Reviewing My Campervan After 6 Months

Six months ago, I bought this DIY converted campervan to travel Scotland, my home country, after 12 years of living overseas. In this video, I'll be reviewing my campervan after 6 months of ownership.

Since acquiring this Toyota Hiace campervan, I have done some campervan DIY, enjoyed many nights of vanlife Scotland and made some incredible memories. Although I am not living in a van full-time, I have used this small campervan for many extended trips as a solo female traveller.

In my life, I have spent hundreds of nights in vans, doing both part-time and full-time van life. In this van review, I share my thoughts on the vehicle itself, the campervan layout, the campervan kitchen, the campervan water system, my van toilet, the van build electrics and my opinion on Starlink internet.

Whether you are interested in van conversions, looking to start your own van life adventure or are keen to do your own campervan build, I hope this video will be a helpful resource.

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WHO AM I?
If we haven't met before... Hi, I'm Ruth 👋 and I recently bought a campervan to travel my home country of Scotland after living overseas for 12 years. I’ve hardly seen anything or been anywhere in Scotland and now is the time to change that!

P.S. Some of the links in this description are affiliate links that I get a kickback from.

00:00 - Purchasing the van
01:39 - Vehicle Body
02:37 - Campervan Layout
03:18 - Campervan Bed
04:05 - Campervan Kitchen
06:13 - Van Trip to France
07:30 - Campervan Water
08:05 - Temperature
08:22 - Campervan Toilet
08:48 - Campervan Electricity
10:06 - Starlink Internet
11:51 - Window Covers
12:21 - Fridge
13:07 - Future Plans
14:16 - Overall Thoughts

[davidbarrass]

A change I'd make is to make the passenger seat swivel so you could use it when parked up. It effectively makes the van cab part of the living area. Often these conversions give you the space under the seat too, that's where the leasure battery was in my old van

[havegrillwilltravel]

Hey Ruth! After a lot of back and forth I decided to go with a bigger battery system and skip the diesel heater. Instead of trying to heat the entire van, we have an electric blanket for the bed. We also added a Japanese hot carpet and run it off mains at campsites and with the inverter when boondocking. Keeps the toes warm and the doggies love it too!

[ianbarr]

You've got me into campervan interior design on paper and I love it. Got my squared paper jotter and I'm off. Great fun.

[GK]

Rich content, nice production. Thanks for sharing. Our camping Mains and DC comes from our EcoFlow Delta 3.6 kW power station, as our Sprinter van’s “house” battery/inverter. We expanded it with companion batteries. We also have StarLink, and we use the “Sleep Mode” to greatly reduce power draw at night. We follow this quote when considering our van’s camping design: “It seems that perfection is reached not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to subtract.” Antoine de Saint-Exupery

[sandiandgregh]

Ah, your French friend has returned! Lol. That was an interesting tour. We’re impressed how well it’s doing especially given the age. Being super organized is obviously key for van life.

[rupertbare]

It's good to see you getting so much out of a used vehicle. Obviously, it's a keeper. In Canada I used to drive an old Ford (292 V8) school-bus conversion, which was fine except for the electrics, which were a nightmare! After a disastrous wire-harness fire halfway up a remote pass in the Rocky Mountains, where I ended up blocking traffic for two hours, I sold it on. I've driven many a passenger bus since, but I've never had the courage to try another camper conversion. Happy travels, Ruth! 🇨🇦

[biggypsy]

I am so looking forward to seeing the french trip Ruth, its on my bucket list, your wee van is excellent, that engine with good servicing will easily see 280, 000 miles, im a mechanic and seen many off these vans used by shop owners with 300, 000 plus miles x

[ManvasPachenko]

I love your van Ruth. My only snipe, is I think you need a little bit of colour to make it look more homely. Maybe some twinkly lights, fake flowers and pictures x

[MaryShepherd-ll]

Another great informative video, You would make a wonderful teacher if you ever retired from travelling over hill and dale . 👍🇨🇦

[lukekao]

You could hook up your water pump to the bluetti so that you don't need to turn on the car and drain your car battery again. Then unhook it when you're done.

[RedStickLouisiana]

It appears you had a comfortable van, to begin with, and have made some sensible and practical upgrades. I'm sure in another six months it will be even better. Thanks for the van overview.

[alexyatel]

fantastic video - a lot of thanks for the definitions of many technical solutions. You have described "why?" and given arguments + and - OR limitations of each solution.

[seanmcerlean]

Cool vlog.
I reckon it is a good idea to upgrade things like the electrical system to make things more Resilient as well as puttiing in heating as it must be freezing in the winter months Ruth.😊.
It is certainly something i am looking into for my travels as retirement approaches in the next couple of years.😊

[jem]

Hi ruth, I don't know anything about Vans but yours look pretty nice.
I remembered that a big sport shop sells a kind of warming bags that provide hest for several hours. They must be similar to the thermal patches that can be use to treat a muscular or back pain. Maybe it's not a very bad idea to add some of them to the first aid kit for the dual porpouse: treat a muscular pain or provide warm in a cold emergency.
The external diesel eaters look really nice.
Also, i remembered that old trains had a pump in the floor to raise the water to the tap. They still can be found as food pumps. But i think it will be better to use the rechargable battery to provide electricity to your actual pump, if possible.

[grahamlongdon]

Really enjoyed that simplicity is best you’ve got it just right living in it and putting your mark on it step by step, my wife and i enjoy watching you our love of Scotland.😊👏🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[pophooray]

私もミニバンをキャンピングカーに改造していますが…
高さが低く、車内で立つことが出来ません
（I can't stand up in the car → I'm so tired）
『車内で立ち上がれる』事は重要ですね。

[paulalanryder]

The public toilet situation in England is very bad Ruth, there are very few still open and a lot of those are in poor condition be warned when you travel in England.

[alexhuxley]

The MOT test = Ministry of Transport test 🚙🚙

[michaelbergk]

Hi Ruth, thanx for your vlog and also your travelguide about scotland, I downloaded before. I really like the style of your videos, good stories not boring and so match useful information. Keep going! Regards Micha

[lesliewatts]

Your professional videos are a joy to watch, congratulations for that, please continue to show lessor mortals how to do it !