HI, I’M TYLER, AND WHEN I WAS 12 I BUILT MY OWN TINY HOME ON WHEELS. IT ALL ALL STARTED WHEN I WAS RESEARCHING TINY HOMES ONLINE AND SAW THIS REALLY COOL VAN CONVERSION ON YOUTUBE. AFTER SEEING IT I THOUGHT THE IDEA OF A MOBILE TINY HOME SOUNDED SUPER COOL.
I started researching more, looking into how people made them, and then I talked to my parents about the possibility of building one myself. I shared ideas and some designs on paper, even though they were kind of rough. I was just excited.
Then I found this online tool called Vanscape, which I paid for myself because I really wanted to create proper layouts. I started designing lots of different versions that one day could maybe become my actual home. After that, I asked for a van. And my mum actually said yes. Like… what?!
Mum reached out to loads of people with vans for sale and told them why she was buying it for me. A few nice people thought it was awesome that I wasn’t just sitting on devices and they offered her some great deals. Mum liked one guy the most — she said he was “all heart.” We drove for hours to meet him, and she was right. He was lovely and even gave us a bunch of free extras to help us get started with my project.
When I first saw the van, I thought, “That could work!” I was so excited. Like yey horay kind of excited. It felt cool that my parents believed in me and gave me this chance. Now that I knew the exact size of the van, I made new plans and tried different designs for the layout. Our winter housesit was ending in three weeks, which meant I had exactly that long to convert the whole thing.
The conversion began. First, I had to empty the entire van and clean and scrub it. Any missing paint got sprayed and tidied up. Then we insulated it with used yoga matts (free!) and insulation left over from a house build (cheap!). We got wood for free on Marketplace. We bought screws and little bits. The place we were staying at luckily had lots of tools, and whatever they didn’t have we borrowed from friends in the local yard. Thanks Dan. Mum helped me find so many things we needed and drove around collecting them. Dad helped me with the building and the bigger tools so I didn’t lose a finger. Mum made me wear goggles basically all the time.
While building, I kept thinking, “Wow, I’m actually doing this.” Some things went together really quickly. Other things took forever and were definitely not fun. But I kept learning, trying different ways, figuring things out. Sometimes it took ages, but the end result was always better. Now that I’ve learned so much, if I started again, I’d do loads differently. But Mum always says that’s the point. She doesn’t believe in failure, just steps to success and lessons on the way.
I really liked working with Dad, and Mum was proud of me at every single step. Other people thought we were crazy and said we’d never finish in three weeks (hi Dan), but that just made finishing it feel even better. My scout leader thought it was a cool project too. When we finally got it done it felt like it took forever, even though it really was only three weeks. So many kind people gave us big discounts when they found out what I was building. Thanks everyone!
I didn’t realise my project would inspire other people. Lots of people we met said it took them years to build their vans. Mine was three weeks and some determination.
The van runs purely on solar power, gas for the cooker, and diesel for the heater. It has a kingsize bed and a single bed. It has a small sofa, a shower and toilet, and the shower can be used inside or outside and also as the kitchen tap. It has a water heater, a space heater, a cooker with two hobs and a grill, a kitchen cupboard above, cupboards under the bed for our cases, and a big storage space under the bed for the water tank, outdoor chairs and table. Under the sofa there’s space for bottled water and spares. It’s all lined with 4-way stretch carpet so it feels really homely, and I even have some of my posters up. It turned out better than I expected, but still with loads of room for improvement.
I am really proud of myself for achieving this. The first night Dad and I stayed in it, I felt this huge moment of “Wow… we actually did it!” Now, after travelling through more than 10 countries in it, the van has worked amazingly for us. This whole adventure started from one idea I had, then taking action, then actually building it and living it. It’s so cool that something that started as just a cool idea is now my real life.
I would recommend this project to other people, but maybe not in three weeks. Always speak and share your dreams and ideas, because they can turn into incredible adventures and memories.
English Author, Entrepreneur, Minimalist, and Digital Nomad.
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