April 2026 Update and Van Build Expenses

After 3 months, on April 1, we finally left our house sit in Virginia with the dog Penny. We had had the van for 9 months and had hoped to be done with the conversion. But we were not. We found another house sit in South Carolina for 3 1/2 weeks so we could continue the build. It was in a nice location and brought us back to our normal stomping grounds. But it didn’t start for 8 days. We had friends and family we could visit, but before we did that, we decided to live in our incomplete van for a few days.

View from the front of the van of our temporary setup for camping.

View from the back of the van of our temporary setup for camping.

I found a US Army Corps of Engineers-managed campground on Kerr Lake in southern Virginia. It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive from our house sit. And with Greg’s Senior Park Pass, we could stay for half price.

The biggest challenge of camping for a few days was figuring out what to do with all our tools, building materials, and personal stuff that couldn’t be stored in the van yet. Most of this stuff would need to go into Greg’s mom’s car, which we had been borrowing since last fall. We folded down the back seat, and I carefully stacked most of our scrap wood and plywood, topping it with tools, Sterlite containers, and bags of our food staples. More bags and boxes of gear and tools went into the passenger seat.

Our backpacks of clothes went into the van. We also had many long planks of wood. They went into the van covered in tarps on top of sheets of cardboard. Once at the campground, the backpacks went into the car’s driver’s seat. We placed the plywood on the ground, with the cardboard underneath it and the tarps on top, and drove the van over it.

Large pieces of plywood in the van hallway.

Getting ready to drive the van over stacked plywood at the campground.

Covered plywood under the van.

Front seats of the car at the campground.

So much stuff packed in the back of the car.

Being in the van felt like being home again.

In our old van, Ballena Blanca, we never had much of an outdoor setup. With Periplo, we have an awning, two good camp chairs, and a convertible-height table. Since Greg can’t fully stand up in Periplo, we bought a table that lets him cook outside using our portable induction cooktop. The setup worked perfectly, and the view of the lake was lovely.

Inside, Greg took his place in the swiveled passenger seat, and I reclined on the bench cushion – temporarily covered in sheets.

Doing normal things in the van like brushing teeth.

Greg cooking outside on our induction cooktop.

A view through the side door screen of Greg relaxing—reading a book for the first time in forever!

Hanging out in Periplo!

Camping was also a good test run of how the van’s systems would work. Our batteries gave us all the power we needed. We parked with a good view of the sky so we could get internet with our Starlink. Our bed was super comfortable. But we also identified a few problems. The sink drained very slowly. Our mattress was a bit too thick for the Murphy bed frame, making it difficult to close and causing the base to bow out. We discovered that our potty fan was very loud, and that we needed to do more smell management.

From the campground, we went to visit Greg’s mom in North Carolina and then our good friends David and Michelle in South Carolina for a few days.

Playing music on David and Michelle’s deck.

Out for a few beers with David and Michelle.

We spent our last two days in the wind at another USACE campground on Lake Hartwell close to our house sit. On the way there, we stopped by to see my old friend Denise, with whom we had a nice time catching up. When we left, she gave me a sewing machine. Thanks, Denise. Hopefully, next month I will have those bench cushions covered.

Lake Hartwell.

Greg cooking at Lake Hartwell.

The car and Perilo at Lake Hartwell.

Then we started our house sit for a golden retriever puppy named Jovi.

We had never sat a puppy before. And honestly, I never thought we would. But this sit was in a good location, was a decent length of time, in a very nice house, and the pet owners seemed very conscientious about raising a puppy.

Greg and I took turns keeping the young Jovi occupied. Up first, Greg would feed and walk her, then play some fetch in the house. He would also work on some of her training, getting her to stay in place and heel. After breakfast, I took her on a long walk. Eventually, I worked in some training on these walks, and soon she was stopping at every crosswalk without me having to prompt her. She was almost always rewarded with a small treat. The rest of the day was fairly quiet until late afternoon, when Jovi and I made another outing. This was usually a short walk or a trip to the community dog park. The first time we approached the dog park, there was a lot of barking at the newcomer, and Jovi was a little intimidated. But after that initial trip, she was always super excited to see all her new friends. Being freaking adorable, she was pretty popular with the dog owners, too, and many people inquired whether she would be coming back once her owners returned. Towards the end of our stay, she met a yellow lab about her same age. A fast friendship soon ensued! In the evenings, we’d relax on the covered back deck overlooking the water. Jovi always joined us and proceeded to eat all the leaves and pine needles that had blown onto the deck.  Luckily, she was a good sleeper until morning, when it was time to get up again and greet everyone with wiggling enthusiasm.

Jovi’s training came with lifetime refresher lessons on Friday nights. Since we wanted her to keep up with her good behavior and thought knowing how to train a dog would be a good skill for us as house sitters, we took her a few times. We were proud of how well she (and we) did!

Jovi on our first day with her.

Playing ball with Jovi in the house.

Resting below my stool at lunch.

Isn’t she cute!

Day 5 and she was already getting bigger.

First trip to the dog park.

Day 9. Jovi is trying to behave at door training.

That face!

Day 16. Greg practices commands with Jovi at dog training.

Dog parade at dog training.

Taking a break on our morning walk. She could sell dog food with that smile!

Hanging out on the deck wearing her inside the house leash.

Jovi with her new friend, Stella, a 6-month-old yellow lab, at the dog park.

Being in South Carolina, we were able to attend a celebration of life for a friend who had passed earlier in the year. Pat was a real character. He was generous, welcoming, creative, thoughtful, had many friends, and was a little bit (maybe a lot) crazy. Along with his wife Debbie, he was a longtime follower of Make Like An Apeman’s adventures. A gathering was held at the Skunk Farm, the site of a bi-yearly bluegrass and Americana music festival in Greer, SC. Jovi went with us, and we met up with our good friends David and Michelle. We saw many people whom we hadn’t seen in years. At the end, I took a bit of Pat’s ashes, which had been divided up in plastic film containers, with me. Hopefully, soon we will be spreading them in spots all over the world. Rest in Peace, Pat.

At Pat’s celebration of life. There was a potluck, old friends, a couple of fun Pat stories, and music by the Reedy River String Band.

Sticker given away at Pat’s celebration of life.

Van Build Expenses

Cost of the Van: $54,652.75

Cost of upgrade so far, 4/30/26: $21,670.53

*Numbers colored red-violet indicate an increase from the previous month.

We spent $361.04 on Periplo in April.

As we get closer to the end of this project, our spending is slowing. We made only 9 trips to Home Depot and Lowe’s to buy things, plus one trip to Ace Hardware. And only 5 deliveries from Amazon.

Our lumber cost went up $14.83 for some wood banding.

We added a saw guide tool and a chisel to our tool collection ($20.10).

General Supplies went up $127.27 for paint, stain, wood conditioner, polyurethane, brushes, sanding discs, cabinet door bumpers, and mineral spirits.

We spent $41.06 on specialty hardware to build a cabinet over the cab of the van, which we call the Hi-Di-Hi.

Plywood banding tape.

Gas strut.

Turnbuckle kit.

Another $58.37 was added to Plumbing hardware & misc. for parts to fix our slow-draining problem.

And finally, I added a whole new category to my spreadsheet called Tile and Flooring and a $99.41 expense for tile for our shower/potty area.

The Design

I had a couple of little van projects in April.

Because we were getting close to the end and didn’t want to buy more plywood than we really needed, I made a cut sheet for our remaining 3/4-inch plywood pieces. I measured each piece of plywood, then gathered the dimensions for all the pieces we needed to build the rest of our cabinets and our Lagun tabletop. I used my design software to lay out the pieces on the plywood.

I was also in charge of putting together the Lagun table leg and working out how the folding tabletop would work. It all came together pretty well. Can’t wait to show you the finished Lagun table next month!

Parts to the Lagun table leg.

The Lagun leg installed with a temporary cardboard tabletop.

The Lagun tabletop will fold to conserve space.

April’s Projects

And now Greg will tell you about April’s projects…

This month’s projects were for storage and surfaces. First was an over-the-cab storage area. Next was the galley countertop. And last was adding a Lagun table.

Hi-Di-Hi

When we bought the van, we could have chosen Ford’s shelf, which goes over the cab. Our last van had one of these, and we just put bungies and netting to hold stuff on. Things fell out on rough roads. And it was ugly. So we decided to make our own this time.

The challenge here is reference points. All the edges are curved and sloped. And the seats and uneven floor don’t even allow measurements from below. There are bolt holes on either side to help secure the headliner. I started with these.

By putting a temporary bridge between these points, I made a place to work from. Using cardboard, I made enough of a template to transfer to 1/4″ plywood. I was able to get it visually level, then used the refined template to make the 1/2” plywood base.

There were a couple of small holes where the headliner meets the ceiling. I was able to drill them out. I installed one rivnut, but it was too close to the ceiling. I couldn’t back the rivnut tool out without destroying the threads.

I was able to drill small holes and use these self-tapping screws.

Self-tapping screw.

Top supports are in place. Need some side supports. Our host had a handy adjustable rod I could use to support the base while working on it.

I deliberately cut the base too long in front. This allowed me to level and square it up. Once I knew the position of the cabinet face I cut away the excess.

Location of side support.

The walls are very thick here. I couldn’t get a drill through. But this handy hole was the right size. I was able to rotate a tap in to cut threads into the metal.

Tap beside 1/4″ bolt.

Bolt installed into tapped hole.

Side support.

This was really difficult. Bolt in the center screws into headliner support. Duwan got a longer version of this bolt. Here I have it lined up to figure out where to drill a hole. It was super hard to feed the first bolt through from the bottom and get it started correctly into the threads.

Work space out in the yard. Here I’m drilling pocket holes to secure the base to the face.

I’ve used cardboard and 1/4″ plywood again to make a template for the face. Here I’m trying the real 3/4″ face out for fit.

Overhead cabinet with face and doors.

Duwan found these gas struts to hold the doors open.

Measuring how long the assembled turnbuckle is. Tape marks the start.

Turnbuckle takes 5 1/4″ of cable. Now I know how much to cut.

Turnbuckle assembled.

Two turnbuckles supporting the front of the cabinet from the face.

Cabinet interior.

More than enough room for Duwan’s clothes and a large blanket.

Countertop

We settled on a nice piece of maple plywood for our countertop and Lagun table. Cutting out the perimeter and features was pretty straightforward. But Duwan’s design called for doors. She found some appropriate hinges, which worked out well.

There was one cut that couldn’t be done from the edge or with a jigsaw. The term is plunge cut. We ordered a saw guide, and I practiced until I could do the plunge cut.

First attempt at stain. Left is raw maple, center is stain after using wood conditioner. Right is stain with conditioner.

Test of the countertop hinges. We want a tiny gap when closed.

When the hinges open, they lift the lid out and away so it doesn’t rub on the edges.

The Plunge Cut. Using the guide sticking out of the left of the circular saw I could drop the saw straight down, then go forward.

Cabinet top with one of the lids open.

Both lids open to show galley storage. The green and white hose is for the water fill.

First the wood conditioner goes on. Stain on the maple would be blotchy without it.

Undersides of the lids.

We scrapped the first stain. Duwan found this ebony color. Here’s how it went on. If it wasn’t wiped off quickly the wood would turn black!

Stained and ready for polyurethane.

Staining station. Blue tape is masking off where the lids meet the countertop. Using banding on the edges filled the space left by the saw blade (about 1/16″). But I’m afraid a coat of poly would make the doors rub.

Galley storage.

Galley.

Countertop water fill.

Lagun table

Since I didn’t hose up the countertop, we had enough maple left for the Lagun table. For me, the new challenge was the recessed butler hinges. I learned how to route out the tabletop to install those.

Router practice.

Banding pieces of the Lagun table.

Lining up pieces to install hinges.

Hinge cutouts.

Hinges lined up.

Routed out section for hinge. The router could also handle the curves, but one slip would mess up the tabletop. I mostly used a knife for the curves.

Using the guides I routed out most of the material, then used a knife and chisel for the curved edges.

Adjusting the depth of the router bit.

I want it to match the depth of the hinge exactly.

Can be hard to see through the dust while you’re routing.

Lagun table stained, polyed and ready for hinges.

Base and supports mounted to bottom of Lagun table.

To see all of our van build expense reports, click here.

To see our travel expense reports, click here.

If you are interested in reading other expense reports from nomads who really know how to live cheaply while still having a good time, check out the blog from our friends Mark, Liesbet, and Maya at Roaming About. They are currently driving around Europe looking for a new camper, a home base, and taking in the sights!

If you are interested in becoming a Trusted Housesitter or having a Trusted Housesitter take care of your pet, use our Trusted House Sitters discount code for 25% off!