It’s been more than three years now since I quit full-time vanlife and swapped my Ford Transit campervan for a much smaller 2007 Mitsubishi Delica D:5 van.
I bought the Delica specifically with the intention of turning it into a little camper for weekend trips – though that never happened for various reasons. Until now.
I finally did it!
Admittedly, this is kind of old news, since I did the conversion back in June and July. However, I wanted to write a blog post about it for those interested in the details – and that took a while. But, better late than never, right!?
Over a few weeks in June and July, I turned my Mitsubishi Delica D:5 into a campervan. And the best part: I did it all myself!
The main reason it took me three years to do this is that I doubted I could do it myself, given my lack of tools or any significant DIY experience. I got a couple of quotes over the years to have it done by professionals, but they were always way too expensive (we’re talking NZ$6,000 to $9,000).
What made me tackle it now? Good old peer pressure.
Over the past year, I’ve become close friends with three AMAZING women here in Christchurch. We have a lot in common, including our love for travel and adventure. Two of them already had little campers, and when the third bought one, I knew I would be missing out on many adventures if I didn’t get a van myself.
Initially, I planned to buy one. I looked at several, but just couldn’t find the right one. And all along, there was this little voice in my head pushing me to convert my van instead. I love that Delica. It’s one of the very few vans that size that have four wheel drive, it’s been super reliable, and is comfortable to drive.
In the end, I decided to listen to that little voice – and I’m so glad I did. I had a lot of fun and learnt a lot and, best of all, I’m super happy with the result – and extremely impressed with (and surprised by) my DIY skills! Who knew I could build a campervan!
I thought I’d share a bit about the process. Feel free to just look at the photos if you’re not actually interested in HOW I did it 🙂
The Result
Let’s start with the best part: The result 🙂