The dog days of summer are here, and I don’t have to tell you how hard it is to cool yourself down in a van in the middle of the summer! If this is your first season, you’ll see how much you miss your fans and AC. If you want to skip the heat as […] The post 10 VanLife Summer Road Trips to Avoid the Heat appeared first on VanLife Academy ..read more

The number one priority whenever I’m designing the interior of my van is almost always the bed. If I’m not building anything fancy, just a simple sleeping platform that allows me to lie flat and put some gear underneath. A Fiat Doblo is quite small for camping in, but believe it or not, it still has […] The post Building a sleeping platform in a Fiat Doblo Camper appeared first on VanLife Academy ..read more

As a member of numerous VanLife Facebook groups, subreddits, and Instagram cliques, probably the question that gets asked 2-3 times per day, per platform, is “how do you make money on the road?” Obviously being tied down to one location is not very attractive to us. That means starting a business online gives you the most location […] The post The Ultimate Guide to Starting a VanLife Blog appeared first on VanLife Academy ..read more

I recently wrote an article for Teton Sports explaining what I would do if I could rebuild my van all over again. I have to admit, it may not be that riveting. No one really cares about insulation or furring strips. Instead you want to read that I would have put my kitchen over there or […] The post Van Insulation the Right Way – If I could do it over again appeared first on VanLife Academy ..read more

Let’s make this easy. If you want to install Renogy solar panels on your van, check out the video right here. But if you need even more help and some extra details, scroll down a bit further for the step-by-step written version. Either way, by the end of it, your solar panels will be installed and […] The post How to Install Renogy Solar Panels on Your Van appeared first on VanLife Academy ..read more

Your Van’s Electrical System Many people fund their VanLife in many different ways. e.g. Seasonal/temporary work, disability, and retirement. But if you’re like me — working full-time, remotely — then the electrical system almost becomes the most important thing. How will you continue working if you can’t charge your phone, cameras, laptop, and turn on […] The post Designing Your Van’s Electrical System appeared first on VanLife Academy ..read more

My VanLife Insulation Explained I think VanLife insulation is one of the most crucial aspects to being able to live in your van year round. In the winter, it helps keep you warm; in the summer, it helps keep you cool. This is not an extensive or authoritative “how-to,” but it is how I insulated […] The post VanLife Insulation appeared first on VanLife Academy ..read more

To Build a Campervan for VanLife Part of the appeal of living in a van is buying a blank slate and making it your own. If that sounds like you and you really want to build a campervan, there is no lack of inspiration and ideas found on social media sites like Instagram and Pinterest. […] The post How To Build a Campervan from Start to Finish appeared first on VanLife Academy ..read more

Like any good adventurer, or any good cook for that matter, I love cooking in, on, and around cast iron. Not so much “around” it, because that’s pretty useless. I just wanted to round out my prepositional series. Anyways, refurbishing rusted cast iron isn’t nearly as scary or as impossible as it looks. There are […] The post Refurbishing Rusted Cast Iron Cookware appeared first on VanLife Academy ..read more

The dog days of summer are here, and I don’t have to tell you how hard it is to cool yourself down in a van in the middle of the summer! If this is your first season, you’ll see how much you miss your fans and AC. If you want to skip the heat as […] The post 10 VanLife Summer Road Trips to Avoid the Heat appeared first on VanLife Academy ..read more