Le superbe van tout en bois de Theresa



Voici le petit palais sur roues de Theresa que cette dernière a réaménagé en 2019.

Theresa est américaine et a décidé en 2009 de revendre sa maison pour ne vivre que dans son van et voyager à travers le monde. L’année dernière, Elle a réaménagé son van dans un décors superbe réalisé avec différents bois. Un travail énorme, mais la finition est à la hauteur.

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ONE YEAR AGO … so young and full of hope. I’d just returned from living in Greece. The roof rack, ventilation fans , solar panels all had to be installed under the blistering August sun in the humid Missouri summer. Some days I felt more liquid than solid. I finished insulation on the walls, ceiling, and floor, and finally laid down the plywood subfloor. I remember thinking … this is really happening . It finally started looking like I’d done anything at all. I used to get anxious (well, I still do) about all the steps to come in the months ahead. I didn’t know how to do ANYTHING. The only thing that got me through was to put on blinders and only think of the step in front of me, rather than melting down with the enormity of the big picture. If you scroll right, you’ll see that I finally got there. One tiny step x 10,000 and you’ll be finished… just keep walking, I’d tell myself. Keep looking down at that one tiny step. And just keep going. #vanlife #vanbuild #sprintervanconversion #sprintervan #sprintervanlife #vanconversion #girlswhobuild

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The van reveal. « Rosebud » is both an homage to my grandmother and the symbol of a budding new life. Ladies I didn’t know how to use a power tool before this so in all seriousness, you can literally do ANYTHING you put your mind to. And now that I’ve done this, I realize I can probably also literally do anything else, and I will. The dad joke with the back windows is that they’re intended to look like picture frames, so the scenery one may view at any given time will be « Picture Perfect ». Come inside!!! I cannot squeeze all of the many details in a single post (there are seriously SO many small touches) so this is not the last you’ll be seeing of her. I don’t think I’m prouder of anything else I’ve ever done. If you have any questions, I’d love to answer! #vanlife #travelblogger #girlswhotravel

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I’m a few days late on this, but I wanted to join @vacayvans in the #12daysof2019 challenge. Every day I’ll make a post to describe what was happening that month in my life, as a way to reflect upon the journey of what was literally the greatest rollercoaster year of my life. Extreme highs and very dark lows, back to back. . . January 2019 had me in full swing building my van in the freezing cold. At the time I thought I was about “halfway” but in reality, I was much closer to maybe a quarter or a third finished. I had severely underestimated the time and fatigue involved in this process. . . I braved the cold and managed to get the ceiling finished. I also spent at least a full week paneling the exterior of my ikea cabinets. The peasant feathers were done with wallpaper, and the rustic cabin look consisted of hundreds of strips of lath, painted and distressed and brad nailed onto the cabinet sides and fronts. . . This month had me in peak flow. I took very poor care of myself, as my diet probably consisted of coffee, frozen pizza and Cheetos. I fondly reminisced of what it must be like to feel my hands again. And of course, feeling very purgatorial, like the end was down a long, dark tunnel, without any light in sight. It was a bad time for my mental health, but I still pushed forth, grinding every day and wearing at least 6 layers of clothing at any given moment.

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#12daysof2019 – May 2019 – Time to recap the wild ride that’s been my last year ! Read on… . . This time period should have been the home stretch, but like projects always do, everything takes longer than anticipated. My boyfriend at the time was dragging his feet and procrastinating on the electric. The company I was purchasing valves for the water tank (ie plumbing) sent me four faulty valves in a row – every single one leaked. Every uninstall, reinstall and test of the system and uninstall again yielded the same results and cost half my day. At this point I still couldn’t quite forecast how far along we were, but I assumed if I began booking work on tour again, I’d be ready long long before mid-July. So I began to start scheduling tour dates and booking jobs again. The project had already gone 6 months longer than I anticipated, and I had been out of work waaaay too long. My bank account was bone dry. . . Rosebud wasn’t functioning yet, but she was at least sleep-able! Obi and I took her out to the Midwest Van Gathering hosted by @gnomad_home in Illinois. It was the first time in so long Obi had the chance to play outside, romp free, swim, and fetch like we did before the build. I was out of the country the previous summer and it was a long winter. I’m so grateful now to have given her that adventure. She invited herself into everyone else’s vans, and was generally so pumped to be spending time finally back in the world like we used to before the build. I told her “Don’t worry, it’s almost done, there will be thousands of lakes and beaches ahead once we get up to the Great Lakes and East coast!” . . I watched my oldest friend get married, and I photographed my best friend’s elopement in the Missouri Ozarks. Despite setbacks on the build – it was finally warm enough outside, and the garage days no longer wore on me physically anymore. My mental health slowly improved. There was finally a light.

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#12daysof2019 – October – a year in review – better late than never right? I can finally eat (most) solids again, but still can’t open my mouth well 😩 . It may have taken 10 months into 2019 begin feeling like my old self again, but all of October I bathed in the divine light that was in fact, at the end of that long, dark tunnel. One of my oldest friends flew out to California and we spent a quick few days touring down to Big Sur, through Santa Cruz and Davenport, and Marin / San Francisco. It was the first time I had seen all of my favorite places on the planet since two years ago when I’d moved away. It was exactly as sweet as my memory, maybe even far better now. . With energy and enthusiasm restored, I came out of my shell. where there had been so much darkness, finally came the sun. I met with numerous friends, old and new. Regrettably I didn’t even have time to truly make rounds to everyone. I totally crushed every gig with a case of the bright eyed hell-yeahs. Sense of purpose restored. . I photographed couples for @journeysinlove all over California, Washington, Oregon and Arizona. Overall this month was wildly productive, fulfilling, boosted my confidence and reminded me what it was like to have my life back at long last. No more purgatory- this was it. I recognized myself again. I knew, definitively, why I had stepped back for so long. What I expected on the other side was finally here. So often I thought it would never come – freedom, creativity, the lands I love so dear, education, joy, growth, and nearly limitless possibilities. October was finally living life on my own terms again, picking up pieces as I slowly left off. . On October 31, I began an epic drive from Manzanita, OR, to St. Louis MO in three quick days. Before my dog passed away, all my airtravel required a Missouri outbound itinerary in order to leave her with my family. It wasn’t ideal anymore after she passed, but who wants to eat the cost of changing a transatlantic flight? While this straight shot rush around is NOT my preferred choice of scheduling, I had a very important flight to catch, and not much time to get there.

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