My van’s name is Little Red, and she’s a Ram Promaster. I haven’t written a thing since my car accident, so telling her story is my first attempt at getting my brain back in gear.
Lucy and I are currently camped in the woods in Big South Fork NP at the Blue Heron campgrounds in Kentucky, close to the Tennessee border. My intention is to start my next book, which has been on my mind for a couple years now, and a change of scenery seemed like it was needed to get back to work.
In March of 2021 I was sitting at a red light near downtown Cleveland and a guy (on his phone) smashed into the back of my pickup truck. He didn’t even attempt to brake, resulting in two demolished vehicles, years of doctors visits (for me), and stranding me in Ohio. That’s all I’ll say about the accident, since anyone who knows me already knows the details. The worst part for me has been the inability to do anything creative with my brain, being fogged from so much medication.
I only had a few weeks of rental car insurance and was under pressure to buy a vehicle, so I got a Subaru Forester, thinking it could be a nice adventure car. The main problem was how low it was to the ground, and every time someone got too close behind me I had panic attacks and had to pull over. Lucy and I had spent most of the covid time driving around the country in my pickup, and I wanted to continue by visiting my sister in New Orleans. I made it just over the Ohio/Kentucky border when I had to stop and turn around. Driving had become far too stressful. I hadn’t been working due to chronic headaches, so I went back to Cleveland and got a part-time job at a grocery store that was an easy 3-minute drive. And that was the rut I got stuck in for far too long.
I’m sure everyone saw pics and videos of people working remotely from vans and RVs during covid, and that’s where the idea of Little Red came from. If I was too low to the ground for comfort, I’d get a giant van. If I was super stressed from driving, I’d throw a bed in the back so I could pull over and relax whenever I needed to. I traded out the Subaru and bought a used, empty cargo van, and then it started to snowball. Why not install a refrigerator so I don’t have to keep stopping for food and ice? And how will I power that refrigerator? Let’s add some solar panels and lithium batteries. Since I’m adding power, I’ll get a microwave for cooking. Now I need to raise the bed off the floor and build cabinets for food storage, and give Lucy a place to sleep. A sink for washing dishes, and shelves for clothes and books and all the day-to-day necessities.
Besides making bird houses, I have never built anything. I searched Youtube to see how other people had designed their mobile living spaces, and with a table saw and cordless drill, I got to work.
I won’t say that the outcome will win any design or workmanship awards, but it gets the job done. I started with insulation, which was probably the most time-consuming part of the project. And in retrospect, I wish I had done a bit more. But with the addition of a floor and a ceiling, I wanted to be able to stand up straight in the back, so I kept it minimal. The only real mishap was the shelving above the foot of the bed, which came crashing down on an unexpected and very deep pothole on a trip to New Orleans (which I completed, unlike the last attempt). Thankfully, it only crashed on top of the bed, but I had to spend the next couple weeks sleeping with shelves occupying the space where my feet should have been. My microwave became load-bearing, since my cooking shelf sagged just enough in the middle to rest on top of it. When I got back to Cleveland, I reinstalled the shelf and added support brackets to everything, just in case.
I spent about a year building, with short trips to test everything out and get used to driving again. Lucy and I have recently been to all the Great Lakes, Canada, and oceans on both sides of the country, with visits to family and friends along the way. I’ve had trouble with the solar, and had to spend a day at a rest area in North Dakota taking it all apart to find the problem (which means taking apart a section of the bed since I thought I’d be clever and stash the inverter and batteries in an out-of-the-way spot).
The solar has been the biggest issue since it has so many moving parts. After an initial successful installation with my friend Craig, I found myself without power on several occasions during trips, and at least now I can service it blindfolded. Considering I almost burned down the van a couple times when starting out, that’s impressive to me. I added an extra inverter powered by the cigarette lighter to charge the batteries after some time in Portland with very little sun. When I first installed the solar panels on top of the roof I didn’t drive on the highway for weeks for fear they’d fly off, and now I’m finally confident that I’m not as bad at building things as I thought.
Little Red isn’t finished, though. Project burnout and lack of extra money have delayed the final two items I want to install – a ceiling vent fan and a side window in the sliding door. The window should be easy enough, and cutting a giant hole in the van roof doesn’t scare me (after ripping out my beautiful wood ceiling). Looking through the schematics of wiring the fan, it somehow seems more complicated than the entire solar system, so maybe when I’m stuck inside this winter I’ll give it a go.
That’s the condensed version of the story of Little Red. I could go into a lot more detail on the build and the side trips, but I’ve accomplished my goal of sitting and writing, and for now I’m happy.
Lucy and I are heading out now for a hike, and maybe a nap later. It’ll be a good day. I do wish we were at the ocean, maybe with some scuba diving, but that’ll have to be the next trip.
PS – I have very little reception so I’m writing as quickly as I can – please excuse the typos for now 🙂
Have a great day, everyone!
