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Before #VanLife Was a thing: My First Years Living in a Car

Build journal From Econovan Dreams to Defender Plans How a bare‑bones beach van became the blueprint for a self‑sufficient overland home. Posted on · Solo female traveler · Overland life My Econovan parked up on the coast in 2010 — before #vanlife was even a thing. Back in 2010, when I was 19, I bought …

Build journal

From Econovan Dreams to Defender Plans

How a bare‑bones beach van became the blueprint for a self‑sufficient overland home.

Posted on · Solo female traveler · Overland life
Grainy archival photo of vans parked beside a quiet Australian beach in the morning.
My Econovan parked up on the coast in 2010 — before #vanlife was even a thing.

Back in 2010, when I was 19, I bought my first van: a beat‑up Ford Econovan. Van life wasn’t a trend then. It was just surfers and fishers in the carparks at dawn, and me chasing a feeling I couldn’t get from four stationary walls.

I couldn’t afford a house by the beach, so I flipped the idea: instead of a home that stayed put, I bought one that could move. A home that could follow the coastline, drift inland, or park anywhere the light felt right.

Simple camp stove and pan on a folding table in the grass.
Gourmet setup: one stove, one pan, endless sunsets.

Mornings meant salt on my skin, pancakes when I could be bothered, or paddling out for a surf. Sometimes I’d shoot scrappy little films just for fun. It wasn’t curated — sometimes the nights were freezing — but I wouldn’t have traded it for anything.

Freedom isn’t about money — it’s about space. Space to breathe, to make, to move in rhythm with the natural world.

Over time I graduated rigs: Econovan → Hiace (with drawers under the bed) → my beloved ’85 Holden Drover → and now, the Defender 110. Each one taught me something new about comfort, capability, and what actually matters on the road.

What I actually carried back then

  • $20 esky — similar to this one
  • Thin foam mattress cut to size — today I’d pick a self‑inflating mat
  • No‑frills camp stove with tiny gas canisters — updated version here
  • Second‑hand acoustic guitar (still the best campfire luxury)
  • Stack of surf mags + paperbacks
  • Cheap head torch — a reliable dupe here

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Toyota Hiace interior with drawers under the bed. 1985 Holden Drover parked near bushland. Camping with dogs beside a 4WD. Land Rover Defender 110 ready for its build.

Now I’m building the Defender properly: power, storage, comfort — a self‑sustaining rig that blurs the line between utility and art. Older, a little wiser, and going full send into a life that fits me better than any fixed address ever did.

This isn’t just about building a rig — it’s about building a life that rolls wherever the horizon does.

Got a rig with a story? I feature builds from around the world — from dream machines to scrappy works‑in‑progress.

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maddisonwhitford@gmail.com

maddisonwhitford@gmail.com

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