most of the work, since I have been working full time and have never done any form of construction prior to this. Unfortunately for him, he has no experience in this sort of thing either and has been figuring it out as he goes along, which means that everything takes longer and mistakes are made. But, it has been a great learning experience and has caused us to grow in our relationship as well.
When August rolled around, the van was still not even close to being finished. As the next few months rolled around and we made little progress, we started to become very frustrated with our situation. In November we came to the realization that there is no reason for us to stay in Michigan since we both work remotely anyway and that we could go to another state if necessary to find someone to help us finish the van. In the end, we decided not to go this route since we really did not have enough money to do so. Instead, we have been utilizing friends and family who have offered to help and are experienced in construction. Let me just say, do not EVER underestimate the power of friends and family and I would like to throw out a HUGE thank you to everyone who has helped us along the way.
It has now been a year since we started and there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel. We are getting close the finishing the van (at least that's what we keep telling ourselves). Our goal is to have it finished in the next 3 weeks and I will be taking a week vacation from work for us to go on a trip in celebration of the van being finished. Holy cannoli! It has been a wild ride, but we are ready to start our new life as full time vanlifers.
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