Is it really a camper van?

in #hive-1393582 years ago

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I have mentioned, more than once, our tiny camper van that has been a precious partner during our trips. And I have promised many times (especially to @riverflows) a post dedicated to it. But somehow I always neglect to take the necessary pictures to illustrate such a post. Nevertheless I think that the time has come and I should overcome any excuses and get into it!

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The vehicle

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The car itself is a Renault Kangoo, made in 2004, with a 1.9 diesel engine and 4 wheel drive. It is a commercial vehicle, meaning that there are not any back seats. Instead there is a big loadspace meant for transporting goods. The 4x4 edition has the capability of getting tough in the rough, although it is far from a really tough car like a Land Rover or any other original off-roader. But it has some unique characteristics that made it the ideal choice for @traisto and myself!

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When we first moved to Crete we had an old Nissan Micra which was just fine while we were living in the city but it was rather inappropriate for our life as aspiring farmers. Buying a pick-up truck and keeping our private car would have been an obvious solution but it was out of our budget. So we searched for a vehicle that can be used as a private car, has a big loadspace and the capability to move off-road. All that in a very reasonable price. We soon figured out that there was really only one option. After a while it arrived at home :)

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The challenge

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Our Kangoo is a hard working fellow. Using it for agricultural duties has exceeded the manufacturer's wildest dreams. During winter we use it as a pick up truck, doing everything that has to be done in the farm. The idea of turning it into a recreational vehicle for the summer had a major challenge. It had to be easily turned back every fall. So any addition had to be removable in an easy and practical way.

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After many hours of watching u-tube videos about mini van conversions, I decided that I had to find by myself the solutions that serve our needs. So I pulled apart a few pallets and I started the construction of wooden boxes that would fill the loading space of the car. You can see the result at the picture above. Not the most beautiful conversion but it give us a raised level to put our mattress on, plenty of storage room and most important I can put everything in and out of the car in a matter of minutes!

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The insulation

Again after hours of u-tube watching I admitted to myself that I can't do a proper insulation and I have to compromise for a lesser solution. So I just reinforced the thiner parts of the car's body with polystyrene and plywood. Anything more would have been destroyed during the hard loading of the next winter so I figured that it is better than nothing :)



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Beautifying

And then it was @traisto's turn to step in, adding some colour and female touch in my unrefined construction :)
After the painting of the plywood and the placement of the curtains it started to look like home. A tiny, moving home that will take us away :)

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The cooking



When we are on the road cooking is an outdoors activity. We really enjoy preparing our dinner under a tree or under the stars and doing the dishes at the sea! Nevertheless sometimes it has to be done inside, usually when the wind is too strong. Our kangoo is up to the task, in any case :)

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Nothing fancy in this field either. The whole kitchen is in a plastic box with a cover to keep everything clean and although it may looks chaotic to an outside observer, I know exactly where every spice and every cutlery lies (unless someone mess it up).

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Enjoying

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Sometimes when I look at it, I say to myself:

Who are you kidding, this is not a real camper van

but then I enjoy the scenery and I think of all the amazing places that this little piece of machinery has led us and I say (to myself again):

You know what, it may not really be a camper van but I don't care at all :)


The pictures that I am in, are taken by @traisto
All the rest, as well as the words, are mine.

Thank you for reading and if you want to know more about me you can check out my introduction post.

Commenting, upvoting and rebloging are highly appreciated!

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That is a lot of work, but it also means total freedom. I admire you both for that lifestyle. Enjoy it 😀

Thank you very much, from both of us :)

Love the conversion! I want a van like that, too, that I can drive about anywhere and have a nap.

Was that a mulcher that came out of the back of the van? You need to put it back but fit it like a Mars rover with a remote control. That'd be awesome.

You need to put it back but fit it like a Mars rover with a remote control.

Haha, that would be awesome indeed but I am afraid that my engineering capabilities are not up to the task :)

How cool is this little Van 😊😎 yep, I think it can be called like that. So multi functional 😎
Great work you have done. Now you can go wherever you want… kinda 😉

Thanks @littlebee4 :)
It is far from perfect but it serves us well and we love it!

You are welcome 👋🏻😊 many people wished to have it to explore… 😉😎
Have a great weekend further! And a nice week ahead.

That is quite a vehicle! And it is definitely a camper van. Very nice post!

Thanks a lot! I am glad you like it :)

This is such a cool little camper, I love that you can convert it so easily back into a farm vehicle. I love the simplicity of the inside, well done to you and @traisto xxxx

Thank you very much from both of us! It is not very fancy but we like it :)

Dear @fotostef,
Your support for the current HiveBuzz proposal (#199) is much appreciated but the proposal will expire soon!
May we ask you to review and support the new proposal so our team can continue its work?
You can support the new proposal (#248) on Peakd, Ecency, Hive.blog or using HiveSigner.

Thank you!

OK, it's done!

Thank you for your support @fotostef, really appreciate it! 👍
Without imposing and as we are in a renewal period for proposals, if you could take a look at the HiveSQL Proposal Renewal as well 😁

Dear @fotostef,
Your support for the current HiveBuzz proposal (#199) is much appreciated but the proposal will expire soon!
May we ask you to review and support the new proposal so our team can continue its work?
You can support the new proposal (#248) on Peakd, Ecency, Hive.blog or using HiveSigner.

Thank you!

Done :)

Thank you for your support @fotostef, much appreciated!

Manually curated by ackhoo from the @qurator Team. Keep up the good work!

Thank you very much @qurator and @ackhoo for your support!

Wow what a great conversion and that this van is so multi functional is awesome! I also loved your formatting!!!

Thank you very much Sara! I had this post in the drafts for quite some time and I figured that it deserves some extra attention at the formatting :)

That’s an amazing van and in many ways better than a proper camper. That’s because it’s yours😀

Thank you very much @nicklewis :)
It has its flaws but you are right, it is ours and we love it!

that should not be longer then this

and i feel i would not be able to fit a bed in there :D

cool camper :)

You are right, it is not longer than that one but you can fit a bed in there! You just have to use the seats space too, when you unfold the bed :)

Thanks!

well i will have to try :)

!PIZZA

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🍕 PIZZA !

I gifted $PIZZA slices here:
@fiberfrau(1/5) tipped @fotostef (x1)

Please vote for pizza.witness!

Αχ, ωραίο πράγμα να έχεις μία βαν και να μπορείς να πας όπου θέλεις χωρίς να σκέφτεσαι ξενοδοχεία ή πού θα περάσεις το βράδυ. Αυτό μου θυμίζει τα καλοκαίρια μου στην Κυπαρισσία, το Καλονέρο, τον Αϊ Γιάννη και πολλές άλλες θάλασσες της Μεσσηνίας όταν ήμουνα μικρή και έβλεπα τα τροχόσπιτα τον ξένων τουριστών και λέγαμε με τα ξαδέρφια μου το τή ωραίο θα ήτανε να ζεις σε τροχόσπιτο το καλοκαίρι και να έχεις την θάλασσα στα πόδια σου 😁🏖️ . Ωραίο το κάνατε το αυτοκίνητο σας 👍 🚐

Γεια σου @gatubela :)

Συγνώμη για την εξαιρετικά καθυστερημένη απάντηση, αλλά είναι η περίοδος που μαζεύουμε τις ελιές και όλα τα άλλα έχουν περάσει σε δεύτερη μοίρα!

Πράγματι, το βαν έχει γίνει το δεύτερο σπίτι μας και είναι τόσο ωραία που καμιά φορά σκεφτόμαστε μήπως πάρουμε ένα μεγαλύτερο και μείνουμε μόνιμα σ'αυτό! (Δεν είναι πολύ πιθανό να γίνει κάτι τέτοιο, αλλά είναι μια σκέψη).

Όταν ήμουν πιο νέος έκανα πάντα διακοπές με σκηνή και θεωρούσα τα τροχόσπιτα υπερβολικά (και η Φωτεινή το ίδιο) αλλά όσο περνούν τα χρόνια αλλάζουμε κι εμείς και αναθεωρούμε τις παλιές μας απόψεις. Τώρα απλά απολαμβάνουμε τα ταξίδια μας και αν από μακριά μοιάζουμε με συνταξιούχους τουρίστες, ε δεν πειράζει :)

Σ'ευχαριστούμε πολύ!

Γειά σου και σου εύχομαι καλή χρονιά και επιτυχία σε ότι κάνεις αυτό το χρόνο 🍀🏆. Τόρα σου ζητώ εγώ συγνώμη για την καθυστερημένη απάντηση 😬🥴 . Ελπίζω να σας πήγε καλά με τις ελιές πέρσι, αυτό μου έφερε ωραίες αναμνήσεις από το χωριό τις γιαγιάς μου όταν κατεβαίναμε να βοηθήσουμε αν και εμείς σαν παιδάκια όχι μόνο βοηθούσαμε αλλά διασκεδάζαμε επίσης 🤭🤭🤭
Δεν ξέρω πως θα είναι να ζεις μόνιμα σε ένα τροχόσπιτο αλλά πρέπει να έχει το ωραίο του και διαφορετικό του μόνο που δεν μπορείς να έχεις πολλά ζώα, φυτά κτλ.
Οι άλλοι ας λένε ότι θέλουν, αν σας αρέσει τύφλα να έχουνε όλα τα άλλα 🥳🤸‍♀️
Χαιρετίσματα 🤗

Wow! both of you were so creative in turning that van into a camper van. I love the way you work together to make what you are thinking. Indeed unity is great in different works. Congratulations.

Thank you very much @jenthoughts I am glad you like our work :)

And sorry for the (very) late reply. We have been very busy with the olive's harvest and everything else has been left aside!

Oh its okay. Olive? Is it that something to be made as oil?

Yes that's right, we produce olive oil!

Thank you for sharing this post on HIVE!

Your content got selected by our fellow curator stevenson7 & you just received a little thank you upvote from us for your great work! Your post will be featured in one of our recurring compilations which are aiming to offer you a stage to widen your audience within the DIY scene of Hive. Stay creative & HIVE ON!


Please vote for our hive witness <3

Thanks!

You're welcome. ☺️

Wow! This is awesome👏

I love the red curtains and the entire colour scheme. Very classy-looking, practical, and workable space.

Truly amazing when you have freedom of this sort to go wherever you wanna and convert it whenever you need to.

Excellent work and I'm pleased for the pair of you:)))

Have a relaxing weekend!

Thanks a lot from both of us!
I am glad you like it, there is a lot of work in there :)