#vanlife – selecting the van

James and I have been talking about getting a van for umm …. well, ages ..

The problem was (well apart from the obvious $$ shortage) was that we both had VASTLY different ideas of what we wanted and what it would be used for;

I wanted something small like this ..

My reasoning was that I’d be able to drive it and it was cute!

I’d put a bench seat in the back for the kids and I’d build a daybed behind it with storage underneath to house my running gear.  That way, I’d have somewhere dry to sit while I peeled off my muddy shoes/socks.  Heck I could even chillax with a cold beverage with my legs outstretched should I wish too!

James on the other hand wanted something big (like this) ..

He envisaged that we would convert the van into an “actual camper” – you know, like the ones that rich old people like to drive around the country (but obviously at a fraction of the price).

Both of our choices had flaws –

For example if we had gone with the uber cute but tiny Suzuki, James would have to cock his head sideways to fit in the drivers seat on the other hand if we had gone with James’choice, I wouldn’t have been able to drive it.

So we started looking at vans that fell in between the two – the official term seems to be Vanette.

I was still veering towards style (over substance) and James was still basing his decision on how many tradies would mock him when he drove onto a building site.  I’m guessing I don’t need to elaborate on who chose what – in short if it looks like a plumber, painter or builder drives it – then James chose it. 😉

In the end I put it this whole van saga into the “way too hard” basket and left it at that,  I mean it’s not like we had the money to buy a van anyway. James on the other hand kept sending me links of the latest in a LONG line of tradie vans he found online and he transferred money over from his UK account to fund a purchase ..

I guess we were going to buy a van  – I “manned” up and decided that as long as I could drive the vehicle, it didn’t really matter what it looked like – I can always make ugly the new cute!

So let me introduce our newest member of the family …

I’ve named him Colin (much to the “amusement” of everyone else in the house, especially when the best reason I could come up with was that it looked like a Colin).

We picked him up on Friday afternoon and for the very first time in my forty some years I drove a van (albiet pretty slowly) the next morning. For someone used to driving a small hatchback it was a little like driving a really slow truck, but by the afternoon I was much more comfortable and I drove across town that afternoon to pick up supplies to start transforming Colin into a day camper.

James half joked that if we managed to stay married whilst converting Colin that we should audition for The Block.

Stranger things have happened I guess. 😉

Till next time