Not the most exciting video I know but one I thought I should share so you actually have an idea of what I’m trying to achieve with the van build! Any tips or suggestions drop them below or send me a message on Instagram @willswhereabouts 🤟🏼

As your sliding window opens front to back , I would suggest reversing your sink and hob so the steam etc from cooking can vent straight out .

I was introduced to your channel via Charlie and Lauren. I liked what I saw and so subscribed !! Here's an idea for security. In a previous vlog I noticed your steering wheel lock. The same one as we use. However, we also did this. Move your driving seat as far forward as it will go. Drill a hole through the metal track that the seat rides on and attach a hefty padlock. It's a two minute job to click a padlock shut, but a load of time consuming hassle for anyone trying to nick your van. Thanks for the great videos mate x

Hi Will, Looks brilliant! Just one thing - when you are locating your water tanks, remember to keep your weight distribution roughly equivalent from right to left. I think you said your water would be on the right side, and the kitchen is also on the right side. If your gray water and fresh water are on same side, it might make the handling a bit unstable. Depending on your water tank size, it could significantly side-load your van. Remember water weighs over 8 pounds per gallon, so worth considering. If I have misunderstood your plan, then sorry for my comment. I think getting friends to help out is a great idea. You will still do most of the work, but learn a lot in the process. Best of luck with the build David Harper

Hi Will .... I had a long wheel base Iveco .... I purchased a damaged Caravan and stripped everything out that I needed and rebuilt inside the van at the stage you are at .... I checked everything was working inside the caravan so got everything real cheap for a few hundred pounds as the owner wanted it off their drive .... I used everything right down to the frames, cabinets, fridge cooker and materials ...... wiring loom and lights .... everything ... water and grey tanks .... . the Iveco is a slightly bigger van so I used the nice caravan door to put in the loo and shower ..... full heating and cooker/sink ... the caravan chassis was in good condition and when you strip out the interior frame work and panels (like the loo/shower cubicle) the caravan is like a wobbly jelly .... so you can cut the outer walls off the chassis and sell the chassis for a boat trailer to recoup your outlay ... good thing this way is that the materials from the caravan as a starter kit for your conversion are all weight conscious .... seen some nice layouts using wood panelled flooring but these are massively heavy. Have fun ... I noticed the champagne bottle is still corked so you need to work on this ....Hahahaha. Best of luck.

Get a side mounted extendible awning, will double your effective living space and would be great in the summer

Thank you so much for talking about accepting help with your build. I've been feeling like a huge imposter because I've been considering getting help. A full time job and 2 part time teaching commitments means I'm having trouble finding more than a day a week to work on my future home. It's reassuring to see someone else accepting help.

Mate i`m a plumber/heating engineer my advice is unless your planing of installing a shower i wouldnt go for the combi boiler. Diesel heater and kettle will save you soo much money!

the garage area must be accessed from inside also. at least the controls.

1:15 had me spitting out my coffee , love your sense of humour 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Probably the best video I've seen yet as it's completely changed the way I'm laying out my van.....I'm doing my own head in at the minute, so thanks, very informative

Hi Will, Don't forget "Road camber" when deciding where you put cupboard space over bed, don't want you on a slope, with feet up in the air, if you park on street., cheers. Great vlogs. chr4s2

Hey Will, halfway through the video, sometimes you might want to sleep with your head at the other end of the bed. We switch ends regularly depending on the lie of the land. Our van is a mock-up still and have trued central storage above the bed, means we can sleep at either end and actually have more storage 👍🏼

“Can’t catch it twice” 🤣

Firstly, I hope you’re feeling better soon Will! Secondly, I think you should try and make one of your bench seats ‘mobile’ so you can take it outside and use it as a seat for your planned outdoor table section. Just an idea.

Before watching this video I felt like there was plenty of space but now it looks so tight

The layout looks great. But please keep this a self build. I feel a lot of van life people claim they are self build but then their friend does all the work or they pay someone to get stuff done. The build process is the best part imo.

A few things to consider. Do you need a full, ready-made bed? Can you build a foldaway one that will give you extra space? Storage- water, food, clothes, spares, bedding, waste, other. Do you have enough and what do you carry? All seasons or one? Winter will be hard on everything, you'll need more, you have to stop things from freezing. Weight may be an issue, know how much everything will be otherwise you may get caught out being over the limit for the vehicle.

Hey Will sorry to hear about your injury 😞stay safe and healthy have a great day, I have few idea's for you if you can please go through 1 wall mounted monitors ( with easy connectivity from any place) . 2 safety lock mechanism for back door or all door . 3 water and waste tank under chassi if you have good ground clearance on full load ( u can save lots of space if it works). 4 wireless charging for phone which can be controlled . 5 under seat storage space . 6 if possible surrounding dash cams hidden for your safety so you can access it inside your van from monitor with out getting out ( if you're at remote places and only in emergency situations). 7 safe locker or storage well hidden to store all your valuable belongings . 8 magnetic knife holders if you are planning to have holders at kitchen . 9 ambient lighting above sliding door for night time ( like magnetic led bars which can attach any place of your van ) . 10 tilt able solar panels so you can acces sunlight more efficiently . 11 a designated charging place for all your devices Gears and drone which is easily accessible . At present I have these ideas for you and your van hope it might be useful for you please do go through have a beautiful day and stay healthy and safe .

I love this video because you take us viewers on the full journey of figuring out how to build the van. Good stuff!

I would put cupboard space above your kitchen area to maximise space. I would move your toilet to the opposite side so that you could make a retractable seating area but your door for added comfort.

Will, my comments : 1) Create an access from inside the van to your “basement”. 2) Align your 2 ceiling lights ( not linked together ) length-wise to your sleeping position as sometimes you may want to switch-on either one depending on reading or watching your laptop. Curious to know reasons for your deciding on the toilet system i.e. black tank vs. composed, and on using gas vs. electric for cooking when your other appliances ( fridge, heater, etc ) uses electric.

Like your plan which keeps the van open with no tall furniture. I would go for swivel cab seats to utilise all the space available, especially when you are entertaining friends. Also, fit cupboards above your kitchen.

I think it is a good plan to start with. Yes, get as much help as you can building it!

I think the trick with good van builds is to have things that can be multi use, toilet/seat , sink\worktop. anyway to do this saves space and I think adds the cool factor

I want to see you get the best build you can and that means by whatever means. Awesome fun watching it all whichever way you go.

I've got an L2 citroen relay, I binned the idea of a walk thru cab, built my own bulkhead with a window to jump thru, got the kitchen the whole width of the van across behind the seats, an L shaped seat along the width of the van along the bed with the smaller part facing the door opening all seating 50cm depth from the wall , supsringly spacious sill , I have a lagun table in the corner part of the L shaped seating

I like the Greek look. Distressed worn white with accents of blues. It's very fresh looking. Enjoying the build so far mate even though I don't have one it's nice to watch you're progression.

Cant wait to see the fully built version..

Think about your waste water (grey waste) if you're wild camping let it run to ground, if in urban areas run it into a canister, also run a heater hose though into the garage, 1 it'll help keep your from freezing, 2 it'll help dry wet items, and 3 it'll heat your bed from below and stop mold

It's smart to get the help when offered, it helps you get things done quicker and someone from a different perspective

Hi Will, you have some awesome ideas, can’t wait until you put them together. Good luck buddy. Xxxx

While hanging out in the yard with my little one.... A great topper for my great day!

I love this serie extra because I also want een fiat ducato ánd now you've revealed you pretty much want the layout I have in mind. I've had trouble with finding people/pictures/videos with similar lay out ideas. So this serie is extra helpful

There's something so relaxing and satisfying watching these videos. Deep down we all want to do the exact same thing. Fair play to Dan too.

When I had my campervan, the head side of the bed had small cupboards but the feet end had taller cupboards for more storage

Definitely the way forward having a few trail runs to see what works and what doesn’t Because you’ll always change something form the original plan. Good luck with the build👍

Will When I have other van builds they keep it mainly white inside as it makes the space look bigger and colour is added via cushions, bedding, van plants etc. Also alot of van lifers either have a TV wall mounted or some use a pull down screen cos we all you love your football and we have seen you watch TV via your phone which in the long run isn't good for your eyesight 😱. Your idea of placing a board over your sink for extra is as standard for nearly every van build I have watched unless of course you have a LWB Van or a minibus conversation then space in some of them really doesn't seem to be an issue. Great idea on that 2 in 1 hot water/heater system cos being a 2 in 1 uses less space leaving more for you to put to use. It would be a good idea for you to put a cupboard above your kitchen for food, also consider a complete dividing wall between cab and home with a door system in place so that if for whatever reason you need to make a quick escape you can also adds more security for you. Some people have put/made a shelf unit above the driver and passenger seat for clothes, blankets etc, however, saying that there's an important issue for you to consider, namely your height! You would have regretted not having hot water I think cos after all here in the UK the weather isn't good enough for taking cold showers outside, infact not even inside so it's great that you are gonna have a hot water system and talking of water, you mentioned your gonna have an onboard water tank, the bigger the better I would go for personally if vivid has taught van lifers anything it's to have the ability to carry alot of water (van lifers spend money on gym membership's and during covid gyms were shut hence no showers so yeah bigger the water tank the better, also you need a water filter system so that you are able to drink the water. Have you thought of where your 'grey/black' water is gonna go? I seen a build that basically had a pipe leading from the sink plug hole into the van floor but what they did was 1 build was that in order to stop draft coming back into the van they just made sure that the plug was in the sink when it wasn't in use, another build I think could work is a flap like system you would have a hole in the bottom of your sink unit and lift the flap up via a foot pedal when you need to 'dump'/get rid of your sink waste water, both of those systems you can just let the water out anywhere however both builds you would have to use eco friendly washing up liquid and as your shower outside you may need to consider the same stuff for washing yourself in as it's all a out being kind and considerate to planet nowadays. The ideas with the waste water for the sink is by far the best in my opinion anyway cos otherwise you will to put into your sink unit some form of container for the waste water and if it split's, you forget to put the top on it etc and we all know roads in the UK especially aren't great full of potholes, speed humps etc only takes an "accident" and that dirty water could end up all over your van! If you have watched as many van/car/bus builds as me then you would get where I am coming from. The American builds are really good that's my thoughts anyway as they seem to think of everything! There is however a build and I think he is an English man (there are some American builds who have done the same I noticed, maybe I only noticed after watching that English bloke I don't really know who did it 1st) who did a recycling system for all his water needs washing anyway, basically once you have it in place your not limited on the amount of water you use in the shower cos once in a bottom it recycles itself after going through a filtered system of course and I am pretty sure once it's been recycled there's no limit on how many times you can use that same shower water 😯 the only issue is your shower has to be inside your van! So that can't work for you ATM unless probably at some point further down the road so to speak you end up getting a bigger longer (LWB Van) van. The washing up water was also able to be recycled only thing was drinking water was as far as I know in a completely separate smaller tank but that none the less still went through a 3/4 stage filtration system like he said it didn't matter if he got the water from a trusted source or not he wanted the water filtered. If your gonna have black out curtains in your van then do what others have done and get the track that bends thus being able to draw your curtains around all and every bend/curve in your van. Alot prefer curtains cos of cost, being able to get total blackout this saving on heating/cooling also adding a warmth to their "home"/van. Blinds you gotta either be able to take them down and store them, or to get ones on a roller system ie be able to roll them up this letting in natural daylight plus remember your magnets every van lifer has magnets of some description wether for just holding up spice jars or for the blinds and recommend the stronger the better, you will have seen the jars they are either on the bottom of upper cabinets (if you haven't got metal cabinets then they get jars glue a magnet to the lid and then they have got on the inside of their cupboard either a magnetic strip or some even have glue magnets on the base of the cupboard and there you go the jars stick up to the cupboard hence the stronger the better magnets, some on bus bus have spice in magnetic containers and they are placed on the sides of their fridge freezer also try and get your knifes up out the way on a magnetic strip more spaced thus freed up in your draw/drawers. Both of these ideas are great for you cos you love cooking and using spices 👍😊 That toilet is that gonna be big enough for you? Have you considered making your own? What about venting the space where your toilet is gonna live? I have seen people use the same system as 'a nature's head toilet' they make their own and have a flexi hose going into the floor and leading to the outside of the van and use a little computer fan which takes any odours outside and because it's a computer fan you don't hear any noise so no noise, no smells win win and they use a bucket believe or not a bucket, it has a funnel like thing in the front of it for urine even has a toilet seat! It's pretty cool some of the ideas that van lifers have come up with and they work! Dual Ex on KZfaq he did what I am taking about for his toilet. What do you think? White walls, ceiling and floor you could use light coloured/white for the ceiling and for the floor a nice warm wood coloured tone flooring. The sink area how about using sticky peel back tiles 😊👍😯🤔 I think you maybe able to get something similar for around the hob whatever you decide they need to be wipeable and for where the hob is they have to be able to with stand heat. I have seen those sticky tiles used around the cooking area and I believe they are on Amazon. You may even be able to find coloured ones so there could be a splash of colour and don't forget you can add colours/tones in your other ideas bedding, curtains/blinds etc etc. Don't forget your entertainment either a TV or a pull down/stick up screen or even a white sheet would do 👍😊. TV Ariel, satellite dish (those ones that fold away into case where once parked up you put them either on top of your van or don't know for sure if you could place it on the ground?) If ya don't want an Ariel or a dish then an Amazon stick but you would need a TV I assume? Or even how about both? Firesticks aren't that dear now and I assume you have a TV in your room at home? So you would only need a bracket and they are so cheap nowadays and can be gotten from anywhere. If your out and make mates at a campsite or anywhere there bring the sheet outside put into a van and watch TV, football whatever with mates outside and stream via your phone or a little projecter again these can be sourced really cheap you just gotta look around 😊😊 I would be interested in knowing your thoughts on my suggestions and my idea. Lisa UK

Great start to the planning, if you are off to Scotland soon then get the toilet straight away, you can still use the temporary boxing to cover it up and sit on if you have not built the long term seating "boxes "

I saw a small van build where the lady had a unit next to the bed, same position as yours, that went up to the ceiling. It acted as a divider between door, and front cab, as well as providing storage. It left a walkway from that side door along the back of the front seats, on the back of which she had the sink, cooking etc. She was then able to pop a portable toilet in the space at back of drivers seat - which was - because of the floor to ceiling unit - hidden from the bed, affording some privacy - just in case you find that blonde Swedish lady on your travels. So step in from side door - right hand side floor to ceiling unit by bed, left hand side box with portable toilet, straigh ahead walkway with some narrow unit at back of passenger seat. I don't know if you can picture that... Oh and that smack in the mouth from your exercise band sounded very painful!

Despite what you think, this was still enjoyable to watch. Also it's not a bad thing at all if someone is coming to help, 2 minds are better than 1 👍

Have you looked at a composting toilet? No chemicals to deal with and folds away for easy and tiny storage. Great video by the way, loving your journey 👍

Good design, painting it white would make it look bigger and fresh, as for your trip doing the NC500…wow you will not be disappointed, it’s bloody amazing, John o groats, watching the sun set and rise…and going over Applecross..not for the faint hearted lol…I could go on about Scotland. 😁

Camplux AY132n shower on the back door .. I plumbed mine to my water tank .. put a flow restrictor on before the shower head and put a small camping gaz 901 tank on it .. no electricity needed for these works a treat

add an additional flip up counter on the side of your stovetop cabinet, over the small benchseat for additional counterspace

I can already see the compulsory "spices cupboard" above the kitchen's window! Looking good!

If you want hot water .consider a bobil vans kit and a Chinese diesel heater. It works well and cheep

The mock up is looking pretty good Will. It's good to see what you have planned a bit more clearly.

You asked for suggestions, so, the one that springs to mind is that you could do with insulating your pillars / struts / roof beams :) Think like if you wanted to make something watertight, if so, any leak would render it pointless. As such, insulation with gaps means the other insulation becomes less effective. Hope that helps (my experience...) :)

Brilliant Will it’s great to see you are seeing what other people have done and using some of that into your own ideas. I have a VW T6 and do a lot of Sea Swimming, the guy that converted my Van is going to add and outside Shower attachment that I can use to get the Salt water off me. Love watching your progress, keep at it. Steve IOW 😎

This is exciting for us too, Will! You've got some forward momentum going. Keep it up. Glad your friend offered to help. Having done a few builds, it is amazing what a second person brings to the equation. The mock up idea is very important and will serve you well. The more you can work out on paper & with mock ups, the better it will turn out. Even though you want it finished so you can get on with it, do enjoy the build and don't rush! Think things through as best you can. Blessings to you!

Lookin good mate. Cieling cupboards all the way down your window side without the door, you can't afford any dead space. Think carefull about the materials you use for cabinetry, the weight can stack up quick. Top loader fridge if you can find one, too much energy loss with front door. Gimmi a shout when your at the battery stage if ya need some help, I just built 640ah of lithium batteries for under £800. Lastly, don't rush it matey. Help is good but can force your hand and make rushed decisions. Take some tools and work on her whilst on the road. peace.

I recommend you an electric hot plate and a jackery portable power. You will be able to connect all sorts of things and cooking without gas is less of a hassle and more places will allow you to cook with electric vs gas/fire.

Oh it's coming on well. Sure at least you gotta a few runs out in the good weather.

It's always good to play with ideas before firming up because as some of the other van lifers said they wished they'd changed this for that ect, so not pointless 👍🏽 looking forward to the journey!

See if you can get hold of a swivel base for the front passenger seat so that can be utilised into the living space 😀

As someone who caravans, I would say that an awning is a great idea, adds loads more space for you to use and store things in. I would also add an additional workspace on a hinge to the right of the kitchen area that you could flip up when needed or keep flat to the side when someone is sitting on the bench. Nothing worse than not having space to prepare food. Loving this build - top work!

Do the front cab seat swivel? May be a good idea to at least make the passenger seat do it?, also put one draw either side (by the bench seats and you can have a door to the space under the bed which u can access from the inside. The battery’s and water tank space should be sufficient even with a draw?

That was quite exciting Will, now we now where you're going with this build. Can't wait to see progress.

One thing I would do is to be able to know that you can get to the essentials without having to get out of the van ie food, clothes, loo etc. I would also have it so I would have the loo pushed under the bed out of the way. Good luck!

Looking good mate👍🏼 it’s good too see you’re enthusiastic about it all again and too see that you’re not just straight copying someone else’s layout 100% instead gathering different ideas from different sources and building it too suit your needs, I look forward too future episodes of the van build and of course more camping adventures.

Fare play looks like it will be really good. Can’t wait to see ya progress

Nice little update Will. I love the plans for the van. It will look amazing man. It’s coming together now! Be a nice home away from home. Carnt wait for the next videos to come. 👍🏻

The videos are never boring. The plans sound awesome. Good luck and look forward to seeing it all come together 👍

I can tell your already feeling better about the build so I think it was a great idea to get that fella to help you 👍🏻

You should get led multicolor strips on the roof of ur van or on bottom flooring help ambiences the van and great layout of ur van u thinking of laminate the flooring with some kind of texture floor even on ceiling

What about doing some more stealth van camping in dodgy places, thats what alot of us want to see.

Good choice the truma hot water is a must fantastic bit kit gas and electric, 10lys hot water with hot air.we have one and love it. If you could have fitted one in make a wet room toilet, as you can then stay off grid, saving money move the kitchen to behind the passenger seat just inside the sliding door with the drop down table on the side, then put the wet room behind the drivers seat that would work great with your existing lay out,

What about a cupboard over the sink ? Also a table at the the back you can get ones that mount on the doors and flip down or even some hanging storage on back doors.

I like the new layout ! I can't wait to see new upcoming additions .🤗🤗🤗🤗👍👍👍

Hi Will. Since you asked for ideas, I wondered if you'd though about replacing the front seats with ones which turn around, the cab would then provide part of the living area. I'm hopefully starting a build next year and I have no idea what to do. Loads of ideas floating around my head. Those swivel seats are quite expensive so I figured I'd put a seating area against the bulk head for the time being, which would provide the option of buying swivel seats at a later date when they're more affordable. Take out the bulk head seating and create a different layout of seating area by using cab swivel seats. Does that make sense? Might be a good use of available space 🙂

I think the fridge should go under the table, that way you’ll have more room for pots/ pans and stuff under the sink

Try and keep weight distribution as equal on each side if you can so when you drive round with equal weight distribution, or close to on either side :)

Good plans Will! Alot to fit in!Looking forward to it! I'm with you, camper vibe's van is amazing!

design looks great Will.... Please do not use Kitchen cabinets made of chipboard or MDF for the build, slightest bit of moisture and they will swell up and fall apart.

Loving the build Will, it’s coming along great, look forward to the journey

The layout looks amazing, What a great idea to build it and see how you like it first! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

For the bed area storage you can try mesh net in both sides, until you build something more final. Personally I would not put any furniture because you may want to switch sides depending on the occasion, terrain, or just out of boredom.

Love the way this is going. You did the right thing by holding off and living in it to see how you wanted it to work. Might I suggest a cabinet in your kitchen above the door/sink area. It looks like you can fit one in the length of that area and maybe tie into the one in the back where your clothing will be. Keep on cracking!

Hi Will I think you are doing a great job on the van, especially for someone who claims not to be that handy. I am not a nosy person but I cannot resist asking what you do for a living, because what you have already accomplished and what you have planned (material wise and travel wise) must cost a mint. I'm guessing the stock van alone must have been a kick in the nards, anyway, awesome work cant wait to see the finished product.

😀 another van build/plan update. I can really see this project coming along really well Will, I’m impressed with your ideas. Definitely get as much help as you can get, for reasons you explained. Double hob & 85L refrigerator / Epic stuff. Great progress. 🤞👍 Rog.

Doood exciting build plans vlog content is great love the layout. Battery make sure you can access tge battery bank from inside

add a slidng table top under the stove, slides towards sitting area for extra counter space

I'm loving these videos, they are super helpful. I'd like to see how the solar panels connect to a battery, I'm a bit confused how that works. 💕💕🇬🇧

Binge so hard on these videos ffs 🤣 another banger will. Each video I want to do a van conversion a little bit more. ❤️👌🏻

Great insight will , its all coming together slowly , it will all come good in the end , great vid 👍

How about use your pull out table to join both seats to make that extra bed ? Love the design but remember to fit the loo in one of your seats 😁 I'd take the help offered will speed things up nicely and your be learning at the same time. Thank you for the update. Take care and stay safe 🤗

Layout looks great will can't wait to see the end product..crack on and good luck x

Will it looks superb, its good the meet up inspired you more. Rome wasn't built in a day, you have already come up with great ideas.

This is up there with my favourite subscription loving it will. Get some merch Thinking of you in Where's wallys clothes 😂😂😂

I like the layout Will and only have one suggestion. Instead of having a wall to the left of the sink i would have a lift up extention to the worktop and swivel the drivers seat to face it. Louises rearward drivers seat position in their van is probably my favourite feature of Fanny, it has a bit of a kitchen breakfast bar vibe going on.

Under the bed towards back door from wheel arch to wheel arch I’d board that up bang in middle so u can have ya batteries water maybe some other bits and bobs the inside half where slide out table be I’d do that with couple draws under that then left and right of that be more room for other storage like to more cupboards or yeah that’s what I see in my mind the rough setup u have looks pretty good looking forward to seeing what you actually do definitely utilise all the storage space u can use cheers mate keep up the good content 👍

Hi Wil...yes that's a very good layout go for it!!!goodluck and enjoy your van building...

Long time lerker of the channel - probably about 2 months before you got the van. You may say not the most exciting, but actually it is for me! (and you got me to comment!) Been wanting a camper of some type for a while, but i'm now leaning towards a self build, I'm use to camping so have stuff i can just put in a van, get a bed set up like yours, an outside awing and potentially good to go and just add to it each month... thanks for the inspiration!

Your doing an amazing job! Really starting to come together now, well done 👏 xx

Aye wili you got some hell of ideas I believe this thing will turned out to be beautiful

I love your layout Will, thanks for sharing it with us. Please stop saying the videos aren’t interesting, if that were so we wouldn’t follow you. Chill, Will!

Love the video, it’s nice to see your ideas on paper. Just thinking would you be better putting the heater in the garage are and using the heater space for some food storage? Also don’t forget some where to put shoes etc. Love the sliding table idea.

Really looking forward to seeing this come together!

Can't wait to see the final product.