Van Life — Chevy Express

Early 2026–present · self-built camper

I bought a Chevy Express and I am converting it into a camper myself — framing, insulation, electrical, cabinetry, and finish — and taking it out on the road. This page is both the build and the life around it: the work, the tools, and where the van has taken me. I do it to learn more hands-on craft, to meet others who make things, and to build toward making more meaningful things over time.

The roof rack

September 2026

Bolted on in the last of the light and finished in the dark under the parking-structure lamps. Somewhere to put the long boards that had been riding on the bed all summer — and the first thing I have added to this van that is not part of the room, but part of the work it has to do.

A vent in the wall

September 2026

The second hole in this van, and I was no steadier than the first time. Marked it, drilled the corners, and ran the jigsaw through the side wall while the sun went down behind the parking deck — for a few minutes the ragged gap in the insulation framed it better than any window. Then the louvred vent went in and closed it up again.

The doors

September 2026

Cardboard before plywood: every panel traced onto scrap carton against the bare door skin, cut, test-fitted, marked, and only then copied into wood. The store's vertical saw made the long cuts I had no room for at home. Slow, but nothing expensive got cut twice.

The bed frame

July – August 2026

Sketched the frame by hand first — front, side, the whole thing in perspective — then cut the lumber and taped the pieces up against the wall to check the height before driving a single screw. Raised just enough to slide the bins, the cooler, and the camp chairs underneath. The first real piece of furniture, and the moment the van finally had a floor plan.

The walls

April – June 2026

Cutting and fitting the plywood walls — the last big skin over the wool, and where the raw metal box finally disappears.

On the road

May 2026

Out to Joshua Tree mid-build — the reason for all of it. Open desert, a warm glow through the windows at dusk, a chair set up inside. Still a build in progress, already a life on the road.

Wall insulation

March – May 2026

Threaded nylon rope through the ribs — which felt a lot like motion planning — then packed Havelock wool over the ceiling and walls, held with the rope and 3M spray. Every redo was just the search for a better way.

A hole in the roof

March – April 2026

First time cutting into a roof — a little nervous. A frame from leftover wood, pilot holes, a jigsaw, butyl tape to seal, and the fan going in. Not just ventilation: the line where a work truck starts becoming a home.

The floor

January – February 2026

Templated the floor with Amazon boxes and paper bags, cut XPS foam and then a full sheet of plywood with a jigsaw, test-fit until the edges were right, then tidied the van back up. The moment the floor went down, the box suddenly felt like a room.