I know, I know.  We’ve lived in this thing for 4 months, how dare I only show you the inside of the van now?

Well, I probably don’t have to tell you this, but moving lives of 5 people into storage before cramming what’s left into a van to travel around Southern Africa isn’t what I’d call easy.  I don’t know how these guys overseas make it look like the day they left they had everything sorted.  They’re either lying or well, just better at it than us.  Either way we literally threw the last of our belongings into the van during a torrential downpour the morning we left and it took us about a month for everything to settle into its own little nook or cranny.

I actually laugh at the stuff that we brought with us in the beginning – scatter cushions, extra bedding, gowns for all of us, 2 jackets each, picnic baskets and so much more I can’t even remember.  Luckily we sent some of it home and the rest has found a place in the van.  Even then we still have so much we’re going to leave behind when we stop home this Christmas.

But this is not about that.  It’s to show you all the hard work that we have done on the van and how Optimus has transformed (get it, huh, huh?) from the old school, heavily mouldy yellow and brown mess into what we live in today.  Is it completely perfect?  Maybe not.  But it’s home to us and we love it despite Seth’s ill intentions of wanting to paint my black ceiling white!

FRONT CAB OF THE 1974 VW JURGENS CAMPERVAN

We left the bulk of the front of the cab untouched.  We loved the old retro feel about it and it all worked so it wasn’t worth trying to change it.  But what we did do was open it up by removing the panels that closed it in (where the old shower was).

GIRLS BED AREA

The girls are probably the luckiest in terms of their bedroom.  It’s always there waiting and ready for them with their glorious Granny Goose linen.  They don’t have to make and unmake their bed every single day and get to enjoy crawling up there whenever they like.  Granted it does get seriously hot up there as soon as the sun comes up, but I think it’s a small price to pay.

KITCHEN AREA

This area was really impractical for our needs.  It was really small to be able to move around in and also didn’t leave any room for Knox to sleep.  Thankfully Seth is an architect so he designed a brand new situation for the middle area.  We removed all the cupboarding, painted all the walls white and I spent many nights applying (then removing) wall paper before painting it a glossy black that I love.  Everyone else in the family now wants white, but I’m not giving in.  Everything here was built from scratch by Seth with the help of Brian and Papa.  They worked really hard and I think it shows.

This kitchen area doubles as Knox’s bed area at night too, you pull the kitchen counter forward then Knox’s mattress rests on the folded down passengers seats that we also installed.

OUR BEDROOM THAT’S ALSO THE DINING ROOM!

By day the dining area seems like all it can be but at night a nifty table leg change converts the table to a bed area for Seth and I to sleep in.

Let me show you the bed first.  We’re using exclusively Granny Goose linen.  From the sheets to the down duvet that has really kept me warm, even on the coldest nights in the middle of snowy Lesotho.

Now for the table. Seth worked out some crafty magic and made it so the table leg swings up or down to convert it into one form or the other.  It worked out really well and spend many hours huddled around this table working, schooling, eating and having fun.

NOW LET’S TALK STORAGE…

We have very little space for things so everything has its spot and it needs to stay there.  This is where we put everything.

And that’s it folks.

I hope that you enjoyed the little reveal into the inside of our 1974 VW Jurgens Campervan, affectionately known as Optimus, as he is right now.   Despite giving us grief with the engine only really working when it feels like it, we’ve really loved our time on the road and look forward to much more to see and do in our beautiful country.

If you’d like to follow along with us, you’re welcome to join us on:

• INSTAGRAM –

  • @cindyalfino – Here you will find a daily wrap up of exactly what we got up to on that day, where we were, what we did, the pro’s and con’s of life on the road. Oh, and stories, lots of stories.
  • @moderndaddiy – Seth, my funnier half, often posts stories that are worth watching.
  • @alfreenos – For those more “Instagram” worthy images that are less about real life on the road and more about pretty pictures of things that we have seen.

• FACEBOOK –

  • If you don’t have Instagram then this is the place to catch up with the daily posts and even watch the stories.  As well as see latest blog posts as they come out

• YOUTUBE –

  • Seth works really hard on putting out awesome vlog style videos on the places that we have been, things we have done and life on the road.  It’s really worth checking them out if that’s your vibe.

• NEWSLETTER –

  • You can also subscribe to the newsletter which only goes out once in a blue moon when I get a chance to write it.  It’s not just one of those spammy ones that only contains links of blog posts, I always include something personal about what’s happening right now that would probably not appear anywhere else.