Budget Breakdown: A Climbing Couple Turn a Delivery Van Into an Adventure Mobile for $8.5K

Both avid climbers, photographer Charlie Low and engineer Dale Comley met on a trip to the Dolomites in 2016 and instantly connected. Among their shared interests was a desire to build out a camper van and take it on the road. "We’ve both had that dream for a long time—it’s quite common in the climbing community to live in a van and go away on a long climbing trip," say the English couple.

While neither of them had formal training in design and architecture, their combined ingenuity—which includes Charlie’s expertise in science and data analysis and Dale’s background in design and engineering—gave them the confidence to venture forth. "We’re both big planners when it comes to trips, house renovations, et cetera," they say, "so we had a good skill set to tackle the van build!"

First, they tested the waters by renovating a home they’d purchased in Bristol in 2018. The experience gave them valuable insights that would illuminate processes useful for converting the van. In fact, the first year of the project was devoted solely to mapping out their plans: "We researched everything we would need to do, what we would need to buy, and started a lot of spreadsheets to keep track of everything." 

Dale laid out their digital blueprints in Adobe Illustrator, exploring numerous iterations until both were fully satisfied with the results before drawing up the final version with CAD software. "We knew which van and model we wanted and worked within the parameters of this respective vehicle’s size and dimensions," says Charlie, "but wanted to make 100% sure that we were happy with everything. Planning every little detail prior to starting the build was essential because it saved us a lot of time and money!" They also began to chronicle their journey on their blog and Instagram account, @climbingvan.

Based on the recommendation of many friends who happened to be professional van builders, the duo sought a long-wheelbase Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. They connected with an ex-fleet dealer to learn more about these models. "These are people who deal specifically in vans which used to be part of a fleet—usually old delivery vehicles such as ex-Royal Mail vans," explains Charlie.

The couple learned that these units had been regularly maintained, so that despite having 110,000 miles clocked, a van would be in great working condition. "You frequently hear of them doing up to 500,000 miles, which was really important to us if we were going to spend a long time converting a van into a little home!" says Charlie. In January 2019, the pair purchased a 2013 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter (measuring about 5.6 feet by 14 feet) for $11,377.