She Downsized to her Dream Camper Van Tiny Home

I've never seen that used in any other van, but it has changed my life. It feels more like home than anything I've ever had. It's the best home I've ever had. And I have a dishwasher. That's probably one of the most unique things about the van. If you think you need a big house, you don't. I'm Caitlin Pyle. This is my van, Vanastasia. Let's go check it out. Welcome inside the van. First, let's start with the kitchen. It's a quartz countertop. It's two centimeters, and it's the exact same countertop that I have in the house that I downsized out of, and I really wanted to feel at home in the van. This is one of the ways that I did it. From here all the way to the end, it's eight feet. So I have the Berkey filter here, and there's another filter underneath the sink because I like to make sure there's no fluoride, no heavy metals or anything in my water. And you'll notice that there's a glass dish that's kind of stuck to the counter, as is the Berkey. I'm going to show you exactly what keeps it from moving around. It's called Quake Hold Gel. I got it on Amazon. It's meant for museums. When an earthquake comes through, stuff doesn't fall over. That's what I use it for. I've never seen that used in any other van, but it has changed my life because I can't imagine what else I would do with this thing. Put it in the sink when I'm driving, I guess, but that would be a pain in the butt. There is a lot of storage all over this van. I have cabinets and drawers everywhere. It's really cool how Bougie Builds is a builder out of Fayetteville, North Carolina is who I work with to build this van. And they were amazing to work with and really saw my vision and brought it to life. And the kitchen was one of the ways that they did that, which is putting every available inch into storage. And I love that. I have an induction cooktop with two burners and I have a dishwasher. That's probably one of the most unique things about the van. And you might say, Caitlin, why do you need a dishwasher? It's just you. Can't you just wash the dishes by hand? And yes, yes, I could. However, would I use more than 0.7 gallons of water to wash? Yes, I would. I'm very confident that I would. But this dishwasher only uses 0.7 gallons per wash. Plus, when you're not using it as a drawer, it's a drying rack. There's no reason for me to not have one. It's definitely the best thing that I think I put in this van and I'm glad I did it. And then I also have a toaster oven that has an air fryer, roasts, broils, bakes, slow cooks, warms, reheats, proofs, toasts and dehydrates all in one. It's from the Instant Pot brand. It's Omni Pro. And it has like the air fryer basket and everything. I do not have a microwave because I'm a little crunchy. And I think that microwaves deplete nutrients and destroy the nutrients in the food. So I'd rather preserve as many of those as I can. And using this in the reheat function is just as good for me. I got power outlets put in that have USB ports in them, which comes in handy a lot. And I'm a huge fan of this backsplash with the mirrored chrome tiles that brings out the chrome and other places of the van, like the hardware and the other fixtures. It's just a way to pull it all together. Plus, there's little mirror pieces that make the countertop sparkle. So big fan of design and so is Chris over at Bougie Builds. Together, we made this thing come to life and I'm super proud of it. And the last part about the kitchen, of course, you can't forget. It's the fridge. And I went with a retro style. It is a large 110 volt refrigerator. And it does say in the description that it works in RVs. So it is in this van. I chose it because I love the look of it and it matches with the aesthetic of the van. But it has a ton of space in it. And I love the freezer because most refrigerators and vans are really small and don't have a lot of space for even like a frozen pizza. This one I could probably fit 10 frozen pizzas in. I got room for it all in this fridge. I love it. I got her in August of 2023. Mine's the 170 wheelbase, so it's really easy to maneuver. And the Mercedes drives super smooth. It's luxurious feeling. I just love it. I started to think, man, I could feel at home in one of these, especially if I designed it custom. And that's why I did exactly that. I did the exact same process in terms of customization as I did with the house that I was living in, just on a much smaller scale. And I wanted to make it to where I would feel comfortable and I wouldn't regret having downsized in such an extreme way. Now we're in the bathroom. This is a wet bath. It has palisade tiles, they're waterproof vinyl, and I have had no issues with them. I carry 32 gallons of fresh water. I shower nightly before bed. I've got the military shower down to a science. And then you're probably wondering what kind of toilet I have. I have the Airhead, which I feel like is so underrated, but that's because Nature's Head is really good at marketing. Airhead is getting there, but their product I feel like is better. It has absolutely no smell. It has a ventilation to the outside, so I think that helps. It keeps the moisture out. And yeah, it doesn't really take a lot of maintenance. I got a closet and you open it up and the light comes on. I have motion sensor lights in most of my upper cabinets and it fits a surprising amount of clothes. I mean, I've got quite a few different jackets. So I have three places for clothes. It's this drawer, this closet, and this cabinet right here. So I feel like I have a good amount of storage. This is kind of my vanity and nightstand area. It's the same countertops and backsplash as the kitchen area. I have a magnifying mirror that I can turn on and flip over. So I want like a magnifying or just a regular mirror. This is my control panel where you can see how much water you have. And then this little screen tells me where my battery's at. You can see I'm at 99%. I'm pulling in about 40 watts of solar and the AC loads. It's basically just the inverter in my refrigerator is only 29 watts. So it's kind of providing the power I need because I only have 200 watts of solar on the roof. Power I need to run the fridge and the inverter all the time. It doesn't constantly drain my battery, which is great. I have a second alternator on the van as well. So whenever I drive, I'm charging that battery. So I don't have to worry so much about whether it's sunny out or whether my panels are pulling the power I want. When I realized that I wanted to get a van, I watched YouTube videos for like 13 hours straight. I barely ate. I was so excited. And I really resonated with one of the tiny home tours that I saw, Chris and Bobby from Bougie Builds. And I called them the next day. We talked for like an hour and we're still friends. I call them my van parents and I'm their van daughter. And we really just developed this beautiful relationship far beyond the van build to the point that I just feel so grateful that they're in my life. And I know we met for a reason, as you may have seen. In Chris and Bobby's video, Chris lost her son in 2017. And it just so happens that he was taking some of the same exact medications that I was taking three years ago when I was feeling suicidal myself. I had gotten divorced and I was super burnt out. And I didn't know that burnout was a physiological condition where your body and brain are completely depleted of resources that you need to think properly. And I didn't know that if I just took better care of my brain, my mindset would take care of itself. So now that's what I do for a living is teach people that information, the information I didn't have when I was feeling like wanting to end my life. And in so many ways, shifting out of the beautiful prison that I called home for five years into this van that feels more like home than anything I've ever had. It's the best home I've ever had. I feel like a brand new person. My favorite part about the bed area is I got a really good duvet cover from West Elm. It's an all-weather hydro cool. And it has been really cold in this van. I'm talking 35, 40 degrees. So not like super cold. But for me as a Floridian, it's cold. And I am toasty warm underneath this thing. Or if it's a warmer night, I'm still not hot underneath this. It just really is good at regulating the temperature. And the air conditioner is also right over the bed as well. And with the batteries that I have in here, I believe it's about 600 amp hours. I can run my air conditioner all night on the batteries. I have shelves here too. I've got reading lights on either side. I've got bunk windows and flare space over here. I got a bookshelf in the middle of these two cabinets. And it kind of is my catch-all in a way. But when I drive, I have books falling out all the time. But it's fine because they fall on the bed. Nothing gets hurt. And I just put them back up when I get done driving. And they stay where I want them to stay. Welcome to the garage. So this has all kinds of storage space. I can take this out. There's a lot of storage in here. And you can move everything very easily and just stack it back up. I have everything I need. Welcome to the rooftop deck. This is composite decking. So it's not wood. And it's to withstand all the weather. I've got 200 watts of solar panels up here. And then the air conditioner, which is the Mabru, M-A-B-R-U system. That's my favorite time to come up here when maybe close to sunset or even first thing in the morning when you're just kind of chilling. Bring a book up here. Bring a drink up here. Just relax and hang out. I created more mental space for me to figure out what I wanted. And ultimately, what I wanted was not a gigantic house. But I'm grateful for having lived both. And I'm here to tell you that if you think you need a big house, you don't. It's really rewarding to see and to know that I've grown enough to be able to let go of that kind of possession. I felt in a way that I had to live there. I had to live in the house that I designed. But that's just your ego. You know, your ego is trying to tell you what is going to keep you safe. And it doesn't know that van life is going to be epic and way more exciting and fun. It leads to so many opportunities and new relationships and just experience that you wouldn't have got being in the house that you're convinced you have to stay in. You know, so if you're thinking about downsizing, I highly recommend it. Thanks for watching my van tour. I hope to see you out on the road.