Time for some upgrades!
On my last trip there were a few issues I found with living the van life. Frida was fantastic in so many ways, but I definitely felt it was time to make some changes before I set off on the road again.
Firstly, my solar panel/inverter combination just didn’t work. The Inverter took way too much power and depleted the batteries (throwback to waking up in the Peak District with no power and having to run the engine at 6am on the campsite - sorry again fellow campers). So I decided to put in an external hook up point and when on campsites plug everything that used to go into the inverter, now into the campsite. I don’t plan to be on a site too much, but this will give me a little boost every now and then!
Secondly, I’ve had so many requests to join me on the my travels, that I needed a second bed. Some ingenuity in reusing things I already had on the van (the table, table leg, a spare tent peg and the benches) plus a small roll up deckchair cushion (thank you H&M HOME) and hey presto, a spare single bed!
Finally the bathroom! My old one required some pretty good gymnastics to avoid bumping your legs on the door when you used the loo. Plus the shower curtain stuck to my skin as I tried to perch underneath it and hold the shower head so not to flood the place. So now was the time to learn from my mistakes. I took out the old tub and built a wooden shower tray to fill the whole space (0.75m x 1m - it’s actually really large for a Campervan bathroom but I wanted a bit of luxury). I then fibreglassed this and painted the whole interior with polyurethane varnish. Lesson here - when it says it’s clear, it always has a yellow tint. I hated the colour, but with little choice, I spray painted some green fern leaves on the walls, and got over the yellow colour. On the floor, I bought IKEA clip together decking which I could screw the toilet base to, to prevent it moving whilst I was driving. The old shower curtain now falls across the door (which is used for storage and the toilet roll holder) and when the shower‘s being used, also sits on the toilet to prevent too much water dripping on it. It works an absolute treat. So much easier and more comfortable to use. Love my new bathroom (and the lack of bruises I now acquire on my knees when I use the loo).
