I'm 23 years old and I just bought and converted my first RV for under $12,000. Here's what it was like.

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I'm 23 years old and I just bought and converted my first RV for under $12,000. Here's what it was like.
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Recently, my boyfriend and I decided we'd free ourselves from the modern shackles of employment and housing contracts.

Recently, my boyfriend and I decided we'd free ourselves from the modern shackles of employment and housing contracts.
It wasn't realistic for us to camp around unless we had an RV.Fliss Freeborn

Our plan was to live on our savings and make the most of the long summer days before returning to the suburban nine-to-five living in September.

Originally, we planned to camp out of the back of my car for a few months and spend our time climbing, surfing, and fishing while the sun warmed our tanned and weather-beaten faces.

Then we remembered we live in Scotland. And in Scotland, it rains a lot.

Despite our extensive prior experience of year-round camping, the thought of spending weeks — as opposed to just weekends — in a slightly damp tent did not spark joy.

The obvious upgrade was to buy van, which we'd then sell when we moved back into a flat.

After setting a budget, we spent a month searching for the right van

After setting a budget, we spent a month searching for the right van
Our plan is to sell the van after we're done with it.Fliss Freeborn

First, we set a budget of around 10,000 pounds all-in, which is about $11,900. Then, we trawled Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, and Gumtree for around a month to find the right van.

We wanted to be able to take it on single-track roads without being worried about maneuvering or parking, so something on the smaller end of the spectrum was essential.

We settled on an old VW Transporter T5 model, as these vans tend to have a high resale value for their age. We also opted to spring for a pricier van that had already been somewhat converted since I have precisely zero practical skills.

Alas, when the purchasing of the van actually happened, I was staying in a mountain hut in Italy with a friend. This meant that my boyfriend bought a spartan VW T5 for £8,500, about $10,000.

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Luckily, we weren't totally starting the renovation from scratch.

Luckily, we weren't totally starting the renovation from scratch.
I'm glad the van was fitted with some basics.Fliss Freeborn

Fortunately, the van we bought had been used by the previous owners as a weekend camper, so it came with insulation and windows, which would have been difficult jobs to do ourselves.

It also sort of had a bed system in the back, but we wanted a U-shaped configuration with lots of seating and a collapsible table at which I could do some writing.

The van didn't come with a stove or a sink, but since our budget was limited we decided these built-ins would not be worth it.

The van also lacked electrical wiring in the back and didn't come with cushions, curtains, or a mattress. After sussing out what needed to be done over several gallons of tea, we drew up a floor plan on the back of an envelope and set to work.

First, we changed the seats and divided the work.

First, we changed the seats and divided the work.
We tried to add storage wherever we could.Fliss Freeborn

The first thing we did was take out the single passenger seat and fit a double-passenger bench so we could take an extra person if needed.

The new passenger seating also has essential storage underneath, which is very useful if you're outdoorsy and can't stop buying things to play with.

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We then divided the labor up into equal parts.

We then divided the labor up into equal parts.
Sometimes I struggled to properly measure and cut wood.Fliss Freeborn

My boyfriend was to fit a leisure battery and do all the fiddling with the heating and lighting — he's an engineer by trade so actually understands systems like this.

I was to do everything else.

I must also mention that we had a friend on hand who'd already fitted out his own van.

I must also mention that we had a friend on hand who'd already fitted out his own van.
Our friend lent us tools and gave us advice.Fliss Freeborn

He was a walking encyclopedia of information, and he let us borrow his tools.

I'd highly recommend finding one of these friends yourself if you're renovating a van. They're far more useful than Google for troubleshooting.

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To save money, we upgraded the van using our old furniture.

To save money, we upgraded the van using our old furniture.
We turned our TV stand into a kitchen unit.Fliss Freeborn

We also saved money on raw materials by using up old furniture from our apartment.

Most thriftily, the kitchen unit is our old TV stand raised up on wooden battens to give it some extra height, plus storage for our tinned food underneath.

We had to buy some extra wood, but we didn't spend much.

We had to buy some extra wood, but we didn't spend much.
Our old furniture got new life in the van.Fliss Freeborn

The multiuse storage box, which forms both spare seating and the end of the bed, was made out of our old bed slats.

The table and part of the bed platform is made up of shelves from our old bookcase — we nicked our table legs and their fittings straight off our old Ikea tabletop.

In total, we spent around $35 on new wood and a lot of emotional currency on having to redo nearly everything when I measured it wrong.

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Next, I wanted to make the van comfy.

Next, I wanted to make the van comfy.
The mattress blocks fold down into a cozy bed.Fliss Freeborn

One of our biggest expenses were custom-sized blocks of foam that'd form the mattress. They cost just under $120.

These pieces had to fit the shape of the van at the back and came apart to form backrests when the table was up.

Although we'd have loved to have a standard-sized mattress or futon that folded up, it wasn't feasible considering the space, especially when it came to headroom. We had to get the thinnest piece of foam that would still be comfortable enough to sleep on.

To upholster the foam, we bought two sets of navy-blue cotton curtains from a bargain bin, then borrowed a friend's mum's sewing machine.

I broke a lot of needles along the way, but I ended up with removable cushion covers that we could clean if something spilled on them.

We sprung for a few custom curtains, but had to DIY the rest.

We sprung for a few custom curtains, but had to DIY the rest.
We bought some of the curtains online.Fliss Freeborn

We cheated a bit by buying custom ones for the windows from a specialist website. This made life a lot easier for us in terms of getting the correct fit and tautness.

Since we had a budget to stick to, I had to DIY the cab-divider curtain that splits the front and back of the van.

I bought a section of curtain rail to screw into the top of the van, then was gifted a single curtain from my boyfriend's parent's attic.

I cut it in half and then hemmed each side to make a pair. They fit perfectly as a cab divider, keeping the heat in and the light out.

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My boyfriend was able to wire up some lighting, too.

My boyfriend was able to wire up some lighting, too.
The battery still has plenty of charge even if we use it for our phones and laptops all day.Fliss Freeborn

By this time, my boyfriend had successfully wired the lighting to a new leisure battery and added in an inverter so that I could run my laptop and phone.

The leisure battery gains its charge from the engine rather than from solar panels, but since we're only running lights and a laptop — not a fridge or a TV— it's fine for us to park up for a few days.

Lastly, we added the final touches.

Lastly, we added the final touches.
Sometimes we take our hob outside.Fliss Freeborn

The finishing touches were adding some more storage nets, popping in the obligatory fairy lights, and finding a double-ring gas hob — a sort of portable stovetop — to sit atop the kitchen unit.

One big advantage of having both a non-fixed hob and a removable table is that, if it's nice out, we can easily cook outside.

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The van's been great and we look forward to taking it to more places.

The van's been great and we look forward to taking it to more places.
We've already gone on a few adventures in our van.Fliss Freeborn

Once we'd found some big water storage cans and filled the van with our stuff, we were ready to go.

We christened our completed renovation Vandalf the Grey and are looking forward to driving it down the European Alps later this season.