 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Home | More Articles | Join as a Member! | Post Your Job - Free! | All Translation Agencies | |
|
|||||||
|
|
|
|
Designing the caravan
I first prepared this website because I wanted help from some of my construction friends (located around the world) in designing my caravan and future home. Now I’m rewriting it to help others, if they would like to design their own caravan as I did. Basically I knew I did not want something that looked
like a caravan (how I stumbled on my beauty
is a story in itself). Not only did I not want to appear like a cheesy
tourist, but I wanted to be able to park wherever I wanted, without being
hassled by locals or the authorities who might be bothered by someone
living for free in front of their doorstep. I also knew that I like wood - the aroma of it, and the warm feelings it reminded me of my childhood at the cottage. But securing wood to a metal truck has turned out to be a challenge. Below you will find the vision I had in my mind and the questions I posed to my friends, showing them the dimensions of the caravan truck a drawing of my vision. On the next page you will find their smart responses and how I eventually went about it. 
Before I constructed the caravan’s inside, added the 300kg heavy safe and other things, the truck was quite light and would often spin off a wet and muddy road. Here I had to leave it overnight and come back the next day after a day of sunshine. The basic design was inspired by the van I lived in during my pilot travel trip to Mexico. With the bed running along the back (hence the caravan needed to be as wide as I am tall). Below is the vision I had of the inside, looking back from the front.
I wanted enough closet space for all my
stuff, since I planned to move into it for several years. And I wanted
bed sleeping space for fellow travellers. With the sliding door on the side open during the summer, and the back doors as well, it would create a spacious environment. Here is the top view of my vision. A backpack or custom movable seat could be placed between the front two seats to create an extra bed. The second bench seat could also act as a bed. In all, there are enough seatbelts to hold seven passengers legally. The top foam mattress on the side bed could go on the floor to create a bed for taller people, or when I have a "full house".
I wasn’t interested in a sink, table, toilet, shower or anything like that on the inside. I expected that I could be creative in finding such "facilities" outside, or in some other way. Below you will see the challenge I had before me, and below that the original letter I wrote to my friends when asking for their help in designing my new caravan home. Measurements of the caravan's inside - floor plan: (the vertical fuzzy lines are the ribs on the ceiling - measurements in cm) and the measurements of the ribs on the side: Designing the Caravan - A Dream to Reality What my friend told me to do is to first attach, by some means, some wood to the caravan truck's inner metal ribs (pictures and floor plans above), attaching the rest of the structure to this attached wood. There could even be hooks for easy removal of the shelves etc. (for example for when crossing borders and the authorities are a bit curious what is behind it all). For insulation, the plan is to glue bitumen
(which is supposed to be very sound resistant) to the inner walls, putting
over top of that rockwool (also
sound resistant, very heat insulating, and supposedly very fire resistant
as well), putting thin wood paneling over top of that. I am not sure how
the wood paneling is supposed to be held in. I thought perhaps screw small
boards into the rib attached wood, to hold the paneling in. The reason
I want to screw and not glue is if at country borders the authorities
think I might have sheets of acid back there or something. I want to make
it very easy to disassemble everything. Under the back bed will be hidden a safe. This will hold all my electronics and will be bolted and/or welded to the frame of the vehicle under the floor. A piece of metal will go around it with a sturdy lock, so it will be next to impossible to break into that. The vehicle will have a simple switch hidden somewhere preventing fuel from entering the engine, so the engine won't even start unless the person knows where the switch is. The caravan will be equipped with a computer alarm system, which works on three stages (perhaps some movement outside is the first stage, broken glass is the second stage, movement inside is the third stages). Each activated stage will send an sms to my mobile. Through the mobile, I will be able to hear what is going on from inside the vehicle, and I will be able to speak into the mobile to imitate that someone is inside. Perhaps I will get a transmission lock as well. And I am thinking of a computer chip hidden somewhere which will be able to pinpoint the location of the caravan via satellite, if it is towed away or something. So mommy, you really do not need to worry. The caravan's outside will be painted like a jungle, with different shades of green, so that it can be easily hidden in the forest. There will be no side windows, as this is apparently a dead giveaway to police that someone may be living in there, and hence problems parking in some cities. On the side will be painted something like "Bimbus Entertainment Services - Volleyball, Squash... http://www.kenax.cz". This will be used for two purposes: to attract players to play with me while I am travelling, and to make it look like a commercial vehicle, to make it easier to park in cities. The text will be yellow, to help it still look invisible in the forest, while visible to the police in the cities. I will design this text on my computer and print out (if possible) the sheets used to spray paint the text on, so that it looks legit and professional. On the top of the caravan will be a metal extension under which I could store my bike and other things, and backpacks of people who will be travelling with me. Well, these are the ideas I have collected over the months from my various friends. If you have any other suggestions, I would appreciate it. Otherwise, right now I am trying to get an idea of the actual construction part, before I start on this. I'll have three tents with me and various air mattresses, so plenty of room for ya if you ever want to join me on a road trip somewhere! * * * * * *
Published - July 2010
E-mail this article to your colleague! Need more translation jobs? Click here! Translation agencies are welcome to register here - Free! Freelance translators are welcome to register here - Free! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |||
Legal Disclaimer Site Map |
