Van Tour | Luxury Adventure Van with FULL BATHROOM | Sprinter Van Conversion
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ต.ค. 2021
- Sprinter Van Conversion: Our van is a 2011 4x4 Sprinter Van, Long Wheel Base, High Roof. We completed the self-conversion in January 2021 and have been living in the van, travelling Australia since then.
Welcome to our Van Tour! We show you through our self-converted tiny home on wheels, and how we built the van around our adventure "toys".
Our conversion includes: (For the full list see this blog post: nigelandsueadventures.com/van...)
Full bathroom (hot shower and composting toilet)
Stove top and oven
Slide out bike drawer for 2 mountain bikes
Huge garage for adventure equipment
370 watts of solar, 200Amp hours lithium battery, 2000 watt inverter
Seating area at the front near the sliding door
Passenger Seat Swivel
HEAPS of storage space
And a few ingenious little features you probably haven't seen anywhere else!
If you have any questions about our van or our conversion, please drop a comment below.
Please consider subscribing to our channel - we bring you travel guides and vanlife tips weekly with a peek into our lives on the road.
WHO ARE WE?
We are Nigel and Sue (NaS) Adventures, a couple of outdoor adventurers. We've been Overlanding Australia living in our self-converted 4x4 Sprinter van since January 2021. Join us as we visit the highlights, but also share some off the beaten path hidden gems, along with the day to day realities of living in a van.
Thank you so much to our supporters on Patreon - you can join the community here: www.patreon.com/user?u=23150466
Keep up to date with our adventures on instagram at / nas_adventures
Or Facebook / nigelandsueadventures
I love it. This is the best van conversion I’ve seen. Good job 👏🏻 👏🏻👏🏻
Thank you so much, glad you liked it. Stick around for our video on how much it cost, coming soon!!
One of the best van builds I saw here in YT.
Thank you so much! There are so many van tour videos on TH-cam and it’s great to see ours got a positive reaction!
Love that you have your fire extinguisher right up front. So many vans don’t show it, or it’s kept in the garage which, to me, is mind boggling.
Thank you Hazel. Yes, there's a lot of safety regulations here in Australia - maybe we will do a video about them! We had to have both the fire extinguisher and the CO2 monitor in order to have the van certified as a motorhome (amongst other things). We figured that was the best place for the fire extinguisher close to the stove.
love the under bed sliding storage
It's great isn't it?
I've watched many van tours and yours had surprises that I'd never seen before. Very innovative and a great use of space. Beautiful build too.
Thank you 🙏
One has to get innovative with such a small space!
Same here. Love the clever storage under the bed, the practical sink and that garage. By far the most clever design I’ve ever seen. 👋🇨🇦
@@esthers5772 thank you Esther. It’s great not to worry about where to put things
I don't know why the TH-cam algorithm suggested this video in my feed but I'm glad it did, I have subscribed and I'm enjoying your content. Be safe in your travels guys
Welcome aboard! The TH-cam algorithm is a strange thing, that’s for sure! We recorded this video over two years ago. But we are still living in this van, and still travelling around Australia. Hope you enjoy the journey.
+1. Now there's a couple "Living Large" . . An informative and entertaining Sprinter build snapshot. .Travel safe folks! . Cheers, Vail, Colorado
Thank you Michael. Life’s too short to live small!!
Excellent well planned out living space!!!
Thanks so much Nicole 😊
Sliding Chest of drawers is genius!
Thank you!! I am constantly amazed at how Nigel manages to bring my crazy ideas to life.
You guys have done an amazing job on the van. Glad now you get to enjoy it after all your hard work
Thanks Leanne. Sometimes we pinch ourselves and say "Can you believe this is our life? this is our home? and we created it?" I'm sure you know the feeling!
Lovely and functional! Great job! Thanks for letting us see. Best wishes!
Thanks so much for watching.
I love this design! Great layout!
Thank you Cheryl. We love it too 😊❤️
So pleased you put in the floating bed design 👍. Love this layout!!!! It’s perfect 🤩
Thanks Cheryl. We have a full video of how we created the bed. Definitely one of our favourite parts of the van build
"Our Drunk Draw -13:48"......you ozzies just can't complete a sentence without mentioning beers. lol.
Dammit! I hope no one would notice that slight slip of the tongue. Of course I meant junk drawer
Absolutely fantastic build - well done!!!
Thanks so much! We absolutely love it
That sliding cabinet is really smart. Would love that in my dream van 👌
Pretty cool hey? Thanks for watching.
What a fantastic place to live and travel. I particularly like the creativity with the mountain bike slide out rack. Great job Nigel and Sue.
Thank you very much Nick. :-)
Cheers Nick!🙏🤙
dear folks, enjoyed the van tour. it is a very smart design. I hope to be able to make something like that someday. greetings from the netherlands (europe)
Dank u wel, Leon! We love the Netherlands, and hope to be able to travel Europe in a van soon.
Great video guys. A total adventure van. You guys did an amazing job building it. It is so beautiful.
Thank you so much guys ❤️❤️
Love it guys! Dream van right there 😍
Thanks guys. The hard work is definitely worth it!
Hello from South Africa, AAhhh Nigel and Sue yes me too, I watch so many of the Van life designs, Yrs r very thoroughly thought out and practical easy enough for a solo female. I love the outdoors and hope I will be building my dream van life soon also. Enjoy it. Thank you for sharing your expertise. God Bless u on your endeavors outdoors. Journey safe.
Thanks so much! It’s a wonderful lifestyle
Awesome set up guys. Definitely love the homely white with the wood look. It’s beautiful. So well thought out! Thanks for the tour. M
Thanks! We watched a lot of van tour videos before we started the build!!
Thanks for touring us your build appreciate it. I’m starting to plan ahead for mine when I retire😊. More success to your channel!🎉
Thanks so much Andy! It’s been 3 years living in it now, it’s a great lifestyle!
It's simply great! Looking forward to more from you guys
Thanks so much for watching! Hope you enjoy following our travels
Congratulations on your build - it's marvelous. Thanks for the tour. All the best to you both.
Thank you Jennifer. Thanks for watching
Awesome design, very well thought out guys, well done
A beautiful well thought out van build. Great job. 👏
Thanks Kathy 😊😊
Love your ideas of using the space...very well done...look forward to following your travels. Stay safe and healthy.
Thanks for watching Dina! ❤️❤️
Best van build Nigel and Sue!
Fantastic video too!
Thanks Amanda!! We love our tiny home, glad you like it too
Best layout i have seen so far
Thank you! We put a lot of thought and planning into what we wanted and why, even before we started the build
Spectacular job & beautiful home!! Love the tour! :)
Thanks for watching Mel, we are glad you enjoyed it. Its wonderful to relax in the van after all our hard work!
I don't expect that there were two friggin bikes under the bed 😱😱😱 coolest converted van i've ever seen 🤙🤙
Thanks Angela! We are pretty happy with our design.
We love your van conversion. It’s so well thought out and has a very homely feel! Best one we’ve seen! 💛
Thanks so much guys! We love it too! It’s been our home for over 18 months now. Very comfortable
Thanks for showing us your beautiful home - you've done an amazing job! I love the layout, especially your sitting area👏👏
Thanks so much guys. It’s so satisfying cresting your own home, isn’t it?
Awesome video. One of the best Ive seen yet!
Thanks so much Tyler. We’ve done a few mods and upgrades since this video, we really need to film another van tour!
I think this is the perfect van design. I would happily live in this van (after adding an aircon unit, I get hot lol).
Thank you! The only problem with installing an aircon is the power it takes to run it. We would need more batteries and more solar
@@nigelandsueadventures true! I would end up breaking the bank to keep cool 🤣
@@kiwigirljacks get good vans/ventilation and you’ll be fine
great van! almost exactly the layout we are building, here in Turkey.
Oh cool! Would love to see your build!
Hi both of you: thanks for sharing your beautiful van 👍 You've made a great job, well thought out design and clever details.
Have a safe travel. Take care.
Greetings all the way from Denmark, Europe ☀️
Thanks so much Camilla! We hope to come to Europe and travel in a van (maybe not this one) in the next couple of years.
Great: let me know, by then. I have bought a VW LT35, from 1986 and will begin converting in 1-2 yrs time.
My plan is to go full time van life, which is VERY rare in Denmark and also for people on my age (54) 😂
My two grown up sons think it's cool, and family and friends are looking forward to follow the adventure.
Best of wishes for you two and your journey: Camilla
PS: do you follow Snow & Curt? They travel around the World for 10-12 yrs.
Say HI from me, if you catch up with them ☀️
We are about the same age, and it’s not so common here in Australia either!
We have both spent quite a bit of time in Europe, we worked for a coach tour company there back in the 90s. We’ve been to Denmark several times (though only really Copenhagen)
We have watched a few of Curt & Snows videos. There’s also John & Mandy from the UK.
Thanks again for watching and connecting!
Very very good job guys! Plus I got a couple great ideas for my own van ..thank you so much for sharing ..
Awesome! What sort of van are you building?
Congratulations guys! So nice !! A lot good ideas and practical tips!!
Thanks Patih, glad you enjoyed it 😊
What an amazing space :) loved the video looking forward to following your travels :)
Thanks so much for watching. We have quite a few videos of our travels up already, we were just a bit slack with getting this van tour video uploaded!!
You guys rock, amazing build, safe happy travels guys.
Thanks so much Geoff 🙏😊
You have both done an amazing job. Absolutely love it.
Thanks so much Tony!!
Beautiful build! Some really clever touches! Thank you for sharing 🥰🚙🇨🇦
Hey thanks so much for watching and commenting! We recently posted another video with a full cost breakdown
Una caravana absolutamente perfecta y preciosa, para una vida maravillosa.
Saludos desde Madrid.
Salud, amor y viajes.👍
🐾💐🐾🌼
Muchas gracias 🙏
Awesome build guys 👍🏼
Thanks so much Sally 🧡
Best van tour...👍
Thank you so much 😊
Love your van build
Thank you! We are so happy with how it turned out.
Loved it! Great job!
Thanks for watching! 😊
Amazing design!!!
Thanks so much, it’s functional and pleasing 😊
Unreal! Love it all especially the garage,and yet I’m not sporty at all I just think it’s swish! And how kool are those type of dunnys? 😉I’m with you Sue I would definitely have to have a shower and loo… 🫠🌻
Great build
Thank you! 😊
Adorable couple and great build
Thank you so much Brenda 😊❤️
Looks great
Thanks! We love our tiny home
You two are so cute! Love your energy! I’ve watched hundreds of tricked out van videos & your van is stunning! Well done!
Thanks so much Colleen, are you planning your own build?
@@nigelandsueadventures As cool as it would be, I doubt it. However I admire those of you who do!
You’ve made a very unique home on wheels.
Nice touches and I like the open rv like connection to the cockpit so you can make a quick exit in your pajamas if you have to.
I like the storage chest at the foot of the bed and how you can slide it from side to side to access storage
Well thought out and built.
Thanks so much Robert. Fortunately we haven’t had to make the quick pyjama exit yet, but it’s so reassuring knowing the possibility is there!
@@nigelandsueadventures unless you don’t wear pajamas 😉
@@robertdragoff6909 haha true that!
Love your videos thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching! We really appreciate you being here.
Lovely. Enjoyed your descriptions..
Thanks Nancy.
so pretty!!!! Your van is so so beautiful! I am moving into my 1988 chevy van home this year to travel and work in film and TV and I am so so excited! I love your build It's so so pretty!
Oh cool! What sort of work do you do? I was a makeup artist for 20 years. I did TV but not really film work
@@nigelandsueadventures woah no way! I love acting and want to do that eventually but I pay the bills by being a casting director's assistant.sometimes fill in as a set PA too on bigger days. That's so cool you did makeup! Some of my favorite people are the makeup artists on set. They're all cool talented people!
@@margiesvanmori thanks! It’s hard work and long hours. If I had have started younger and not had young kids I would have pursued a career in film. Instead I focussed on TVCs, print commercial and personal clients
Great Layout!
Thanks so much! It was important to us for it to be functional and comfortable
Good job
Thank you!!
I like the layout of your van.
Thank you Christine
Great job guys.
We miss our van 😔.
Hope to kite with you guys one day soon whenever you're in the sunny coast next
Did you sell it? We are heading to DI over the next couple of days… and then further north
@@nigelandsueadventures yes we sold her.
Im also gonna be at d.i tomorrow
@@xaviergreen854 see you there!!
Very nice, Blessings n safe travels
Thanks so much Karen 😍🙏
I thought you were gonna say spice rack and I got so excited when it wasn't ahhahahah WINEOS!
Bahahaha, yeah I would not get that excited about a spice rack.
Great tour guys!
Thanks guys! Where are you now?
@@nigelandsueadventures Currently we’re stuck on the Gold Coast. Will likely be here for up to 6 months now unfortunately. We are going to try find somewhere to rent during the hot QLD summer so we can spend most of our time preparing for our website launch. Covid restrictions really killed our love of full time Vanlife so it’s time for a short break to hopefully rekindle what we’ve lost.
very nice!
Thank you 🙏
Very nice
Thank you Lisa 😊😊
I saw this on Nate's channel but wanted a closer look. Brilliant built. Great ideas.
Thanks for coming on over! We are working on a new video covering the costs of the build and what we love/don’t love about it. Hope you’ll stick around!!
@@nigelandsueadventures Will definitely be back to check out your travels. I am also reviewing all of your other videos and have subscribed. Love the bloopers. haha God Bless. Travel well.
@@racheljoanfleming159 thank you! We try to keep it entertaining. The bloopers are fun, aren’t they?
soooo beautiful!!! new subscriber !!!😊😘
Thank you Paula, and welcome ❤️
I believe this is my most favorite Van build yet! I love it! Mostly your ideas or a split? Susan in the USA
Thanks so much! I’m not sure what you mean about a split? Do you mean between the two of us? I think we agreed on pretty much everything about the design. Thankfully!!
Hi Susan, Nigel here. I’m thinking you might be meaning a split between our own ideas and pooling from ideas we’d garnered from other builds maybe?
In that case definitely a split. There is such a wealth of information out there that has been offered by others who have put together excellent builds. I don’t know that we could’ve done it without them so huge thanks to the pioneers as we weren’t the first.
That said I think we’ve definitely added a few unique touches that have only added to the end result and it is our hope that we can pay it forward by offering our own insights.
Glad you like our beautiful little home in wheels 🙏
Love 😍😍
Thanks Cam ❤️❤️
I've found my van!
Haha are you serious or do you mean you love ours?
I lubbb itt😍
Thank you 🙏
I LOVE your Van build!Build!! You have achieved the goal if a "home" feel to be sure!! I'd like to ask about the space behind your seat with a black screen look?? Also is there a specific reason you didn't put a dividing wall w a pass-through door to the cab? Do you run AC as well as Max fans?? Thank you so much for this I am just beginning my list of wants for my build.
Thanks! The black “screen” is an insulated window cover, and also keeps the backlight out while we are filming.
We don’t have a wall because we have the passenger seat on a swivel base. Gives us so much more living room.
We don’t have Aircon and have only really wished we had it once or twice, but our solar/battery system wouldn’t support an aircon and we don’t really like staying in caravan parks!
I’ve subscribed and would love to talk to you guys about how much it cost to convert your van etc.
soooooo happy to have found you guys 🥰
Hey Sally, we will be doing a video on the costs of the van soon… when I finally get through the pile of receipts and finish categorising them! You can always reach out with questions on Instagram DM @nas_adventures and I can give you the current tally.
Thank you thank you thank you 😊
Originally I was going to travel Oz with my partner, but he decided to partner up with someone else a couple of years ago, so it looks like I’ll be doing this myself 🤷♀️ (I’ll be getting myself a big dog as my companion lol)
I’m in the process of watching all your videos now 👍😊 and getting myself all excited about doing this again so again I am so very grateful for you guys. 🙏🇦🇺
@@sallyjones1403 oh that sucks! Don’t let being on your own stop you. We meet plenty of solo ladies out in the road. In fact, while Nigel is away working for the next couple of months, I’m (Sue) living in the van solo.
Absolutely love this design. You can tell their has been so much thought and good quality materials used
How much did the Van cost and how much was the build?
Thanks so much Pauline! You can see our Full coat beak down in this video th-cam.com/video/IdUSikwI2Ho/w-d-xo.html
Thank you for the tour of your gorgeous van. i really like the shelf next to your bed for your glasses! Can you tell me where you got them please?
The shelf or my glasses? haha. The shelf is a spice rack from Ikea, I just painted it white, and my glasses frames, oh gosh, those ones are OLD, from Specsavers. We were actually just discussing that we need to film a new van tour, as we've been living in it for 3 years now, and made quite a few changes.
Thank you - it was the shelf. And your glasses are lovely too 😊
Well done. How does the white colour hold up to the red dust?
It would be great to hear what you would change if you did it over again.
Thanks.
Thanks Mick! The walls were fine. The dust did get in a bit at the back, where the old fibre-optic cable door is, and made a bit of a mess of the bedding. Bit of duct tape to the rescue!! We checked all the door seals before we headed up to Cape York.
There's only really one thing we wish we'd done differently. The sliding windows are a pain, as we have to close them when it rains. Next time we would use those pop out caravan style windows.
Absolutely love it! Just ordered a van (they are almost a year backordered out where I live) and I'm working on scaling your layout to a extended length Ford Transit.
I was wondering what the height is of your garage area, from floor to the floating bed? And also what the exterior footprint of the wet bath is?
How exciting!!! We are away from the van for a couple of weeks, and I don’t remember the measurements off the top of my head. I’ll take some measurements when I get back. Meanwhile check out DIY RV Solutions as they may have a shower cubicle to fit your van model which will give you more exact dimensions
Thank you for sharing awesome awesome awesome. Did u both build it or have someone do it? We r starting to think of our van build, but I want to be able to travel on some dirt and sand, any suggestions? Stay safe.
Hey Helen, yes we did the build ourselves. We have a few videos of the build on our channel, in the Van Build playlist. If you want to travel in sand, you’ll probably need a 4x4 van.
Fantastic design and awesome colors. Could you tell me where set up Gas bottle? thank you!
Hey Tommy, due to Qld regulations, the gas bottle needs to be in a enclosed cabinet that is only accessible from the outside, and vented to the outside. It’s basically behind the drivers seat and under the couch section.
@@nigelandsueadventures Thank you very much
Yeah some Aussies who’ve done what I want to do 🙏😂👍
Well, technically Nigel is half Kiwi…
Amazing van! Greetings from Massachusetts! How many miles did your van have when you bought it? Please do a video with things you would change in your layout. I am a single woman who’s considering van life. I love your van! You’ve done an amazing job!
Thank you! The van had around 230,000km (around 140000 miles), but had a new engine and gearbox put in around 50000km before we got it.
We are planning a video on what we love and don’t love about our build, we will get that done soon!!
Very nice build! What brand is your pull out bin? It’s ingenious!
Thank you Isabel. I’m not sure of the actual brand, we got it from Bunnings which is a large hardware chain here in Australia. I think it may be their home brand. We love it as it’s a one handed operation.
loved you video guys :) i`m a sub now, would like to find out were you got your sliding back windows from?
Hey Owen, thanks for subbing. We got the windows from ozvan dot com dot au (I can’t put a link here), but to be honest, if we were building again, we wouldn’t use sliding windows, we would use the ones that hinge from the top (caravan style). We can’t open ours when it rains.
Do you have a product list? Might be very different here in US but I love the build.
We are working on a follow up video which will have more info about the products used and the cost of the build. If you have questions about any specific products please reply and we can let you know. 😊😊
Love the fitout. A technical question - what height have you got for the toy box/garage? Do you have to put the seats down on your MTBs?
Thanks Mal, yes we have to put the seats down. I forget the exact measurement, something like 863mm, and we kept it exact so we would have room to sit up in the bed. The exact measurement will be in the bed build video, I can look it up for you.
@@nigelandsueadventures that’s perfect, I’m trying to work out the bed height and garage height balance. :-)
Hi, great build with some new ideas! We are also converting a 170 / L3 4x4 Sprinter but we are a family of 4 which makes it a bit harder.
What I wonder is what your current weight of the van is, either fully loaded when on the road or with tanks empty. Thanks.
Hi Roland, our GVM for the van is 4490 kg, and fully loaded it comes in at around 4300kg. I’ve seen builds that accomodate 4, I guess it depends on the size/age if your kids. You could possibly have a bunk bed where the top bunk folds down during the day to form the back of the couch?
@@nigelandsueadventures Ah ok, here in Europe there are two versions of the Sprinter, that has to do with regular car driving licenses going up to a GVM of 3500kg. So there is a version with a higher GVM (5 ton) but we typically want 3500kg GVM so anybody can drive them. Vehicles that are above GVM are much less wanted.
However, 3500kg isn't that much if you start out with a fairly big 4x4 Sprinter. It came as a 9 seater 4x4 shuttle bus windows all around, already at 2800kg actual loaded weight. Removed some heavy rear seats. But I am hoping it will be around 3000kg without us and some luggage, keeping it light.
We are just going to make a lower bed in the back and a bed for de kids above that. Then from there on a kitchen area, before you reach the fixed seating area for 4 people, with the front seats being able to turn. That way we don't have a bathroom, but we don't have any folding to do to convert between driving and sleeping.
Yeah we’d heard that about the 3500kg limit for a regular licence. Fortunately here in Australia it’s 4500. Because I only have a car licence. Nigel has a full truck licence though so he would be ok. But I guess that’s something we need to keep in mind if we come and build a van in Europe!
Hi Sue, what’s the brand name of those back bedroom windows please ? Appreciate, Annalise xx
Hi Annalise, they are from ozvan .com.au. However I wouldn’t recommend sliding windows as you can’t open them when it’s raining. If we were building again we would use the pop out caravan style windows
Hi I just found this site,, I was just wondering how high from floor to ceiling,, I’m 6’2” thanks
Hi Peter, I’m not sure if the exact height, I’ve had some pretty tall friends in here though. I guess it would also depend on how much you built up the floor. We didn’t add a frame and insulation in the floor, so that saved us a couple of inches
Beautiful, did you build it yourselves, or got it build, id so who is/are the builder/s
Hi Nadine, yes we did the build ourselves. We have a few videos of the build up on our channel. Are you building a van?
@@nigelandsueadventures thats awsome. I want to build one in the near future, happy travel guys.
@@nadinenugent-grant4158 oh cool. It’s pretty awesome living in something you’ve built yourself
May I ask how big your fresh and grey water tanks are.
Our freshwater is 110 litres and grey is 86
How do you open the bathroom door in the night with the ottoman in front of it?
Good question! There is actually enough room to open the door and get into the bathroom with the ottoman in place… just enough room!
Where did you put your water storage and how many gallons.
We have 110 litres (about 30 gallons) of freshwater in a tank that is under the van) we also have a grey water tank under the van that is 86 litres
Subtítulos en castellano x favor
Sorry I wish we could speak castellano !!
Where’s the bath in the bathroom? 🤷♂️
Haha… can’t carry enough water to fill a bath mate!
@@nigelandsueadventures
Therefore, it’s not a bathroom. 🙈
Do you all have to watch out for deadly spiders, mice and other not so nice creatures while traveling across Australia?
Hey Debbie, it’s more the crocodiles and sharks! Just kidding. It’s a safe country. More people die of traffic accidents than from the wildlife.
Another great Vlog, I was thinking that after seeing your van layout, you 2 would be great van builders for others who want a mini home ,mobile home , 😄cheers from Downunder ❤️🦘🦘🦘
But we’d have to stay in one place for too long! Haha 😂