The second-hand van market
Firstly, familiarise yourself with the current van market (as this is always changing). You’ll be able to get an idea of what is available in your area and this will help you decide on a realistic budget. An important piece of information I learned when I was buying a van in Perth was that most sellers had decided to migrate from using Gumtree to Facebook marketplace to list their vehicles instead.
Two things to bear in mind when searching for a van is 1. mileage and 2. age of the vehicle. It is worth researching the make and model to determine whether it still has enough life left in order to get you through your journey. Some of the vans on the market such as a Toyota Hiace are workhorse vans, built to last upwards of 300,000 miles.
To convert or not to convert?
The next thing to determine is whether you’d like to do the conversion yourself or buy an already converted van. If you want to save time and opt for the latter option, then you need to assess the practicality of the vans’ features as you may potentially be living off the grid for a period of time.
It is worth having insulation to make your van more bearable in any weather extremes. This way your van will sustain you through cold conditions as well as incredibly hot summers where temperatures can reach upwards of 40°C.
Power!
You will need to determine a power source to keep all your devices charged and consider whether you’d like to run a fridge.. If so, your van will need to have a second battery (preferably a deep cycle with plenty of amp hours) and a power source to charge from. Whether that be a solar panel or having it charge from the alternator.
Lastly, you will need an inverter to change the current from DC to AC in order to charge laptops and other electrical appliances.
THE IVY TRAIL 