I’ve always wanted to live in a van. By always, I mean that you should picture me at the age of eight, collecting any kind of coin I could find to put in a jar labelled “van savings.” My passion was also represented through a Christmas ornament, a luggage tag, and a BUFF neckwarmer that all featured pictures of a Volkswagen Westfalia. I’ve also spent more time than I’ll admit looking through Pinterest inspiration pictures of vans.
As much as I wanted to fulfil my hippie dream of navigating the country in a Westfalia, I knew they weren’t the best option. I tried Kijiji, in the hopes that something reliable-looking and cheap would appear for sale.
Then, right after Christmas this year, my dad stumbled upon a 1995 Ford Econoline. It was for sale only 25 minutes from my house.
Since most small towns have a dealership, my dad was into the idea of me getting a Ford. He rationalized that it would be easier and cheaper to get parts in case something were to break down. I bought the van the next day for $9,500.
I probably overpaid. You’re definitely saying, “Yeah, how could you justify dropping that much on a van?” But listen. What makes this van special is that it is 27 years old and has one rust spot on it. It’s old enough to have its own masters degree. That, plus a good body? Who wouldn’t overpay for that?
Lil Blue got its name not only because it rocks a great shade of teal on the outside, but because its inside is upholstered with funky carpet. You can definitely tell it’s a ’90s baby — everything about it matches. You can see that there are even about seven shades of green, teal, and blue hidden throughout its design.
I don’t plan on making significant changes to Lil Blue because it’s in a really good shape. I am, however, in the process of renovating it — this way, you’ll definitely be able to tell that it’s me driving down the street.
Renovation plans
One of the first hacks that I learned is that RV insurance can sometimes — like in my case — be cheaper than car insurance. This is good, because yay for saving money. But it also meant that I had to convince my insurance company that I could live out of Lil Blue as easily as I could live out of a fully equipped RV.
I was pretty sure the job was doable. Lil Blue came with four seats and a fake bench that folded into a bed. I didn’t get the original bed because it couldn’t be properly bolted down. The bench was supposed to double as two extra seats, but there were no clips for seat belts on it.
I planned to build a bed frame with storage for clothes, shoes, and a propane stove underneath. Behind the driver’s seat, I planned to install a cabinet and a fridge, to maximize the storage and add to the RV effect. If you go to my insurance company with my design ideas, I will come for you.
Renovation work
Since Lil Blue thrived in the 1990s, it rocked a little box television and a VHS player. Neither of them worked, so my family ditched them for extra storage. I went to Home Depot and Home Hardware multiple times for material to build cupboards and a shelf. Luckily, my brother took woodworking classes throughout high school. He taught me how to run a table saw, hand saw, and nail gun. I messed up cutting my first piece, so he wouldn’t let me cut anything else. But I did a fine staining job.
We built the bed frame, took the foam mattress from the bed and resized it to fit over top of the new frame. We removed all of the old brackets needed to bolt down the original bed and took out the seat belts in the back. Since I’m planning on either travelling solo or with my boyfriend, I didn’t see the need for two extra seats.
As much as I want to say that after all of that work, I just drove off into the sunset, that’s not the case. My dad and I found out that we couldn’t leave the van’s battery plugged in without it dying.
Turns out, the problem was the wiring that connected its door locks to the battery. At random times, the van doors would lock and unlock by themselves. Neither my dad nor I are handy with electrical work, so we had to send it into the shop.
Because of the battery issues, I want to install a second battery in Lil Blue for charging my phone and powering its fridge. I’m also adding a solar panel to the van’s roof so I’ll be able to keep it charged even when it’s not being driven. Last year, I killed my car’s battery twice while charging my phone — needless to say, I’m hoping this solar panel does some of the heavy lifting.
My adVANtures
Right now, it’s hard to find time to renovate because I work part time while taking six university courses. So my dad and my boyfriend plan to spend time together to start building my bed frame. My fingers are crossed, hoping that they get along.
My deadline to finish the main renovation is in a few weeks. I need Lil Blue running by the end of March because it’s my ride to my tree planting job. This summer, I’ll spend May to July north of Thunder Bay for the Ontario tree-planting season. From there, I’ll spend the rest of July experiencing the Alberta planting season before exploring the Yukon.
Will I be parking Lil Blue at UTM in September and pay for a parking pass instead of an apartment? That’s a secret I’ll never tell. Until then, you can follow my TikTok account, @lilbluevan, to keep track of my van-conversion and tree-planting journey.
