Until you can live in you caravan, cook, eat, sleep (in, on or under it), you can't truly say that you are cut out for the Gypsy life.
However to do this you must have your home well laid out and organised, the perfect minimalist tiny home.
Beautiful as they are, there is a problem with the traditional vardo or waggon, that is the lack of space. So, while it's a romantic ideal to build and travel in a traditional style, self build, the truth of the matter is that with three dogs and the goats in tow, the practicality of it is questionable.
This is the reason that I am working through the design of version five.
We've survived another winter in our home on wheels, sometimes na little cramped due to disorganisation, sometimes too hot and stuffy because of my over enthusiasm in stoking the stove.
I'm feeling the need to reduce the overall size of the vardo, partly to ensure a more stable ride (not really into the idea of tipping over on the highway), partly because as I reduce my belongings I no longer need to find space to store things.
At the moment there are two styles that are playing in my head.
The first keeps the vardo at the same width but, reduces the cabin to just bed space at the rear of the wagon, sort of like a small ships cabin and that then gives me about two metres of open deck space.
The second idea is to reduce the width of the vardo to just a little over axle length, this gives more stability. It does mean that the bed runs the length of the cabin rather than across. But with three point six metres I will also have workspace/ seating/dressing/washing area.
Both options rely on additional space in the form of canvas roof extensions.
It then comes to external design. Traditional or modern? The interior will be a multifunctional space and doesn't need to have any bearing on the external design.
Looks like I have a lot of drawing and coffee drinking coming up.