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She Lives And Travels In A High Top Cargo Van Conversion


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This is the story of how Anna, a seasoned traveler, ended up becoming a van dweller thanks to Tiny Home Tours/YouTube. When she first converted her van, it was a standard low-top conversion, and she used it like that for a while. After a while, Anna decided that she wanted it to feel more like home, so she wanted to get herself a high top van.

After finding out how much money she would lose trading in her van, Anna looked into a company called Fiberine that would raise the roof on her current van for about $5,000 including the windows and additional framing the job would require. So she originally bought the van for about $24,000 used and proceeded to spend approximately $31,000, for a total of about $55,000 to turn it into a tiny house, including the cost of turning it into a hightop van. What do you think? New Class B motorhomes go for over $90,000 new usually, so she saved quite a chunk of change doing it this way. Please enjoy for yourself below!

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Anna’s Van Life in a Custom Cargo Van Conversion

She built a custom high top class B conversion van.

Anywhere she goes, she’s still home.

If she wants, a new place to adventure and hike.

Video Tour: Seasoned Traveler Moves into Van Conversion

Highlights

  • Seasoned traveler
  • Decides to go tiny w/ a cargo van conversion
  • Upgrades and re-does her van with the addition of a Fiberine high-top so she could stand up inside with no problem at all
  • Total cost, including purchase of the van – $55,000
  • Originally, she bought the van for $24,000 and spent $3,480 to turn it into a camper as a DIY project (it’s detailed here)
  • Follow Anna @spintheglobeproject, get her links below

Learn more

YouTube/Tiny Home Tours (Full Video) | Anna’s YouTube Channel | Her Instagram | Her Links | Fiberine

Our big thanks to Ally & Chris of Tiny Home Tours for sharing!🙏

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Alex

Alex is a contributor and editor for TinyHouseTalk.com and the always free Tiny House Newsletter. He has a passion for exploring and sharing tiny homes (from yurts and RVs to tiny cabins and cottages) and inspiring simple living stories. We invite you to send in your story and tiny home photos too so we can re-share and inspire others towards a simple life too. Thank you!
{ 11 comments… add one }
  • Theresa Perdue
    November 20, 2019, 8:59 am

    I love everything about this. The van is amazing and she is a very capable and clever young lady.

  • Eric
    November 20, 2019, 3:26 pm

    Good for her. Personally I couldn’t live like that for any period of time. Too cramped, and now officially being a senior citizen I need more space to be able to maneuver this sorry excuse of a carcass, oops sorry, body. 😀

  • Joyce
    November 20, 2019, 5:37 pm

    Clearly this lady is happy in her upgraded van. I wonder how much added weight the wood creates. Her design is very practical and functional. I do like the swivel table idea and wonder how she created it. I too prefer high top vans and keep watching the many ways folks have modified them for comfortable living use. A very nice conversion.

  • Gail Walsh
    November 21, 2019, 4:14 pm

    I’m missing the math…$24k to purchase. $5k for roof and $3480. What cost about another $21k for a total spending of $55k?

    • Alex
      November 22, 2019, 9:51 am

      She hired a company to do the last conversion, in other words, she didn’t do it herself that time around, she paid professionals to do it for her. I should have made that more clear, but she talks about it in the video a little bit. The company she used is called RV Renovators, and they’re out of Mesa, AZ. Here’s their website: http://rvrenovators.com/ And here’s where she talks about it on her website so you can read about it more: https://www.spintheglobeproject.com/about-the-van/

  • Pat
    November 21, 2019, 9:58 pm

    I have been looking to downsize from my 24 foot Winnebago View (Mercedes Sprinter base) to a vehicle that is more versatile. While I want something I can comfortably live in for extended periods on the road I also want to be able to park it in a regular parking spot. I began planning for this desired functionality about 6 months ago, have looked at many custom builds online which have been extremely helpful in helping me learn what I need/want and options for accomplishing it. Your build is the first that meets almost every one of both my needs and wants! Kudos!! Two questions: 1) What is your van length? Standard or extended? 2) How do you handle the heat? Only a fan in a van in the Arizona heat just won’t cut it for this 70+ adventurer. (I didn’t enjoy it in my 20s either, but at least I was willing to tolerate it.) I’m looking forward to following your future adventures. Thanks so much.

  • Sheila
    September 19, 2020, 6:11 pm

    This is nice!! I really like this.

  • My Name
    September 20, 2020, 12:41 pm

    I wonder if anyone has considered painting one side of the van white and the other a dark color? In the summer park with the white side facing the sun. In the winter, the opposite. Insulation is costly and uses interior space of which there is very little in a van. This doesn’t help at night of course. But most people aren’t living mobile in cold climates. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to have an awning that shaded the whole vehicle? It must be possible anchoring it to the roof rack. Would definitely cost in fuel as it would increase drag but if it was well designed that should be a minor difference.

    • Natalie C. McKee
      September 21, 2020, 2:28 pm

      That’s a clever idea! I haven’t seen anything but standard awnings before!

  • Pam
    July 8, 2021, 2:02 am

    Great ideas for my van.

    • Alex
      July 8, 2021, 2:30 pm

      Hi Pam, glad we could help point you towards some inspiration for your van build! How exciting! Do you already have your van? By the way you can explore many more vans we’ve featured in the past right here: https://tinyhousetalk.com/category/van-dwelling Thanks!

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