First Night in My Van

I spent my first night in my van over the weekend. It was such a treat!

The platform for my bed was one of the first things I assembled, simply because of the ease of the design. I finally put the legs on last weekend, though, so that meant she was sleep-ready! Keep an eye out for that tutorial because honestly, its a great basis for any bed loft creation.

I usually stay up a little later on weekends than I do weekdays, but I still got into bed at 10:30. It was kind of a last minute decision, so it was already dark by the time we loaded up the mattress and set up curtains. I used make-shift curtains as I wasn’t too concerned about the area or needing a particular amount of privacy. There was a street light opposite LuLu, so I mostly wanted to block out that light as much as possible. Her real curtains should be going up soon.

The low temp overnight was 44 degrees F coming around at about 5:00 am. Considering I’ve camped in below-freezing weather on the ground in a tent, I wasn’t too worried about it. In addition to temperature, I wasn’t sure what to expect as far as ambient noise, either. Believe it or not, it was surprisingly quiet inside LuLu! The sounds of electronics were absent. Roadway and animal sounds were quite muffled and didn’t prevent me from sleeping at all.

I slept amazing, too! Probably the best sleep I’ve had recently.

The loft made for an even, firm surface for the mattress. The mattress itself was just fine. I was leaning toward a traditional mattress anyway, and when I found a new one for free, that sealed the deal. This was my first time sleeping on it and I couldn’t be happier!

I woke up at 5:00 am because I had to go to the bathroom. Very unfortunate and I absolutely hate having to get out of bed to use the bathroom. A few minutes later, a rooster started crowing. And a few minutes after that, it was like all the birds simultaneously woke up. As much as I wanted to, my bladder was very adamant that I go to the bathroom, so I wasn’t able to fall back asleep. That’s good information, though, because when I’m on the road I now know I should probably keep a better late-night routine.

The whole experience was absolutely delightful. It was camping but, in this gal’s humble opinion, better. Falling asleep in the crisp night air and waking up to the birds but in full comfort is a feeling entirely worth experiencing. Last night, sleeping in my house, I already missed it!

With all that said, I think its safe to say my first night sleeping in my van was a win! See me talk about it in real time over at my Patreon.