- 7 weeks ago
A year-long DIY Ram ProMaster build becomes a smart work-from-home van tour, designed for national park travel, city stealth living, and full-time work on the road. Go Cole walks through his 2021 ProMaster high roof with a 159-inch wheelbase, showing how he balanced a homey feel with practical van life needs.
The layout includes Starlink internet, solar power, Renogy lithium batteries, a 2000-watt inverter, a Propex heater, blackout magnetic shades, a full-size bed, a full kitchen, and plenty of storage. He also explains the thought behind the desk setup, dinette and couch conversion, safety features, and the stealth exterior that still fits into tight city parking.
Built solo as a first-time van conversion, this custom camper van reflects careful planning, durable materials, and everyday livability for a digital nomad lifestyle. It’s a useful look at DIY van build ideas, mobile office design, Ram ProMaster camper van layouts, and off-grid travel setup.
For viewers searching for van life tour, DIY camper van build, work-from-home van setup, stealth van conversion, mobile office, and Ram ProMaster conversion ideas, this episode blends practical touring with real-world van life inspiration. It’s also a strong fit for anyone interested in full-time van living, overlanding, and compact RV design.
The layout includes Starlink internet, solar power, Renogy lithium batteries, a 2000-watt inverter, a Propex heater, blackout magnetic shades, a full-size bed, a full kitchen, and plenty of storage. He also explains the thought behind the desk setup, dinette and couch conversion, safety features, and the stealth exterior that still fits into tight city parking.
Built solo as a first-time van conversion, this custom camper van reflects careful planning, durable materials, and everyday livability for a digital nomad lifestyle. It’s a useful look at DIY van build ideas, mobile office design, Ram ProMaster camper van layouts, and off-grid travel setup.
For viewers searching for van life tour, DIY camper van build, work-from-home van setup, stealth van conversion, mobile office, and Ram ProMaster conversion ideas, this episode blends practical touring with real-world van life inspiration. It’s also a strong fit for anyone interested in full-time van living, overlanding, and compact RV design.
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TravelTranscript
00:00This was the first time I built a van.
00:02I feel like I'm relatively handy,
00:04so I wanted to give it a shot.
00:05It took me about a year to build it out,
00:07but I'm very happy with how it turned out.
00:09And for people that are looking for vans,
00:11I would say planning takes a lot of the time.
00:14Just making sure you understand what needs you have
00:16and how you want the flow of the van to feel.
00:20Take the time at the upfront
00:21so you're not changing around plans throughout it.
00:23This is Patrick with New Jersey's
00:25Outdoor Adventures YouTube channel.
00:27On today's episode, we meet up with Gokul.
00:29He's got a really cool DIY Ram Promaster custom camper van.
00:33He built it out himself.
00:35This thing's really cool inside and out.
00:37He's gonna give us a full tour, so join us.
00:40Hey Patrick, thanks for having me on.
00:43This is my 2021 Ram Promaster.
00:45It's a high roof with 159 wheelbase.
00:48And I chose this van because I wanted to have
00:51the opportunity to travel around the United States,
00:54check out national parks, but also work when I needed to.
00:58And really have a stealth model that allows me to be in the city
01:04and so no one knows it's a camper van.
01:07On the top, I've got two solar panels,
01:11Starlink for internet and a max air fan.
01:14I installed a few windows just to make sure there's enough light
01:17inside, but also still stealth from the outside.
01:21And then going around to the back, the back has got all, plenty of storage with all the electrical
01:30here as well, two Renogy batteries, an inverter, there's three modes for it to be charged up.
01:37We've got the solar panels on the top, shore power, and when you're driving, the alternator also charges it.
01:42The inverter is a 2000, allows me to use regular plugs in the cabin itself.
01:49And then we've got the on and off switch here for, for the whole system.
01:55Then across the bottom and the whole garage area, which is, I call this the garage.
01:59It's got these rubber floor mats to make sure it's durable.
02:03I wanted to have a lot of storage in here and I'm taking things in and out all the time.
02:08So I wanted to make sure it's durable and lasts throughout the lifetime of the van.
02:12And then on the right hand side, I've got our Propex 2500 HS heater,
02:17which allows me to heat the whole cabin easily.
02:20Then I've got these IKEA slats that keep the bed, the bed up.
02:25It's a full size bed.
02:26I wanted to make sure there was enough.
02:28I was comfortable in there.
02:29It felt like a home.
02:30So I wanted to have an entire full bed in there, which, and the slats across the bottom, keep it
02:36up there.
02:37And then here I've got shades.
02:39I've got shades for every window.
02:41They're blackout magnetic shades that let me easily take it on and off and keep the light out of the
02:50van when I need it.
02:51And then I added these, a few compartments here at the top and throughout the van as well,
02:57just to make sure I've got places to put things when I'm in bed or places to put things just
03:03when I need a little bit of storage here and there.
03:06And throughout the van, it's insulated with Havelock wool.
03:10And I also added kill mat to keep the road noise down.
03:13It's framed up throughout the van with, as if it would be inside a house, just to make sure it
03:19gave that true home feel.
03:22Then on the side here, we've got an outlet for shore power, so you can charge it up with a
03:28regular wall outlet.
03:37Now we'll go inside.
03:44The whole van is designed for what I needed when I was, when I wanted to do end life, which
03:50was a full-size kitchen.
03:51I wanted to make sure I was able to cook all the time.
03:54We've got a large sink here with the water, with the fresh water and gray water tanks below.
04:03That can easily be taken in and out, so if I'm in the city and I need to refill it,
04:08I can just do it at a regular water fill station rather than a campground.
04:13I've also got this spot to extend the butcher block counter, so it gives me a lot more counter space.
04:20What it also lets me do is turn this captain's chair around and have a desk set up for when
04:28I'm working from the van.
04:33Under the sink, I've also got a propane tank, which I made sure everything was designed for safety, so it
04:39vents out through the bottom of the van.
04:41I've also got a propane leak detector, just again, all for safety.
04:48The cabinet doors were all custom made, so I made sure I bought separate cabinet doors because I didn't want
04:55to build these myself.
04:58Yes, I built the rest of the van, but this was, it would have taken a lot of work to
05:02just do the cabinet doors though.
05:06For the rest of the kitchen here, I've got a two burner stove, which connects to the propane tank, easily
05:12turn on and off.
05:15I have the switches throughout the van.
05:18This is the main light switch, which lets me dim the van as well, and dim the lights in the
05:24van.
05:25All the switches have USB and USB-C ports, and then I've got a little bit of cable management here
05:31as well.
05:34Next to the bed, I wanted to make sure I could turn the thermostat on and off to heat the
05:39van in the middle of the night.
05:41So this is the Propex thermostat that's connected to the Propex heater in the back, and then a little cubby
05:47next to the bed right here.
05:48Right above the bed, I've got a fan that I can turn on to stay cool in the night.
05:57And above the bed, I've got the MaxAir fan, which has 10 speeds, opens up wide just to make sure
06:05there's plenty of airflow throughout the van.
06:07Again, on airflow, I've got a slider window right next to the bed just to make sure there's fresh air
06:12coming in.
06:13And then there's three large cubbies here, which I use for storage, plenty of storage throughout the van.
06:24And this is a full-size bed.
06:26Again, I wanted to make sure it wasn't a thin bed.
06:30I wanted plenty of comfort and space as I was staying here full time.
06:35So I wanted to make sure that this was a full-size bed that I could sleep in.
06:40Then under the bed, these are two footholes to easily get up into the bed.
06:45Right under that, I've got the safe.
06:47This is a number lock safe that keeps all of my valuables where I store all my valuables.
06:58And then a Dometic fridge here, which has a little freezer compartment so I can put essentially a pint of
07:04ice cream or anything in there.
07:07Then right above that, I've got a drawer that I use primarily for kitchen utensils and all my cookware.
07:17So the slats up here on the ceiling, I wanted to have a homey feeling.
07:24So what I did was I put plywood up on the top and then got these slats from Home Depot,
07:30stained them, took a lot of work, but I was able to stain them, put them up, and ran these
07:35strip lights through the slats to give it kind of that, to give it more of a homey feel.
07:45Then over here, I've got a, this is my closet area.
07:49This is a full-size mirror.
07:50I have a bar up here so I can hang all of my clothes.
07:56And then these are all the, this is all the tech for the van.
08:00So this turns my Starlink on and off.
08:02This turns on my inverter so I can use the regular wall outlets.
08:05And this tells me how much charge I have in the battery.
08:07Right below that, I've got my Trilino toilet.
08:11Uh, and this is a laundry hamper that I can pull in and out.
08:15It makes it very easy for me to, uh, have all my clothes in one place.
08:20Take it and, uh, and then take the clothes out to the laundromat all in one spot, just as if
08:25I was in a normal, normal apartment.
08:28And then up here, plenty of storage.
08:31I use this for storage for, uh, plates, pots, uh,
08:38towels, just everything I needed in the van.
08:40Uh, and it's very deep.
08:42So there's, because I had, I didn't need as much headroom here as it was a more of a couch
08:47setup.
08:48I was able to make the cabinets really deep and give me plenty of storage throughout the van.
08:55And then again, safety was top of mind.
08:57So I have a, uh, smoke alarm and a carbon, uh, carbon detector there.
09:04And then this at the bottom here is my, what I call my couch and my dinette setup, which, uh,
09:11is, I made all of the cushions here.
09:14The cushions, uh, it was hard to make because there were little nooks and crannies that you had to fix,
09:20fit around.
09:21Like this one here, where I have a setup to be able to put a lap seatbelt in.
09:26That, that lets me sit three people if I ever need it.
09:31Right under it is just a little bit more storage.
09:34This is a little bit more storage, plus some, uh, trash and recycling bins.
09:40And then what I'd like to do here is take the seat, take that cushion up, and then I'm able
09:46to move this table up.
09:48And this is my dining table setup.
09:51If I just screw it in there, then I'm able to sit at a normal, like it's a normal dining
09:57table.
09:59And then under the second seat here, it's a dump bin type of storage where I just kind of throw
10:06miscellaneous things,
10:08like shoes and umbrellas in there.
10:12In a few places throughout the van, I've got these motion light sensors.
10:16So when it's dark and you're moving around, you don't have to turn on the bright lights above.
10:20Uh, you've got, you can see where you're walking and you're not hitting anything.
10:26And then this is the front of the van. Again, this is the captain's chair.
10:29You've got the driver's seat here.
10:31The van's got about 90,000 miles on it.
10:33Um, and it's still running great.
10:35I, all the maintenance is I've, I take it for maintenance, uh, all the time.
10:40And on, on schedule there, I've got a dash cam at the front again for safety.
10:46And then this top piece here is used for storage for more of the, uh, window covers and just any
10:54car maintenance things.
10:56And then lastly here is my simply safe, which it's connected throughout the van.
11:02Just again, added security and safety as I'm living in the van and typically more urban areas.
11:07This van is really cool.
11:09I like the fact that it's a work from the road adventure van.
11:13It can kind of be anything, right?
11:15Not everybody needs a full shower box and full bathroom box and a van, especially something this small.
11:22And the appeal to this going with the Ram ProMaster 159 on extended was that you could parallel park in
11:29the city.
11:29Exactly.
11:31And, you know, it is somewhat stealth on the outside.
11:33It doesn't really look like a camper van.
11:35Yeah, you got some windows and if you look really close, you can see a power cord and some solar
11:39panels.
11:40But it kind of blends in, especially being a white van.
11:42Yeah, that's really what I wanted to do.
11:44Make sure I was able to live normally in the city without people noticing that it was a camper van.
11:50That stealth, that stealth feel was really necessary for where and where I was living and where I was traveling.
11:58And just walk us through, like, you know, you come back at night, you work in the office, you know,
12:03and you need a place to hang your shirts, right?
12:07Yeah.
12:07Your button-up shirts.
12:08But would you take that toilet out and, like, put it in the hallway?
12:11So if you need to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, you have...
12:15Yeah, so you just, it's really light, so I just grab it and put it out in the hallway.
12:20And then you've got your Trellino toilet, which is easy to use.
12:23And there's plenty of gyms and clubs in the city or anywhere, really, to take a shower if you need
12:28to.
12:28Yeah, Planet Fitness, YMCA, staying members in those gyms, it really helps out because you're able to go to the
12:37gym,
12:37get your workout routine in, but also get a shower in when you need it.
12:41And any advice, you know, you built this out yourself.
12:43Did you build any other vans prior to this?
12:45And any advice you want to share with anybody else shopping or looking to build their own van?
12:50This was the first time I built a van.
12:53I feel like I'm relatively handy, so I wanted to give it a shot.
12:56It took me about a year to build it out, but I'm very happy with how it turned out.
13:01And for people that are looking for vans, I would say just looking for vans or trying to build their
13:08own,
13:08I would say planning takes a lot of the time.
13:11Just making sure you understand what needs you have and how you want the flow of the van to feel.
13:16Take the time up front so you're not changing around plans throughout it.
13:20I know, and plans change too, right?
13:23So life changes, things move on.
13:25I found this van, this was on Facebook Marketplace for sale.
13:28So now you're selling this van and you're building another one, or what's next for you?
13:33So now I'm selling the van, I'm moving into an apartment.
13:37I had about a year and a half where I lived in the van, and it was a lot of
13:42fun.
13:42I absolutely love this van, but it was time to move back into an apartment and try something new.
13:48And you've gone cross country, and I mean you've done a lot, right?
13:52Yeah, went cross country, did a lot of national parks, saw a lot of cool places that I never thought
13:58I would see.
13:58So I had a lot of cool experiences that I'm, so it's a little sad to sell this, but I'm,
14:05it's time to go on to the next adventure.
14:07Well, I'll put a link in the description.
14:09When this video comes out, the van's still for sale.
14:12I'm sure the viewers are going to want to check it out.
14:15You know, and what's nice about this van, it's built in such a way that if someone does buy it
14:20and they want to change things around a little bit, they could.
14:22Like for example, they could take a solar panel off and cut another hole in the roof that they wanted,
14:27air conditioning.
14:27Absolutely.
14:28You could add one or two more lithium batteries if you wanted to.
14:31Your biggest power consumption in this van was what?
14:34The Starlink.
14:35Starlink.
14:35So the internet takes a lot of power, but that's why I have the on and off switch.
14:39Makes it easy to shut it off when I'm not using it and conserve the power.
14:43I like that this is a lounge and a dinette because it's very versatile use of space.
14:48This is great.
14:49Well, I appreciate the opportunity to showcase this van.
14:52I'll put that link in the description.
14:53This is Patrick with New Jersey's Outdoor Adventures YouTube channel and I'll see you next time.
14:57Video in the description.
14:58So let's dig into the room.