Building the Dream: Our VW T4 Self-Build Adventure

How a cheap high-top van turned into a full-blown obsession (and eventually, a bigger motorhome for the dog)

Every vanlife journey starts with a van, obviously. But choosing the right one? That’s the first big fork in the road. Ours came in the shape of a well-worn VW T4. It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t new. But it was the right price, and most importantly, it had a high roof. That might not seem like a big deal until you’ve spent five minutes hunched over a cooker in a low-top build, wondering why you suddenly empathise with prawns. No thanks. We wanted to stand up while cooking, moving around, and generally existing like actual humans.

So the T4 was the one. It was functional, affordable, and had just enough charm to justify the looming chaos of a self-build.

Why the VW T4?

Simple answer: it ticked the boxes. Affordable? Yep. High-top roof? Essential. The T4’s boxy shape made it a great blank canvas for a first-time build, and with a bit of elbow grease (and YouTube University degrees in electrics, insulation, and questionable carpentry), we were off.

One of the biggest deciding factors was standing room. Most of the standard low-top vans look sleek on the outside but are back killers once you try living in them. Constantly crouched, hunched, and crab-walking around your own living space? Feck that. We wanted a van we could move around in without needing a chiropractor on retainer.

The Build Process (and Budget Blowouts)

We started small. Basic insulation. Simple electrics. The kind of build where you convince yourself it’ll all be done in a month, tops. Spoiler: it wasn’t.

The tool list grew. The receipts piled up. And our so-called “budget build” slowly evolved into a much more serious investment. We’re talking both time and cash. We didn’t go full Instagram influencer spec, but we weren’t far off by the end.

Pretty much everything we used is in our Amazon Store, because if I picked it up, tested it, or swore at it during the build, it ended up in there. From insulation to the iPad Pro and Bluetooth speaker we used for movie nights, it’s all catalogued.

You can follow the full build chaos on YouTube. Long-form videos from back when we were figuring it all out, and a more digestible stream of short videos over on TikTok, which I’m still adding to.

What We Learned

• Timelines are lies. Double them. Then double them again.

• 12V electrics are equal parts satisfying and rage-inducing.

• Everything takes longer when the weather’s against you. In Northern Ireland, that’s 9 months of the year.

• Don’t believe the hype around stick-on sound deadening. Good insulation is more than foil and hope.

• Get the layout right for you, not the algorithm.

But the biggest lesson? If you can stand up inside your van, you’ll be infinitely happier living in it. That one detail changed how we cooked, worked, and relaxed. No crouching. No bent neck. No regrets.

Why We Sold It

We loved that van. We really did. But vanlife is about adapting, and for us, that meant trading up.

Enter: Lucky. One of our four-legged family members, and not exactly a lap dog. Big, gentle, but not built for squeezing past a kitchenette to lie down. Add Milo to the mix, our other dog who thinks every new parking spot is a call to adventure, and it became clear the T4 was no longer going to cut it.

So we made the leap. Sold the T4. Dropped a small fortune on a motorhome that could house us all more comfortably. It wasn’t easy, but it was the right move. You can read our farewell post to the T4 here.

Would We Do It Again?

Absolutely. Building the T4 taught us everything. From how to wire a 12V circuit without frying something, to how to share a bed with two dogs and a projector screen. It was the start of something much bigger: our life on the road, our obsession with camper gadgets, and this whole Digital Nomad NI thing.

Would we go back to a low-top build? Not a chance.

Would we recommend a T4 to someone starting out? 100%. Just know what you’re in for and maybe keep a second credit card on standby.

– This wasn’t just a build. It was the beginning of the journey.