18 Episodes

New to van life?

Meet Quin Schrock – lifestyle photographer and Wildist’s resident van expert. In this workshop, Quin takes years of experience living in a van to help guide you to determine what you want out of van life and how to get there. The more miles you travel, the more you see and capture.

Workshop Episodes

1 Why Van Life
Meet your instructor, Quin Schrock, in this tell-all episode on how a road trip got him into photography, and how his lust for travel led him to choose Van Life full-time for the past 5 years. Currently on in his 5th van – along with a short stint in a Honda Element – Quin has learned through experience and refined his approach to building vans and living in them to the fullest.

2 Understanding What You Want
The biggest question to ask yourself when getting into Van Life is “What do I want?”. Knowing yourself and what you are looking for will go a long way in choosing the right van, layout, and everything in between, setting you up for long term success in your build. Quin tries to help you along in the process by playing a game of would you rather, laying out many of the decisions to pay attention to when deciding on or designing your van.

3 Breaking Down Your Budget
Van Life comes with an endless range of possibilities and options, which results in a massive range in pricing. Quin begins by walking through each of his past builds and what they cost overall giving you a baseline, before breaking down costs of the major systems of any van build. Later on Quin discusses buying new vs used, and the pros and cons of buying a custom van, building one yourself, or contracting someone to build it for you.

4 Determining the Overall Best Layout for your Needs
Quin walks through different layout options for your van, and what to consider before deciding which one is best for you. A big consideration is spaces that convert from one use to another, and why that could be a potential downside in your van.

5 Van Details: Different Bed Types
When designing your van, arguably the best place to begin is with your bed. Not only will it take up the most space in your layout, but when traveling or especially living in your van you will want to ensure you are as comfortable as possible. Quin discusses each type in detail, before showing you each style on some of his friends vans to gain a better understanding.

6 Van Details: Bathroom or No Bathroom?
Having a bathroom in your van is a game changer in terms of comfort, but there are many factors to consider when choosing to add one or not. Quin discusses different options ranging in budgets, and the pros and cons of each. To wrap up the episode he talks about learning lessons through previous builds on the placement of the bathroom itself, and how it effects your layout.

7 Van Details: Temperature Regulation
When thinking about temperature regulation in your build there is a lot more to consider than a heater. Quin discusses the use of fans, vents, windows, insulation, and heater options, along with how he utilizes the combination of all of these options in his own van.

8 Van Details: Power Management
At the heart of your vans electrical system is a battery bank capable of powering all of your accessories, and a way to recharge that system. Quin details the different options for batteries, and the three methods available to recharge them. To help understand the power needs of your van system, Quin walks through the main appliances that draw large amounts of power that you will need to consider when designing your build.

9 Van Details: Storage
Quin lays out his approach for designing his layouts with storage in mind, and the surprising reasons why you need to be very conscious of having too much or too little storage in your van. Using his own van as an example, Quin talks about how he takes time to design each compartment of the van for a specific purpose.

10 Van Details: Cooking
Like many things in Van Life – a lot of decisions come down to self awareness, and cooking is no exception. Through the years Quin has allocated more space to each of his vans for cooking and food storage, which relates directly back to his lifestyle and desire to be off grid for weeks at a time.

11 How To Actually Live In Your Van
Get inspired to live the Van Life from this short cinematic episode, seeing Quin enjoy the spoils of Van Life while navigating the open road, cooking a meal, and enjoying a sunset in a beautiful and remote desert location.

12 Where to Sleep
Quin talks about the different locations that he seeks out to overnight in, and tips for getting a good nights sleep without getting ‘knocked on’.

13 Quin’s Sprinter Van Tour
Follow along on a detailed walkthrough of Quin’s Sprinter van, and all of the features, hidden compartments, and reasons for the layout and design choices he has made. Quin will also talk about the additional gear that he brings along in his van, from accessories to make life on the road easier, to the gear always on the ready for a surf, backcountry camp trip, or a one wheel trip into town.
14 Quin’s Box Van Tour
Be the first to see Quin’s latest design, a converted ford box truck designed in a minimalist, Japanese inspired style. Taking advantage of the larger volume of the truck, Quin was able to maximize the layout and design first-of-its-kind features such as a bed/desk lift that raises through the sunroof, and a party deck that extends out of the back of the van. This design is packed full of unique features to inspire your design ideas!

15 Van Tours: Keon’s Van
Continuing with the van tours, Keon gives a tour of the main features of his van such as a hidden pop-up shower, and talks about his motivations behind the bold styling choices he’s made. As a bonus, Quin ask’s Keon for his main tip for anyone getting into Van Life.

16 Van Tours: Shaiden’s Van
Shaiden is currently working on van build number 5, and likes to push his designs which shows through in this build. With features such as a happy-jack bed lift, sunroof to view the stars at night, and surround sound stereo to entertain, this van is not to be missed. As a bonus, Shaiden and Quin talk about advice for anyone getting into Van Life.

17 Quin’s Van Life Tips
With 5 builds to his name, and over 5 years spent living Van Life full time, Quin has learned many tips and tricks that he shares in this informative episode. Save yourself the trouble of learning lessons the hard way and get a leg up on your Van Life adventure with Quin’s hacks.

18 Workshop Recap
Quin thanks you for joining him on his workshop, and wishes you luck on your own vanlife adventure!