In The Middle Of Change
It’s Februari the 3rd
It’s currently 21:26, and I'm laying in my bed with my laptop as I can’t get myself to sleep with all these thoughts racing through my mind, keeping me up. Because I’m so stoked to buy this van and converting it to my dream house on wheels.
I’m imagining this perfect van with a vintage coffee machine, a cozy stove, a record player and a bunch of other things.
I added the three pictures just a seconds ago, because for some reason, I didn’t happen to find anything close to these pictures yet on my Pinterest. These pictures show exactly how I want my van to look like, pretty much all made of wood, different tints, enough kitchen space, and no technology except for my photography working space.
I’m thinking of making the glass roof, above my bed or my kitchen, still haven’t decided. As i’m typing this I’m thinking of putting a glass roof over my bed. So I can enjoy watching the stars while I fall asleep. Though, I would prefer to have it in the kitchen area, as I like the warmth of the sun hitting my face when I make coffee in the morning. It also makes it easier to get out of bed :)
I guess we’ll see it when it comes down to it.
As i’m gathering lots of pictures on Pinterest and uploading them in my notion project, I watched this YouTube video, where a guy said this “as I was building the interior in my van, I let the process drag me along the build, not a strict plan” that caught my attention, because I think when I'll be building the van, it will probably go somewhat like that.
I got this book, how to travel in a van, as a gift from the mom of my ex girlfriend, it’s the first book i’ve ever started to read and actually enjoy it. The first book I made time for, to get comfortable, make myself a cup of coffee, and just read.
While writing this, i’m almost at the end, which sucks, because I really enjoy reading this book, no wonder as this is the dream that I imagine myself living in a couple months.
I can feel that i’m getting closer and that results in difficulty with sleeping.
This month was my wake up call, I feel more disciplined than i’ve been the last couple of years. And that’s mainly because i’ve started to make steps towards my goal.
When I took my first steps, I felt overwhelmed, so I took a step back which felt right. I’ve started to sell my belongings and small things, such as cleaning up the things I use straight away.
I almost forgot to mention is that I got asked to shoot my first wedding, i’m quite scared as I don’t have any experience in the field with weddings. They loved my photo’s, so honestly, I don’t think there’s anything to be scared of. But still, the first time of anything is scary.
Anyway i’m going to wrap it up for today, because my alarm is set at 6 tomorrow morning and I really need my sleep in order to feel fresh throughout the day.
Wish me luck, and thanks for sticking to the end of today’s update! Catch ya later ;)
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It’s Februari 9th
And I feel anxious. Anxious about building my van, not necessarily the built, but mostly the electrical part, because I do not have any knowledge about electrical systems..
I can feel my body feeling anxious about it, wondering how i’m gonna do all this. It feels like my dream is on the tip of my fingers but also so far away.
I recently started a crowdfunding on gofundme.com and geef.nl as I wanted to do this a long time ago and I finally got the courage to do it.
As my dream is getting closer, I can feel that I still need to do a lot of preparation, such as filling up my notion, setting up a realistic financial budget for the necessities and how much it’s all going to cost me.
As i’m writing this, I feel like I’m in a hole, with total darkness underneath. Because I have zero idea on how i’m going to do this. I’ve got an idea of what I want my van to look like. Which is mostly made out of wood, but it feels overwhelming.
The biggest part that i’m concerned about is setting up the electrical system and the frame in my van.
I feel so overwhelmed.
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It’s Saturday, February 15th
Yesterday, I took the step to go outside my comfort zone and visit a dealer to inspect my first iveco Daily from 2008, H3L3.
I was scared, I could feel my heartbeat getting stronger.
I couldn’t get my mind of of it that morning at work, and so, 6 hours work, felt like an eternity. Once I finally finished my shift at 12:30, I rushed to my car, got in, called the dealer and let them know my ETA. As I got there, I was welcomed by the dealer responsible for selling all the cars, his employee was getting the van ready to go. That took some time, so the dealer got me a cup of hot chocolate with a cookie. The owner was super kind, we had a good talk. After 5 minutes his employee appeared with the van. I was stunned. I got myself a measuring tape, and began measuring the parts of the van that I needed to know in order to make a realistic sketchup design.
I took some photo’s, wrote down the measures, and was ready for my first test drive. A little bit scared of not knowing what to expect, since I was really hoping that I was gonna be as satisfied. The dealer made me feel comfortable, by driving the van out first, and parked it at a straight road for me to get used to it. The moment was here, I got out of the passenger seat, walked around the front, and got myself into the drivers seat. Started the van, put it in first gear, pressed the gas, let the clutch come and started driving my first meters in my future home..
It was quite the experience, I was expecting the manual transmission to be a little stiff but it was pretty smooth. My expectations were exceeded.
I had the best time driving my first iveco daily. What felt like an hour, was only 10 minutes, hahahaha!
Now that i’m sure of my choice, i’m planning to look into newer models, such as the 2014 version, which has a more fuel efficient engine.
Yesterday, l learned many new things for future checks and test drives, and i’m happy with that.
My design in sketchup can begin!
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It’s Wednesday, February 19th
This morning I started off with meditating. I’m surprised with myself that I even got started with meditation.
As I did some research, I found out how much of a positive effect it can have on your daily life, that’s one of the reasons I started.
Another one is the constant chaos in my head. But i’m not gonna talk to much about meditating today. Today’s gonna be about sketchup and sketches.
Last week I made my first sketchup design with little to no knowledge. I just started drawing some squares and some lines in the hope that would magically create my beautiful van.
But it was harder than I anticipated. Today I realised that I should maybe first start off with a sketch on paper, on how exactly I imagine my van and from there to start designing my van in 3D.
I grabbed a piece of paper, and just started with it, In the hope my van interior would magically appear. But no, I stared at my paper for 5 minutes.
I drew my first line, and a second one, and a third. Before I knew it, I drew a square box on paper.
I was finished with my first sketch, now i’m working on my next view, from the right side..
The hard thing about this is that I don’t know what kind of layout I want. I think i’m going with an easy layout and I do have to consider thinking long term, as this van is going to be my home for the next 3-5 years. So without further ado, I’m going back to my paper to draw a design that translated me, as a person.
Wish me luck designing!
A Special Thank You
I want to take a moment to thank my mom. Over the last few months, she’s been saving up money every month just to support me. Mom, if you’re reading this, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the support you send my way. I see it, and I more than appreciate it. I don’t have the words to express how much it means to me. Love you!
