{"id":19,"date":"2025-11-18T15:50:36","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T15:50:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hiiliveinavan.com\/?p=19"},"modified":"2026-01-14T16:07:50","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T16:07:50","slug":"month-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hiiliveinavan.com\/?p=19","title":{"rendered":"Month 1:"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>As I menetioned in teh Day 1 post, the first month of owning the van was somewhat uneventful. The van was mostly parked up as I was entirely out of funds from savings and a loan taken to buy teh van. I had enough after purchase to get the van insured and that was about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I went with private commercial insurance through what was Liberty Insurance at the time. Said insurance came in at a hefty \u20ac1,385 for a year. It was a big chunk of money. After sorting insurance, with my hands tied for what I could do, I decided to assess and star planning. I also handed in my work notice or was planning on doing so a few weeks later. From January 2025, I would move back home with my family as my primary residence and do van life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The idea of converting a van had always been just that. An idea. I was not and am still not one of those epoeple who watch conversion videos. They just didn&#8217;t satisfy the itch I had to do it myself. Even with the active search for a van I did very little research on what kind of build I would have. I wanted to get the right van first, whatever it would be and go from there. I didn&#8217;t want to get attached ot any ideas or married to a design. Am I glad I did it this way? Yes! Did it stress me out and also make things that little more difficult? Also yes! Would I advise it? Let&#8217;s see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pros of going in essesntially blind:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I get spooked easy so not knowing really what I was getting into was actually kind of nice. Now this is said as someone with a good bit of DIY experience working in a field where I deal with electrical equipment daily, and having some mechanical experience from working on my own motorbike and very basic car works. If you are not in a technically inclined mindse, I would not recommend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Problem solving on the fly: I love problem solving. because I wasn&#8217;t trying to get an idea to fit into my space, I was able to work with what was in front of me. A characteristic of he build that I continue to love even now as it allows me to be creative in ways I cannot even imagine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>cONS:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Time pressure: because <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>s I menetioned in teh Day 1 post, the first month of owning the van was somewhat uneventful. 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