Vanlife Roadmap

What happens when a fine artist builds his first van from scratch — no tutorials, no research, just artistic instinct and a pile of cardboard boxes? Troy is the founder of Nanna Vans, a custom van build company based in DeLand, Florida, operating under his design firm TR Designs. He came to van life not through YouTube or van life forums, but through years of ceramics, large-scale environmental in...

Tim Jowers quit a 25-year warehouse career in December 2021, bought a ProMaster, and started building vans out of his Texas driveway with his son Ryan. Twenty builds later, he’s still in that driveway — and still loving it. Tim builds what he calls weekend warrior vans: complete, functional, and specifically without showers. In this episode he walks through why — the condensation issues, drainage...

Grant Wilson from FreedomVanGo joins Episode 06 of Vanlife Roadmap to share what years of building, using, and refining camper vans have taught him about making better build decisions. Grant’s advice is refreshingly practical. Before you commit to a full van build, go use the van. Sleep in it. Try a simple setup. Rent other vans. Learn what actually matters before spending heavily on layouts, part...

What happens when a simple vanlife problem turns into a full product? In this episode, Dutch shares how dealing with bugs in his van led him to create the Bug Wall—and how trial and error, simple thinking, and real-world use shaped the outcome. In this episode, we cover:  • Dutch’s background in carpentry and hands-on building  • The challenges of designing a family van layout  • Why bugs became a...

Clayton Houser joins Episode 04 of Vanlife Roadmap to share what building around 50 vans taught him about layout, electrical planning, quality parts, and the tradeoffs that matter most once a van is actually in use. In this conversation, Clayton reflects on how his thinking changed through real-world experience – from early layout choices that looked good but created friction in daily life, to the...

In this episode of Vanlife Roadmap , Justin Shipp of Site Seven shares how family roots in the RV industry, a detour into custom bicycle building, and years of hands-on experience shaped his approach to van design. The conversation centers on a practical idea – better vans are not always the ones with more features, but the ones built with more intention. Justin explains why quality, simplicity, a...

Josh Theberge left the “Miami starter kit” behind and built a van that’s now on its third iteration. In this conversation, he shares what held up in real use – and what he’d do differently if he were starting a build today, from electrical planning to comfort decisions that quietly make life on the road easier. www.vanlifeoutfitters.com

Vanlife Roadmap begins with a conversation that sets the tone for the series.  In Episode 1, we sit down with Zach Daudert – co-founder of Vanlife Outfitters and Peace Love & Vans – to talk about his path into vanlife, long before it became an industry.  Zach shares stories from building and living in his first van as a teenager, following the Grateful Dead, and learning van systems through tr...