A Little House on Wheels

You might think that if you can build a house, converting a van into a camper would be a piece of cake, but that's not the case. Planning a living space in a van is a very specific (though fun) challenge, and for me, it has always been quite time-consuming. While you plan a house in meters, in a van, you're dealing in centimeters.

Our first conversion was a fold-out bed for a Citroen Berlingo. We built it in 2012 for a trip to Spain, and it served us well on subsequent trips and festival adventures. It was a relatively simple yet ingenious system that could be completely packed into the trunk, creating a 190 cm long bed in the car whenever needed. The bed was suspended from the front seatbelt bolts and consisted of two plywood boards, a bench-like structure in the trunk, and a few slats. We could fit several crates and a water canister under the bed, and one of the boards could even double as an improvised outdoor table:

We bought our first van in 2013, a year later, when our first son was born and we didn't want to give up traveling. It was a beautiful third-generation transporter – a Bluestar T3 with a Polyroof high top in the Multivan trim. Inside, there was only a fold-out bench and an auxiliary heater, so for our first trip, we decided to build a cabinet that would provide us with a gas stove and running water:

Over time, this cabinet proved too small, so we started designing a new one, equipped with large drawers and extra storage space. As usual, my dad was a huge help, drafting the cabinet based on my designs. We were able to fine-tune various details on the computer and then prepare a list of boards with precise dimensions for cutting. My brother Tomáš, as always, helped with the assembly.

When our poorly maintained bus broke down on the way to Spain, we decided to get a slightly newer vehicle that would be easier to service and allow for faster travel. We bought a generation newer T4 transporter, and the cabinet preparation started all over again. Paradoxically, there is significantly less space in this newer model (in the T3, the driver sits above the front axle and the engine is in the back, providing a few dozen centimeters more interior space), so the new cabinet had to be cleverly designed. Moreover, the interior is more complex due to the attractive plastic paneling, so it had to be adapted to the car's shape.

We made the cabinet out of plywood again, this time using 1.2 cm thick laminated board. We fitted the drawers with locks to prevent them from sliding open while driving (something we struggled with in the previous model…), used two canisters for fresh and waste water, and installed a 12V submersible pump. The gas canister stove didn't fit in the cabinet this time, so we decided to use a cartridge stove (which was a bit of a step backward – the cartridges don't last long, are hard to store, and have low heat output when not full).

Besides the cabinet, we had a small pop-top roof installed on the bus, a so-called "mushroom" or "hubdach," so we could cook comfortably inside. We managed to fit a roof rack and a small cargo box next to the pop-top, so even after our second son was born, we still managed to pack everything into the car.

We built a long pull-out drawer for the trunk (we used to carry plastic bins, but a drawer is more practical when you need to reach things in the back), bought a bag to hang from the ceiling, and had a practical fold-out mattress made – the bench in the fourth-generation Multivan isn't exactly ergonomically shaped – it's not very comfortable to sleep on…

We had the fold-out mattress custom-made at imago, as well as another practical accessory – snap-on curtains. They fit perfectly onto the snaps that are factory-installed in the T4 Multivan's trim. The price of the original curtains is quite astronomical, while the version from imago cost us a third of that.

With the birth of our third son, more space issues arose – even with two children, the Multivan bed (approx. 150x190 cm) was quite tight, and the space requirements grew due to the amount of gear needed for a month-long trip. So, we started looking for a van with a high roof. Thanks to our go-to mechanic Jarda, we managed to import a beautiful Multivan with a "nose" roof from Zillka, and work on the conversion began anew. This time, we wanted to adjust the seating at the table to fit five people, install a full-fledged gas canister stove, and add a few storage hacks. We also decided to install a fridge this time.

After much planning, I chose a rather unconventional concept with the kitchenette behind the passenger seat, and we built a chest for the fridge that also serves as a seat at the table. Our dad turned my paper design into a digital drawing and even a 3D model, which allowed us to iron out many details:

The paper preparation also greatly facilitated the material prep, which we had cut to size right away:

Compared to previous conversions, we made a few changes – for example, we replaced the drawers with plastic crates again. We wanted the storage space under the bench to be a bit more versatile (we managed to pack two adult folding scooters, a balance bike, and two carriers into it…), which reduced the weight of the cargo and saved us money on expensive long drawer slides. We secured the cabinets with caravan-style push-locks, so we finally eliminated them opening while driving. The result proved successful, except for a few bugs that we'll hopefully fix with the next conversion 🙂