It's fun having a new toy!
Soon after parking this behemoth in my driveway and telling friends and family about him*, I started fielding a lot of questions. So here's a brief post with more details, as well as snapshots from the early days of getting my Roadtrek road-ready.
*Did you hear me say "him"? Yes - my Roadtrek has a name: Mr. Zip Zip!
Why? Back in 2000, when my husband and I started working at YMCA Camp Benson, there was a mural painted on the wall of the dining hall - a 6-foot tall, brightly colored ostrich/toucan hybrid with the words "Good Morning Mr. Zip Zip" in large letters around him.
No former campers or staff could tell us the origin story of the mural - or who had painted it - which was curious, and put it squarely in the category of weird, silly and random: a space where jokes creep in and creativity flourishes.
A few of the staff got in the habit of greeting each other with "Good Morning, Mr. Zip Zip"- especially if someone had - erm - passed gas. (Hear a toot, and greet the tooter with "Good Morning, Mr. Zip Zip." Ha!)
Weird? Yes
Silly? Absolutely
A little random? For sure.
But so is this endeavor of fixing up a 28-year-old camper van and becoming a nomad. It fits!
(And it makes me laugh, which we all need on the daily.)
Anyway - moving on to the early improvements...
Mr. Zip Zip is on the elderly side, as far as vehicles go. He is in really good shape mechanically, but cosmetically there is work to do.
1) Bu-bye weird tool belts - The previous owner must have wanted a lot of pockets for storage, because he affixed brown tool belts onto the center console with screws and double-sided Velcro strips. With my keen sense of interior decorating, I surmised that the brown canvas belts clashed with the teal velour upholstery, and I decided to remove them.
2) Mike's walking stick - I've been watching videos about van owners who decorate their vans in inexpensive and inventive ways. Some install a shower rod across the van - directly behind the driver and passenger seats - then stretch a shower curtain or drapes from one side of the vehicle to the other. Doing so is easier and faster than putting up window coverings on the front three windows, and allows for both privacy and blocking out light.
I decided to use one of my late husband's walking sticks for this purpose. It is a beautifully carved walking stick, decorated with medallions collected from National Parks that we traveled to as a family - Mount Rushmore and Great Smoky Mountains. I'll continue to gather medallions and keep Mike with me as I explore beautiful places.
3) Rear seat belt removal - there was a seatbelt in the back corner of the van, in the area that I want to use exclusively for sleeping. So I removed it. Easy peasy.
4) Mattress - The back of my van is awesome - it can convert easily from a sleeping area...
...into a seating area with table and bench seating.
Since I plan to travel solo, I would rather keep the area permanently set up as a bed with a comfortable mattress. So I took an extra full-size mattress from my house and converted it to the perfect size - (slightly smaller than a double). I watched a how-to video that I found online, bought upholstery thread and needles, made careful measurements, and set to work.
Next up:
1) Create Reflectix window coverings for insulation and privacy;
2) Replace the house battery, which runs the interior lights and anything electric while parked and not plugged in;
3) Remove the bathroom compartment, toilet and bathroom sink. I'm not interested in using the original 1996 toilet or acquainting myself with the "black tank" or, as the manual calls it, the "Waste Water Storage and Dumping System". If I want a toilet on board, I'll invest in a modern one.
4) Decide what to do with the space left once the bathroom is removed. Perhaps devise a small platform for Buttercup, with storage for her food and toys underneath? A certain someone has a proclivity for rolling in mud puddles and jumping in lakes...she should definitely have her own space.
I am quite sure Mr. Zip Zip will bring both challenges and joys. So far we're in the "challenges" phase, when he's primarily a driveway ornament and a list of to-do's. But just seeing him in my driveway is the promise of future joys.
Everyone wants to know what big trip I'm planning. But the truth is - I'm not ready yet. There are more improvements to make before hitting the road, and I want to get them done right, not just done quickly. I'm also setting aside time for writing, volunteer work, and election work. Finally, there's the small matter of finding a part-time or full-time remote job. An inconvenient necessity.
So for now Mr. Zip Zip remains a prayer, an escape, an audacity, a possibility, a talisman. But soon...
...soon...
Sojourn on!
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