Home

If you afford to lose about 40mm (1.5 inches) the you should be ok to insulate the floor. If not then you could board the floor with something like 15mm (1/2 inch) osb or ply then cover this with carpet. it will give you some protection but not as much as insulation. Yoga mats or rollup camping mats are thin and could be used over the metal floor to provide some insulation.

I've never been inside a school bus so I don't know how the ceiling is formed. I'll guess and say that it is double skinned which probably means there is a gap between. If that is the case, and you say you can stand up in a school bus, then would you be able to remove the inner skin, fill the space with insulation of your choice that fits, then reattached the inner skin? This would mean you don't lose any head room.

You can use insulation that looks like foil wrapped bubble wrap and maybe use 2 layers for extra insulation, it is expensive though. The bus ceiling should be ribbed so that might be your minimum insulation space plus 6mm (1/4 inch) ply to cover. For the floor you could lay flooring on top of the same bubble wrap type insulation. That should give you the most amount of headroom. Not knowing how much headroom the bus will have to start with, you might have to forgo standing.

Solar is for sales people and newbies that haven't figured out better ways yet.  Charging via isolator/solenoid and a generator are far cheaper and more reliable.  When I was charging my house battery solely via generator, a 5 gallon jerry can of gas would last over a year.

In Europe petrol/gas is more expensive and using a generator can be difficult due to other people being close by

Insulation is highly questionable and debatable.

Again, in Europe insulation is required because it can get cold and damp.

I have contacted the van owner and waiting for a reply. As soon as I get something I will let you know.

Welcome to the forum. You haven't stated your location and your budget. A budget will help in suggestions for a van. I ask for a location, the country where you are will do, because I know of a small already converted van that will be for sale very soon. The van is in the UK and it doesn't belong to me. It might also help if your state your height, due to area available in small vans.

The only one that comes to mind that have done this is www.thevandiaries.com.

I'll add to what Camper_Dan says, don't just head quickly for the well known tourist destinations but work your way slowly towards them, if that is what you are planning to see, but stop when you see something that might looks interesting, different or unusual. You get a better experience of an area when you mix, chat and eat with the locals.

Bit of a random one but me and my bf are doing up our van and going travelling in a years time.  I want to get something related to the van life/travels for valentines day and I wondered if anyone might have some idea on what's handy to have during van life?

Whatever you buy remember that you will be carrying it around with you so make it small and light. Something like a poster or something that can but pinned/stuck to the wall or roof.

You have to be road legal in your own country even if you're travelling elsewhere in Europe. Failure to do this will invalidate your insurance. If you don't have an address in another country or know someone outside the Netherlands then you will have to pay up. From what I remember of when I lived in the Netherlands, vehicles, or at least cars, over a certain age were/are exempt from tax. If that is still the case then you could try and find an old van, but that won't be easy and then there possible issues with older vehicles. The other option is the one you mentioned, which is a small van, similar to the ford transit connect being converted by oneawesomeinch (youtube), or even an mpv vehicle like the one being used by http://relaxedpace.com/van/

ScudoCamper did a removable conversion. He attached the kitchen unit to the side on his van using quick release clips so that the entire kitchen unit could be slid out. Check out his videos, the Scudo van build videos are several years old so you will have to search for his early videos.

Welcome strawberryfish. Look forward to seeing your van photos and hope you get that pesky rust sorted.

All the best with the van purchase and your conversion. There are plenty of good videos available on this subject, and of course Mike's book.

I lived in Haarlem several years ago while I was working near the airport.

If you are planning off grid living then a microwave will need lots of power. Also plan water and water disposal and how much water you need per day. I think one awesome inch has a similar van to what you are converting, check out his youtube vids.