Want a camper van to live the #vanlife, but don’t have the money for a fancy Sprinter setup or a Volkswagen Bus / Vanagon?
Here’s how I turned an old family mini van (a 1990 Toyota Tarago, also known as a Previa or Estima) into a budget camper for our Australian roadtrip. We bought this van on Gumtree for $2500 AUD ($1700 USD), and did the conversion for less than $100. Taragos are a really good option for backpacker vans, because they are extremely cheap / plentiful in Australia, and they’re super reliable – often driving as much as 500,000k+ without major problems. They have that Toyota reliability. You can do a similar build with just about any mini van… like an old Ford Windstar or a Chrysler Town and Country, you name it.