My wife and I rented a commercial camper van for our honeymoon on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip and talk about it often; the places we experienced and the memories we made will last a lifetime. This adventure made us want to build one of our own, and as an architect, provided a big design challenge in a small space. We discussed all the pro’s and con’s of the van we rented and sought to incorporate the best parts, but make the space more livable, comfortable, and convenient.

The result is big blue, our first campervan. Built by us from the biggest, baddest, and most serviceable van that existed on the market. Big blue is a ford transit 350 hd dually, high roof, extended length, all-wheel drive beast. It’s powerful and easy to drive, which makes navigating big mountain passes a breeze. It has a separate system to power the equipment on board, whether the van is running or not. The van is insulated with wool and finished with sustainable birch plywood, bent to match the contours of the van much like the interior of a fine wooden boat. The kitchenette has a sink, a 4 stage water filter, storage for kitchen supplies and a refrigerated cooler. A pull out table between two bench seats provides a place to eat , or play a game on a rainy day. The rear cargo area features a pull-out “truck bed” to make for easy loading and unloading of gear, no need to climb around under the bed platform. The bed is medium firm spring and memory foam and is incredibly comfortable.

For more information about all the cool gear that we have to offer, please visit our “gear kit” section.

We hope you enjoy your journey and bring back a bunch of new stories and memories with you!