Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to the DIY guys the podcast where home renovations, power tools and mild panic go hand in hand. I'm Nick Morris. And I'm Dan Doher. Each week we'll be chatting with some property pros, some DIY diehards, hopefully help you with some tips and tricks along the way.
Speaker: Welcome back to the DIY Guys podcast. As usual, I'm joined by my co-host, Mr. Nick Morris. How are you doing, mate? Very well, mate. How are you? Yeah, not too bad, thank you. We have got an exciting guest joining us today.
Speaker: We've got the amazing Susie over at FemBuilds. She's definitely someone we've been following for a while, and it's something a bit different, right? First American, for a start. Yeah, first American, yeah.
Speaker: We've crossed the ah at Atlantic. Yeah. And yeah, well, definitely, definitely interesting situation. Yeah, like really different to everyone else who spoke to. She is renovating a van that she's living in. She is. Which is awesome.
Speaker: I follow so many people like this on Instagram. You're just like, oh, this is just like proper cool, isn't it? It's something you sort of, I think 99% of people want to do, but no one does. 1% or less than 1% does, right? Yeah, yeah. I feel like we me and you went traveling, didn't we? But obviously not like that style. So it's one of those like things, you we if you've got lucky enough to do it, but you're like so spoiled if you can actually do it. Yeah, and it's so different, right? Because I know there's the DIY aspect of it, but you've also got to be able to fit it and power it in a van, right? Yeah. Which must have like numerous like problems. Yeah, and I just want to speak to her about how you even decide the van. Because in my head, I'd be like, well, should choose something massive. yeah A big, like, Luton type style van. Obviously, it's not that practical. No. There must be reasons why you get, like, a certain size van for certain things, powering certain things.
Speaker: I follow this, like, awesome truck driver on Instagram who shows us how he's got, like, a power a bank for, like, he's got, like, a mini oven, like a mini pizza oven and a mini microwave that doesn't go into the truck so it doesn't waste all the, like, the battery of the truck and stuff like that. So I'm assuming there's similar things with her where... um I'm just thinking, I'll just say that out loud. Some of the things I watch, this truck driver who goes around, I find it so, he literally like pulls up in a little lay-by, he's like, this is me for 12 hours and then shows us what he's cooking, where he's going. I don't know why it's interesting, but to me it's interesting. always think stuff like that, you know,
Speaker: Who's watching this stuff? And then like three months later, you're like, oh my God, he's making fish and chips. This is amazing. And also he's got like a million followers or something like that. So I'm interested to speak to Susie because she must have a story about why she wants to do this in the first place, where to begin and what you're doing with it. She also, like, obviously we do our bit of exploration before we interview these people. Yeah. And just like, she clearly someone that likes something that's like sustainable as well. So I'm really intrigued to hear about all the different methods she uses for like powering and like water and bits and pieces. It must be solar panels or something like that. Yeah. How that works. Yeah.
Speaker: But yeah, I'm min interested to speak to her and she seems like um it's going to be really enthusiastic judging by her posts Instagram. She's like really bubbly and lively. Hopefully us two like grumpy UK guys don't bring her down a bit. As long she's not too American and over the top. She doesn't come across like that, but you never know. Yeah, I'm excited speak to her. don't know what I'm most looking forward to. I want to know where she's going as well. Yeah. where'd you where Where do you want to drive to? Because America's just meant to us. Yeah.
Speaker: I'd want to go up to like Canada or something as well. Oh, definitely. well but The freedom of having a van. night and That's the other aspect of it, right? Yeah. Just be like, oh, I suppose being the you're like, oh, the weather here is terrible. I can just drive like two hours that way. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. So it'd be great to talk to her. Definitely. Yeah. Well, should we jump in speak to her? Let's do it. So hi everyone, we have Susie here from FemBuilds. How are you today? I'm doing great. I'm happy to be here.
Speaker: Thank you for joining us. so What time is it over there where you are? 9am. And where are you based? I'm in Durham, North Carolina. Oh, amazing. So you're our first, well, i was gonna say you're our first overseas guest, but we've spoken to someone who was Australian living in Japan, but you're definitely our first guest from the States. So that's that exciting.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah. It's a great place to be. tell us a little bit about yourself. So we you are very interesting to us because you are living in and you've done up a van and remodeled a van and you're the first person who we've spoken to who sort of lives in that way. So we'd love to hear everything about it.
Speaker: So I bought this bus five years ago. it was a transit bus for elderly people with disabilities and they were just downsizing their fleet. And I had wanted a bus for years. And I was like, you know what? If I wanna do bus life, the first step is just buying a bus. I'm just gonna go.
Speaker: So I found this bus on Craigslist, bought it And um this has actually been a journey building it, it's taking me many years, which is not typical of a bus building.
Speaker: They go a little quicker, but I've gone through seasons of demolition and renovation and constructing it just the way I want it. um So I've lived in it full time for a year now.
Speaker: And I've taken it across the country several times. um And it's always it's always a fun journey to just explore the country and see what's out there. um So I've also built out with my with my brother-in-law several um vans. They have a van a custom van building company called Free Life Vans. And so that's where I've also gotten a lot of experience with building out campers, doing the electrical, doing all the custom built-ins. And...
Speaker: Yeah, it's it's been a journey learning all of that. Yeah. I was going to say, how do you even start with something like that? is it Did you look up like inspiration on the internet or did you ask other people who had done something similar?
Speaker: I definitely started with YouTube Academy. um i spent so many hours watching videos. the The scariest part for me was the electrical.
Speaker: i've I've had done a lot of building in my life, but electrical is like, it's still not my favorite thing to do. I can see lots of lights in the background. Yeah, I mean, I have a full solar panel system, inverter,
Speaker: um a whole a whole electrical system that powers the whole bus that can power air conditioning and outlets and lights, appliances, Um, so yeah I just figured out how to do it, but the first step I would say is like if you If you are going to build out a van or a bus is knowing what experience you want to have. Like, are you just using it as an adventure mobile? Are you using it full time? Are you going to be living in it when it's hot weather, cold weather, so that you can start to design your space based off of what you want your experience to be? And then, and also like how much solar you need? what, you know, what, what is going to be realistic for what you want your experience?
Speaker: experience to be in your in your camper journey it's amazing it almost sounds like the great american dream you just go off on your own and just be free it's incredible it's the land of the free this but if you you choose it to be that way yeah how did you actually decide once you've you've done this where you're actually going to go because there's so many options in america as well and did you have like a plan or you just literally free reeling it and being as free as possible um So I've gone through seasons where sometimes I really prefer to just be rooted and grounded in one place where I can like have a consistent water source and have Wi-Fi next to me and just be grounded. and then other times...
Speaker: other times I'll just drive. i usually end up in Arizona or New Mexico. That's just what seems to happen. And and just kind of just kind of go with the flow and see who I meet, see what landscapes draw my attention. And um yeah, I live that way. and but But I also,
Speaker: also really um i also really love architecture and design and building projects. So i will sometimes just drive through seeing, seeing other people's projects, what they're working on and, um, sometimes volunteer with like natural build projects and, or feature people on my social media of like other natural build projects that people are doing or van builds.
Speaker: So I kind of follow my nose in the, in the design and build realm. It all sounds very sustainable. and Does the solar panels literally power everything and in the van?
Speaker: In the winter, yes. When I have to run the air conditioner in the summer, i need a little extra juice. so But yeah, the solar panels, I have 400 watts
Speaker: do you guys know about electrical? I actually am an electrician. Is that reasonable? Is that reasonable? Yeah, that's a lot. Yeah, yeah. These days. I was like, it's not 400 kilowatts. No, it's 400 watts. Yeah, to be fair, 400 kilowatts would like do about thousand trains. So that would be too much.
Speaker: We're an electrician. Okay. So yes, I have 400 Watts of solar, 400 hour battery um, and um And it's enough. I mean, i have mostly DC appliances.
Speaker: So the fridge is is direct current. um My stove is gas and or propane. And then my ah little heater that I have here in the winter actually taps in into the gas tank of my bus.
Speaker: So that it it really doesn't. The only thing that's electrical in the heater is the pump. It just pumps a little gas drop by drop into the heater. That's awesome. right Great use of just like a little bit of solar energy is amazing and a little bit of gas. It's so cool.
Speaker: Yeah. And then I also have um a battery to battery charger. So when I am on the road, i can flip that on and the current from the alternator charges my battery bank.
Speaker: Amazing. That's so useful. yeah When you when you've started this project, it must have been, I can imagine someone without any DIY skills or building skills would be totally overwhelmed. So have you got a history of being very hands-on and in in that field?
Speaker: Yes. So I grew up with my parents renovating houses. nu And so I was in that realm learning with my dad how to do basic trades, like doing drywall and flooring and doing like basic plumbing skills. um And then I also studied architecture. So while I was more in the design realm, we also had a workshop where we would build our models.
Speaker: And I loved the workshop. in college. So I was always in there building pretty complicated models. Um, you know, like, like the building physical.
Speaker: And, um, so that, that got me sort of more comfortable with tools. And then after i graduated, i decided to buy my first house and renovate It it was a 1959 ranch brick home.
Speaker: and um And I just kind of jumped into the deep end and was like, okay, I'm going to figure out how to get house by myself.
Speaker: um I definitely had some help from my dad, but i can send you guys i can send you guys some pictures if you want. Oh, yeah, I'd love to see it um over the yeah um it.
Speaker: so that was that was kind of like a rite of passage for me, renovating a home. Yeah. And I told myself after that I would never live in a home at the same time that I'm renovating it ever again.
Speaker: Yeah, I hear that a lot. Have you guys done that, lived in the home at the same time? Well, you're doing it now, aren't you? Yeah, I'm finishing my project off. But when it was like a real big renovation, I was like, no, we ended up staying with our in-laws. So we were quite lucky there. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, it's just so it's so dusty and it really disrupts your routine. So, um but that was pretty much my experience. So i you know, i had experience in all the trades, which you need, you're they're literally building a whole entire little apartment unit when you're, yeah plus it's plumbing, it's electrical, it's some mechanical and insulation and it's, it's every trade. So.
Speaker: That was my experience. And then also as an architect doing design work, I've drawn a lot of details of how things come together and um how buildings are built.
Speaker: And so i have sort of that background as well, of just having an understanding of how they should come together technically. And then like um and then wanting to get more into the hands-on building process. So that's sort of how i pivoted into more building than designing. but's Yeah, I was going to say, with your architect background, did that really help, like, trying to scale everything down and fit it into, like, a ah van, basically?
Speaker: Yeah, for sure. it it really did. i think it helped me to... just again, understand, like start from a fundamental place of like, okay, how do I want my experience to be in in the bus? And um it the the design did change a lot.
Speaker: So, but original or originally I had the sofa over here on this side, but then I was like, no, you know, I want to have these double doors where I'm cooking. I can look at, I can open the doors and look out at whatever view I am.
Speaker: So um was being able to evolve the design as I was going was helpful. And then also just like being aware that even a few inches matters in a design. So being able to just like push and pull walls a little bit and um tuck everything in just with an inch just bare is the I think I think my design background helped me a lot in that way.
Speaker: Yeah, definitely. It reminds me of those apartments in like Japan or really expensive places or like Hong Kong where they just have such small space and they have to really invent like clever ways to hide a bed or get storage out or something. It must be really difficult to be innovative like that.
Speaker: It's fun. yeah It's so fun for me to like think about how I can fit little drawers or cabinetry in certain places. Do you guys want a little tour?
Speaker: Yeah, definitely. that would be awesome, Is now a good time to do that? Yeah, whatever. We have to just describe it a bit for for the listeners, but for the YouTube channel, it's fine. Yeah. Okay, because not everyone's going to see it. Okay, well, um this is... I'm on my laptop, but these are my dogs. Oh. They're sitting on the couch.
Speaker: So this is a this is one of those examples of like a space-saving technique. Oh, clever. yeah This was actually my parents' leather couch that they had for 20 years. They were getting rid of it. I want that couch. So I deconstructed the whole thing, took the springs out, built this drawer, and it's just like, I mean, it's a great space saver.
Speaker: And like these countertops actually... fold down so you can have it as kitchen or when you're not using it as kitchen this is like a little window seat um and then just having little cabinets like everywhere you can. i built this above the driver's seat and use like this area that used to just be a dead space for more cabinetry.
Speaker: even have a room for here i can you room for a guitar on the wall as well. Got my little hook for my guitar. have to put it on the bed when I drive. And then...
Speaker: I have my kitchen, my little copper sink. ah This was also one of my most recent builds is building this like little dried goods pantry and then a drying rack for my dishes.
Speaker: thus That was nice. And also this pantry creates a divider between the public area and this is, sorry.
Speaker: This is actually my toilet. Oh, wow. wow ah That's genius. Yeah. And so then it just creates a little bench while you're not using it um And then my bed, closet, the skylight that I put in.
Speaker: I love the skylight. That's brilliant. Yeah, so this so this skylight... um Originally, when I bought the bus, it had um an air conditioning unit back here. You know how buses will have those units? It only works when you turn the engine on.
Speaker: um And I discovered that it had been leaking for years after I bought the bus. And so when I uninstalled it, those the roof was completely damaged. And I was like, okay, well,
Speaker: I could either repair it or I could just cut a huge section out of the back and put a skylight in. So that's what I did. And I just love it like it It totally extends the view to the back as soon as you walk in and just like floods this whole wall with light and gives light to the plants.
Speaker: Yeah, it's so great, especially as that is like your bedroom, it kind of would feel weird having windows either side, right? So it's nice to be able to bring some natural light into it by opening up. Yeah, yes, exactly. That's really nice. It's really good to see it, actually. I'm totally fascinated by it. What's been your favorite thing you've actually done in there? you got a favorite space or a favorite design that you sort of created?
Speaker: ah Well, I just really love building custom cabinetry. is It's my favorite thing that I do. So all the built-ins I really love. um This is actually, this was a fun build. This this little window seat is a new addition.
Speaker: So originally I just had this tiny little fridge over here. which was proving to not be enough for all of my food needs. So I decided to get a Dometic pullout fridge. It's like a cooler style fridge. Oh, nice. and So it's a second one. So I just built this this drawer his feet and that yeah that that was fun to figure out how to add into ah what I already thought was my finished bus.
Speaker: It's really good because it doesn't actually look congested to me. and It must just be like how you've like sort of chosen to live, but also the way you created storage out of sort of nothing or no areas. It's it's really clever.
Speaker: Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Everything seems quite sustainable. Is that something that was done by a necessity or is that something you kind of work towards?
Speaker: Yeah. um So when you say sustainable, do what do you mean by that? and so oh and cow ah Just more that everything's quite natural.
Speaker: oh You know, there's no like sort of chemical toilets. There's no sort of, you know, don't have to have like burning fossil fuels basically. Yeah, it's definitely a um a vision of mine for my life is to live more sustainably in that way. um Visually, i love wood. I love the color of wood. I love the warm tones. So I think that That's something I've really incorporated into my bus. And then um i I try to use as few like toxic materials as possible. like For the insulation, I use sheep's wool. um
Speaker: For the counters, I use like a food safe sealant. um But I will say in the camper van and bus life industry, do have to use some kind and toxic stuff. like Putting holes in the roof and you need to install an air conditioning unit, you got to use some, some SikaFlex and some like kind of toxic materials that I i don't love, but i think it's the name of the game when you're working in like a vibrating vehicle that needs to...
Speaker: handle driving down the road at 70 miles per hour. yeah but But in general, i I really value sustainable design and using natural materials. um And in my home designs and um for for clients and home designs for my future self that I'm excited to build one day. i am really interested in natural building and I've i've designed some off grid homes for clients. I've designed some straw bale homes for clients. I don't know if you're familiar with that building type, but. Oh yeah. Yeah. Basically where you use bales of straw as the structure and the installation of the walls. And yeah, build your house out of natural materials. I've taken some cob building workshops too.
Speaker: So um yeah, i'm I'm really interested in kind of going down this path of natural building and using materials that surround us.
Speaker: and like erecting them out of the earth and into homes. That's amazing. And is is that something that you think is is growing? Is that becoming more popular with you like your clients? They're getting in touch with you to try and build the most sort sustainable homes for the future.
Speaker: Yeah, people are definitely getting more interested in it. I think there's a more conscious movement towards like being healthy in our spaces and and being in spaces that um recharge our bodies and enliven us.
Speaker: And in my experience, I think people are becoming more aware of it, um not just in these more like hippie spaces, but also in more instinct spaces. Like um i I designed the straw bale house that I was describing to you was for a client in um Boulder Creek, California, and their home had actually burned down in one of the fires several years ago.
Speaker: And so they were rebuilding in the same location. And um it was like, yeah, it was it it was a high budget project, it was probably a million dollar home, but they were excited about um building with natural materials and having their home be made out of straw.
Speaker: is really cool And earthen plaster. so the the plaster came from digging up earth on their site and mixing it with other materials to create a plaster that covers the bales.
Speaker: And they actually, the clients also were interested in doing some of the building themselves. so they helped like, yeah, install some of the bales, install some of the plaster, do some of the wood flooring.
Speaker: So yeah, i see i see i see more interest in um and natural building and I'm excited to be a part of that movement.
Speaker: Yeah, I love it. What made you kind of film your journey of, you know, not just building your van but also, like, all your extra extra like projects you do for clients?
Speaker: Hmm. So I actually started filming myself when I did my first home renovation, the one that I bought in North Carolina.
Speaker: And um i I think I deleted that YouTube channel because because I was just getting comfortable like being on camera camera and It was very awkward. um But i I just have always really loved making little videos and sharing sharinging knowledge. Like even when I was a little kid, my sisters and i had like the big VHS. Yeah.
Speaker: We would just make so many little movies and videos together. So I've always had a an interest in in filming and making videos. But I think... um
Speaker: it's, it's fun for me to share my process. It's fun for me to make videos. And I also am really excited about sharing wisdom with other people and sharing, um, like confidence, especially with other women that you, you can take control of your space and you can, um, transform it into something that serves you.
Speaker: And like, We all have the power to do that for ourselves, to create our own environment into something that reflects us and empowers us. So that's that's why I like making videos and sharing. That's cool. We've actually had that before, haven't we? We've spoken to probably mostly women so far in like the DIY area. And a lot of them say the same thing, that historically it's like a male dominated era and it's it's like, you know, we can do this too and we can do it better than you. And and it's really that sort of empowering. and so It's quite exciting to speak to people.
Speaker: Yeah. I mean, I think that... like men and women both have their um beautiful things that they bring to the building world. um But I do think as a woman, we can tend, as women, we can tend to bring this like, like just a finer finesse to spaces that's like a little bit more detail oriented and can feel, can just feel like really warm and, yeah and,
Speaker: like a Like a warm embrace. I'm not saying that that men don't carry that. just like Even with the the um architects that I've worked with, that I've collaborated with in my past, I've just, yeah, you you notice a difference between male designers and female designers. And there's just, um i would just say a little bit more cozy detailing.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah. That one I'm bringing to the table. I certainly don't get a warm embrace from the men I work with. I ah tend to agree with you. but What I like about your page is you're really transparent with sharing sort of freebies you've got for your van and like hacks, DIY hacks. Is that something you sort of like doing as well to show people you know how to save money or how to do x y z Yes, I love doing that. And actually, i am in the process of writing a book. Yes. about how to live off grid. And um I maybe you can share the link to my website. Yeah, course. So that they can grab a free copy of the book before I release it um I just, yeah, I love sharing information with people and helping them um create their spaces. And if I can just like make little videos and, and empower people to um live in a way that's more conscious or more appropriate for them, then I love doing that. So yeah. So yeah, even in my book that I'm writing, it's um it's all about how to live off grid, not just in a bus or a van, but in a home too.
Speaker: an um it shares different DIY projects of how to make it happen. So it's everything from ah how to wire your solar system and how to choose inverters to like um how to it outlines how to install a micro hydroelectric system if you have a stream running through your land or how to adapt existing structures to be more ah off-grid living. And um yeah, I've got lots of good goodies in there. And I have like 30 projects that are outlined step by step of how to
Speaker: make yourself an off-grid home. That's so cool. How do you find like the DIY social space? Do you like reach out to other people who are doing maybe similar projects and ask them questions? Do you get a lot of people reach out to you and ask you, like, hey, I'm i'm working on this currently. Would you give any advice? So I...
Speaker: so i Like when you say social space, can maybe can you ask it ask that question again? Yeah, of course. Yeah. ah Obviously, the DIY social media space on, for example, Instagram, ah previous people we spoke to, they find it really helpful that they can reach out to other content creators and speak to them about similar projects. Is that something you do when you're working through or is it the other way around that people reach out to you?
Speaker: o I definitely have a few d iy female builders that I follow and have little chats with um just through DMs. We're just each other's hype women. Just like, we got this. I love what you're building.
Speaker: Um, so yeah, i wouldn't say we're necessarily collaborating or, um, really giving each other advice. I'd say it's more just like a supportive community, um, through social media that, uh, that we like empowering each other. um for like,
Speaker: Yeah, actual help and collaboration. i have, you know, my people that I know in person um that I collaborate with. My best friend lives in Miami and we've done a lot of renovation projects together, several condos down there and and a 1920s Spanish villa and um and done renovations in that home.
Speaker: And we we sort of document our process on social media of everything we're doing. So, yeah, i would say i would say in the social media space, it's more about it's more about just like being cheerleaders for each other. And then collaboration is more with people who have who i have like tangible, like, reachable. Yeah. But that's so great that you kind of, everyone supports each other. That's such a nice thing that social media provides.
Speaker: You need it in the social media realm. Because it can be brutal out there. yeah, I can imagine, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So what would be your first step for me, say I'm looking into this and I want to live off grid, I want to get a van, what what would your advice be for me to, where do I begin basically?
Speaker: So if your goal is to live in a van or a bus, uh, the way that I started was, i was like, okay, I need to go test drive some buses.
Speaker: like That just sounds like a fun day out. Get my body in a bus. I remember the first, I, the first time I decided to do that, I was in California. was like, okay, I'm going to go on Craigslist. going reach out to someone. I'm going to get myself in a bus. And, uh,
Speaker: i I went to go test drive one and the um the bus was like, I went to start it. It wouldn't even start.
Speaker: Things were like falling off of the walls. to me But at least I got out here and um tried it. And then I i test drove of a few more and finally landed on this one. But I think just like just physically get out of your head and just take a step towards what you want to do.
Speaker: Because for me, I literally had like my folder on Instagram of all the bus builds that I was so inspired by for years. And it was when I had that moment of like, oh, yeah, if I want to do bus life, I just need to get a bus.
Speaker: So yeah that's a startll to point physically taking the steps to make it happen for you can um be really powerful just to like, yeah, physically yeah maybe go go out there and do this, do the thing. um And then and then but i but I will say the Instagram folders with all the design inspo is helpful, too.
Speaker: No, like, okay, what, what setup do I want? Do I want a bed that's on a electric jack? Do I want to just um have a small van that I can go on adventures in? Do I want a full size bus that I can have a full kitchen, shower, living room?
Speaker: um Yeah, just knowing what you want is really important because that affects every decision that you make in the design. Yeah, it must be a fine line, mustn't it Because um' I'm thinking automatically, wow, a school bus would be awesome because it's massive. But then actually, it's not actually that helpful driving around like country roads and long distances if you've got this huge bus. So it must be really tricky to land on the right one to begin with.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah. You have to know what you want in life. my... so my I knew I couldn't live full time in a van because i just just knew I couldn't. I love having a full kitchen. i love dressing up. So i have a i have a closet. i love having a shower inside, um a leather couch. I was like, I need a leather couch. I love that in van. Or maybe you can. Someone prove me wrong. Show me a leather couch.
Speaker: um But I just knew from my, and and I like to do yoga. I like to do handstands. I do handstands in my bus. So I knew that I i need i knew that I needed a little more space, um but that does sacrifice some adventure because i can't, can't take my bus on every off-road adventure. yeah,
Speaker: but I'm okay with that because it's kind of a home body. I like to just like, enjoying my interior spaces is really important to me. um And then,
Speaker: ah Yeah, so just knowing what sort of adventure you want in life is where I would start. And then having a good design great.
Speaker: it can It can and will change as you start to build, um but just an an overall idea. and then when you get to the actual build process, the first thing you're going is the infrastructure. so like the electrical infrastructure,
Speaker: the insulation, the plumbing, um the the solar, any roof penetrations, like all that is what you're going to start on first and getting the guts in place and then working your way towards the finishes.
Speaker: But again, it's really important to know what you want because you've got to wire every light and every appliance before you start building walls. so you have to know where they are and leave extra wire in case.
Speaker: Always, yeah. It's really cool that you can just custom design something specifically to you as well. It's not something that everyone gets the luxury of doing. And think a really fun thing to try and explore. i'm not sure if I'm brave enough, but I'd love the opportunity to do it.
Speaker: e Yeah, yeah. It's... ah It can be, you have to have courage. That's for sure. Definitely. Oh yeah. There was, there was one story that I did want to share um just about like making mistakes and learning the hard way. So I'm by no means a mechanic. I'm much more wood wither than that. So when you buy a vehicle, it's like, you have to do some mechanical work. it's just Sometimes there's a gray area where it's like this, this mechanical work is involved. So when I bought the bus, there was an auxiliary heater in the back where that would turn on, you know, when the people were riding the bus. So i needed to remove it. So I just cut all the lines that went to the heater
Speaker: and drain them. And there was one line where I was like, there's a lot of fluid coming out of this line. Like, I don't know what this is. I'm just going to drain it into some buckets, take it to the hazmat dump station.
Speaker: And, um but it, it was so much that I was like, okay, this is concerning. i feel like, I think I need to take it to a mechanic and see what I've done here. And it turned out that it was the coolant for the whole bus.
Speaker: Like the coolant was routed to the heater and then came back. So I just i just drained all of the coolant for my whole bus. And then drove it. to like And um the check engine light came on immediately and I ended up getting it towed.
Speaker: And um they they fixed the issue for me, but I did actually damage the engine and have to get the whole thing replaced.
Speaker: oh and And I just, you know, didn't know what was doing. I didn't know what I was doing. But um I think what I learned from that was that some things you don't have to do by yourself. Know when to outsource, know your strengths, know when to outsource.
Speaker: And, um but also I was like, I was kind of like, wow, that was really brave of me to just. Yeah, you got to try it. Yeah, exactly. You got to try it. And now I know what coolant looks like. I know what its purpose And I know, i yeah you just, I learned from trial and error. So i think a lot of people do. So if you make a mistake and it's costly, you you're learning something and it's all working for you.
Speaker: Exactly. And that kind of falls into our final question. We always sort of end with the same question for all our sort of DIYers. And it's just your favorite thing about sort of doing DIY yourself. And then, but also your least favorite thing about doing DIY yourself. But that might have just been answered by you where you try something and it goes wrong and you blow up your bus. I don't what your sort favorite thing about just being DIY and hands-on is.
Speaker: Gosh, I, I really, I just love a project. I love a project. I get like, I don't know, people get runners high. I get like DIY high. i do i can i can get in this flow state of building where um you just like, when you have it all drawn out, you know, all the steps and you're just like kind of zooming from tool to tool and like, making it come into fruition. i just, um I love getting in that flow state.
Speaker: It feels so good in my body. and um And then of course seeing the final result, like when things start to come to a finished state, that's a really exciting feeling. But then just sometimes get like bummed out when it's over. You're like oh man, i want to do it again.
Speaker: I always have something in the pipes. I have a new next project. So I'm always looking forward to what's next.
Speaker: um I think one thing that I try to be mindful of as a builder and um doing things in the workshop is oftentimes when i screw something wrong wrong or um seem to make a mistake, oftentimes my immediate response is like,
Speaker: fuck or have these really like negative responses. But something I've been working on the past few years is just sort of noticing that I didn't do something as I intended and just like accepting it and being like,
Speaker: okay, let me undo this and redo it in ah in a different way. So like not being so reactive to things that didn't turn out the way that you wanted and um just being more accepting and acknowledging and like knowing that you're learning through the process.
Speaker: Yeah, it would be crazy for everyone just to do everything right first time, especially what you're doing is such a more complicated thing, I think, than even like building a house because there's so many elements on tight little areas and a lot going on. So you've just got to accept that you're going to screw up occasionally, right?
Speaker: Yeah, yeah, exactly. Well, amazing. Yeah. Well, thank you very much for your time. Can you please let everyone at home know, hey where we can buy your book and where the sort of, you said prequels coming out as in to get it early. And then where we can find you on Instagram as well and what your name is, please.
Speaker: Yes. My Instagram account is fembuilds, F-E-M-M-E, m m e builds To all the ladies, yeah, we're building. Yeah. And then my my ah website is fembuilds.com.
Speaker: So if you just go to Fem Builds, you'll see a pop-up banner at the very top that says, like, get my free copy of the book, and I'll be sending it out in December. um and then I'll launch it to purchase on Amazon in January. Amazing. That's so exciting. It's called the viy um guide the DIY Guide to Off-Grid Survival Projects.
Speaker: Amazing. Dan and I i'll definitely be doing that. check it out. Yeah, yeah. We can leave our wives and go on a van adventure. Yeah, ah have a brother a brother van adventure. Amazing.
Speaker: Thank you so much. Find me on social media, send me a message and I would love to chat with your viewers. Brilliant. Well, thank you for sharing your morning with us and we'll speak you soon.
Speaker: Thank you. and Thanks. Good luck with the book. Thank you. Well, thank you so much, Susie. Once again, another great interview and it was nice chatting to her and speaking about something like completely different, right? Yeah. I mean, we try and like do a mixture of like people with tradesmen and different houses and stuff, but this was totally unique, wasn't it? Yeah, it really was. And just so interesting, like the whole van thing. And like when she was like showing us around, it was just like really cool, wasn't it? I suppose if you're listening, you can't see this. But obviously, if you watch us on the YouTube, you can see shows us a bit around the van. It is all so well thought out, like the layout and how she has storage in different places. Yeah, clever. It's like, have you ever seen those Japanese flats in Tokyo and stuff where they're tiny and everything folds down? Like a bed will fold out of a wall and turn into a table and stuff like that. love all those secret things. And the fact that she's built most of this herself as well, or pretty much all of this herself, it's like, oh, need to put a chair here, but also need storage under the chair to come out. And then you just, oh, I need to build it. It's seriously impressive. It's so It's so impressive, it? It's just like...
Speaker: fitting everything in and then also having like that vision like oh yeah i do need a chair there but also that needs to be like a cupboard or something like that yeah it's great and i just sort of well was gonna ask you could you actually do it though could you actually live in the van I don't know. I quite like living in my house, to be honest. It does sound like couple... I'd love to spend like a year... What about 20 years ago then, could you do it? Oh, yeah. Probably 20 years ago, yeah.
Speaker: That'd be a different story, right? What about you? Could you it? I feel like I've been quite spoiled. So it it obviously looks really good, but there must be some times where you're like, oh I just need...
Speaker: hotel room or something or a hostel anything yeah but at the same time like just to be able wake up and go wherever the hell you want just do it must be pretty cool yeah but there must be downsides to stuff going wrong but obviously she seems really hands-on seems like anything that comes up she probably just sort out herself yes there must be things that go wrong every now and then you're like oh man this is just a bit exhausting and Yeah, really does feel like that. I suppose your house can't break down, can it? No, a lot can go wrong. Yeah, true. But yeah, it does look cool. I mean, I wouldn't like the composting toilet. No. We must have stayed at an Airbnb and we had a composting toilet. Emily was not a fan. of a composted toilet but I think that's probably the biggest negative but think if like I feel like I could do it but like you say for a short time yeah yeah maximum just a little like travel around the states in the summer or something like that yeah
Speaker: It's amazing how um it wasn't just functional, it was just attractive as wasn't it? Yeah. You just think like, oh, just you know it might be a bit messy with stuff hanging off the walls and things. But when she showed us around, i was like, oh, I know she might tidied a bit for us, but everything just looked like it had a place, but it was neat and tidy and just one yeah and nice. She seemed like quite a calm, that chilled person, so everything had a place and it felt like relaxed vibe. Yeah. I always, before seeing it, was like,
Speaker: I don't know, I've been on a caravan holiday and all I could get in my head was like caravans. and like They're great. I used to go love going as a kid, but everything always looked quite outdated. Everything looks new now, but it just like all looked like quite cool and quite trendy.
Speaker: I'd love to have this bit of money just to do it as a side thing, though. yeah Literally just have it back into my garage and do it up on my own time and film it for YouTube. can have you That would be something I'd love to do, but don't think it'd be as good as what she's done. No, definitely not. that And she's even got a book, hasn't she? Yes, yeah.
Speaker: That was awesome. She's managed to write book. So it's called Off Grid Project. So um's her name's Susie Cash and her Instagram account is Femme Builds. think she's got 190 000 followers now following it so obviously a lot of people like us like to watch what she's up to um building this fan and where she's going and everything and then she's got a book called off-grid projects um so you can find information for maybe people like us who are too scared to do ourselves. yeah Maybe we can read up to see where we might begin. Yeah, or if you were thinking about doing it and you want to jump in. Yeah. Where would go in England if you wanted to start? I suppose could just go to Europe.
Speaker: Yeah, that's true. I think I'd napped you just go to Europe and just drive around Europe. Yeah, you wouldn't stay in the UK. To be fair, people opposite um my gran's house at the moment have just, um they've got like a posh, probably it like 50k van thing. yeah, yeah. And they're going to like Norway and Scandinavia and Sweden and Denmark and they're going for a month. I was oh, that's pretty cool. That'd be a cool place to go. Yeah, especially like quite the northern parts of that. like It must be quite remote up there. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker: There's great, obviously, no hotels. Just go over there for like however much it costs on the ferry. Yeah, and just chill out there. Yeah, you would definitely do Europe, wouldn't you? Yeah, oh yeah, definitely. Yeah, mean, England is good, but I think the rain would just annoy me. Yeah. and I bet it must be freezing as well. yeah Yeah. But yeah, she's got it sorted to a degree. I think America is a much better place to do it. Yeah, definitely. Although I would be scared after seeing, you remember Wolf Creek and things like Oh yeah, gotcha. Don't scare the bajees out of me.
Speaker: But yeah, an awesome guest. Love speaking with her. Yeah, was great. Really good episode. As always, please drop us an email. We will be doing an episode where we do...
Speaker: read through we're basically not organized enough to print some out and go through them but we will we will will yeah um please reach out hello at diyguyspodcast.com or hit us up on instagram diy unscored guys unscored podcast and please like and subscribe lovely mate well i'll see you next week see next week buddy
