But how do you actually know?
My complete collection of socks fits into about 1000 cubic inches of volume.
My underwear takes up less than that, but when combined with my handkerchiefs, bras, and two of my scarves, it's up to about 1000 cubic inches as well.
How do I know that?
Because I have a box that's about 1000 cubic inches in volume, and I checked.
As I type, all those items are currently sitting in a larger box that's closer to 2500 cubic inches, which has a custom-made divider running across the diagonal middle (chosen so that it's a friction fit instead of something needing to be affixed in place, and guaranteed to be half because that's how geometry works).
I am slowly progressing towards living entirely out of boxes.
I have a 15-gallon clear-plastic "crate" (the label calls it a crate, I'd be more inclined to call it a tub) that fits:
- Three of my four pairs of pants (minus the ones I'm wearing)
- All of my long-sleeved shirts (the vast majority of my tops)
- My two collared work-shirts
- My belts and suspenders
I'm not moving house.
I'm doing the math to prepare to move house.
I know that my planned van cabinet storage has room for my kayak (Oru Inlet) and my portable hammock stand (Kammok Swiftlet), because I've blocked out a 74-inch by 96-inch space of floor in my living area and set them in that space along with all the other things I'm planning on keeping.
I've even hung tape marks around the perimeter indicating the 68-inch tall ceiling.
I know all these things fit, because I've done it.
I haven't quite built the van and the cabinets and the custom hammock stand around and within the blocked-out space, but I'm working up to it.
And I've done my homework:
I've watched and read almost as many lessons-learned and regrets of other vanlifers as I have tutorials and guides and how-to's.
No hanging storage.
No shower.
Scarce few dedicated storage spaces.
Scarce few dedicated storage spaces.
Yeah, that last one is apparently one of the bigger and more common regrets. They build a cabinet with the express purpose of One Thing, and then discover a few miles down the road that if they'd built it slightly differently to be accommodating "flex" space instead, it would have been far more useful.
Aside from my big and/or fragile items which need dedicated locations (hammock stand, kayak, water tank, electrical cabinet, kitchenware) everything is just going to be generic.
The cabinets will be 20 to 24 inches tall, dual layered, vertical access cabinets, with less-touched items at the bottom. But they're all intended to be about the same size (or whatever fits best to optimize the space between my big-ticket items). I haven't decided quite what that size is going to be yet (that will likely wait until I try actually building it) because it will be heavily influenced by the strength of my materials. Furthermore, the upper-most cabinet lids will be also serving as the floor of the crawl/living-space; so probably 9 or 10 or 12 inches on-center will be the ideal, either square or rectangle.
It was fine in the beginning to be working entirely in theoretical imagined-space or CAD-adjacent drawings and wireframes.
But now I'm pushing towards literally living out of those confines, even though for the time being, it will just be some tape lines on my bedroom floor.
Leave a comment or continue reading: my vanlife journey or the master van project page.
