In October, Mark and I – in the company of Maya – continued our Mercedes T2 (pre-Vario) camper build at Premiumcamper in Much, Germany. The truck is parked in front of Mirko’s workshop, where we can use his tools and expertise. Our live-in camper, Duke, is parked on the street, two minutes away by foot.
(As always, hover over or click on photos in galleries to read their captions.)
When I leave Maya at home, she gets in trouble (breaking into the trash can, spreading the contents, and eating everything “edible” or chewing through our pants pockets to reach treats) and when I take her to the Vario/T2, she is uncomfortable (and now cold) outside or in the way inside. It’s been tricky. But not nearly as tricky as all the projects we accomplished – or tried to accomplish.
We sold our old alternator and the fridge and table that came with the Vario to make up a little bit for our expenses, and donated an extra 100W solar panel to Mirko, our builder.
It took many after-work hours to discuss, draw, and detail our dinette and bed area. But that job was done by mid-October. Producing the pieces of wood with the CNC machine followed.
Mark and I installed a fan in the ceiling of the bathroom (but we had Darius cut that first giant hole in the roof) and an air conditioning unit in the living area. Those were big projects. We also added another junction box, lights, USB-charging ports, and other electronics in our living quarters.
The two water tanks needed cleaning, fittings, and connecting. And after one failed attempt, laminate siding appeared on the widened partition that separates our dinette area from the kitchen.
During the first half of October, we also put a magnetic doorstop in the bathroom, cut a protective rubber mat to size (this would be glued to our existing chassis rails as a buffer for the extra frame rails), figured out the positions for our backup camera and grab bar, dry-fitted our bathroom sink, ran more wires, and started working on the bathroom plumbing.
Countless hours were spent thinking, discussing, researching, and purchasing gear, materials, and tools. When we weren’t actually using our hands on camper projects during the day, it was time to keep our brains busy at night. And then, there were the delays – when we needed more/different parts, when it rained, when the professionals were too busy to help us. As the temperatures dropped, nights turned freezing, and more rain fell, we worried about our time frame to escape winter.
The second half of October had to be – and was – more productive. Some serious projects finally got completed: Mark and I installed six solar panels on the Vario’s roof (a total of 900 watts), secured and connected the 3,000 watt inverter, installed and tested the water tanks (270 liters in total), dealt with multiple leaks, finished the bathroom plumbing, and mounted a backup camera.
We also replaced the clutch fluid (and still have to deal with the brakes), stained the wooden side boards and planks for the bed contraption, installed two lithium batteries, and finished all the wiring. Many of our projects happened with the trial-and-error method, since we – really – don’t know what we’re doing and have never built out a camper before.
Mirko installed rear blocks on the suspension and Mark replaced the front shocks. The rear ones were out of stock, so that project is for later.
Furthermore, our furniture was finished and installed. This was a huge step as the habitat finally looked like a livable space.
There were many frustrating moments as well. After endless checks and recalculations, the metal rails to support our subframe arrived. Mirko and Mark managed to install most of the system, but one of the pieces was wrong, so the project wasn’t finished yet.
The waste water tank we ordered, showed up in the wrong color: grey instead of black. The company had a hard time understanding why the color mattered… Because everything else under our habitat box is black! They eventually agreed to refund our money. We sent the wrong tank back and ordered the right one from a different company.
Our long-awaited fridge arrived from Italy after eight weeks instead of six. It had been quite the ordeal to even order (and inconveniently wait for) the thing and, once it arrived, our initial excitement and relief were promptly replaced by helplessness and despair when we realized the company had sent us the wrong fridge and the mounting frame had been cracked in transport. More problem solving was needed, as the seller is not helpful at all. Plus, one of the batteries we ordered has an issue and needs to be replaced as well.
Testing our new fridge that finally arrived from Italy after eight weeks!
We worked almost every weekend in October – sometimes only on Saturday, usually on both days – and only managed one little trip to Eckenhagen. This was a tiny town with not much to see or do, but it offered dumping facilities for Duke and forest trails for Maya, which we took advantage of on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday, it rained all day.
Because of our busy work schedule, keeping our life going became tricky. Sometimes, we only had crackers with one or two raw vegetables for lunch; other times we had to be creative with our dinners. Returning unfit Amazon items for a refund became difficult with DHL’s office hours being shorter than ours. Maya was not getting enough exercise. Dumping our cassette toilet once a week was an inconvenience since the closest place to do so is twenty minutes away. Luckily, we could fill up our camper with drinking water at Mirko’s and disposing of the grey water wasn’t an issue either.
When the Vario work became too much and our needs for laundry, other errands, and a change of scenery increased, we drove to the little house in Belgium for two nights.
In this familiar area, we managed to wash our clothes, visit with my parents, fix and reinstall a few items in Duke, give each other haircuts, take Maya on nice walks, and eat some favorite Belgian foods. It was a long – and expensive – drive, but we felt refreshed and accomplished afterwards.
And “just like that” another extremely busy month has passed. Fall has arrived with colorful trees and icy temperatures. We hope to wrap up this Vario project, sell Duke, and roam about again by the end of November.
Expenses for October 2026
October was a decent month for Mark and me, as far as living expenses are concerned. Mostly because we didn’t do anything fun, tried our best to remain frugal, and focused on physical projects. Our Vario build bill is increasing by the thousands, though.
We tried to stay under $400 for groceries, and we succeeded! Our monthly diesel expenses went up, because the prices in Germany are not coming down at all (between €2.20 and €2.40 per liter at the moment, which is the equivalent of $10 a gallon) and because we decided to do a 600km roundtrip to Berlare, Belgium, for the weekend.
We bought a bunch of household supplies ($239), like a cool, telescopic ladder, more tubs and tools, and a CO alarm. Since these items are transferrable, we put them towards our living bills and not our Vario bills.
Most nights, we cooked nice and healthy meals at home, but this past month, we did grab take-out food about once a week and ate out one evening. It’s nice to not have to prepare meals and do the dishes after an exhausting day. Our total bill for that category was less than $100.
Take-out pizza for dinner!
We bought more wine and a six-pack of beer in Belgium ($78) and had to exchange our propane tank again ($36), because winter weather has arrived. One of our tanks only lasts about two weeks this time of the year. The propane is used for cooking, hot showers, and heating. Mark bought me my very first SIM card, so we can actually communicate and I have my own internet source when I stay in Duke with Maya, while he’s in the Vario. This restricted plan cost $5, on top of our monthly German plan of $15.
The bill for Mark’s visit to a Belgian hospital in August finally arrived. He was there for a consult, which cost $52, since we don’t have health insurance outside of Massachusetts. We paid $12 to ship a used alternator to the buyer and $11 for a blind repair kit. This 5-hour Duke project was tackled in Belgium and saved us about $1,000 for a replacement contraption.
Fixing the screen and blind contraption of Duke took a lot of time and patience. And space.
And the smallest numbers of October went to a month-long Amazon Prime membership for Amazon.de ($11), which we are using daily, and to hosting fees for one of our website domains ($10).
One of our three free camping areas near Much
We managed to camp for free every night and use my parents’ laundry facilities.
One day, I’ll be able to do my own laundry in my own machine!
Our grand total for last month was under $1,300, which has been our average for decades, before 2026 arrived!
Here is the breakdown:
- Groceries: $395
- Car (fuel): $307
- Household supplies (telescopic ladder, CO alarm, tools, storage tubs): $239
- Dining out (pizza, kebab, fries, Chinese food): $97
- Alcohol: $78
- Utilities (propane: $36; internet: $20; electricity: $1): $57
- Medical (hospital bill Mark): $52
- Postage (shipping alternator): $12
- Camper repair (blind repair kit): $11
- Miscellaneous (Amazon Prime): $11
- Computer (hosting domain name): $10
- Camping: $0
- Laundry: $0
TOTAL: $1,269
Next up: Probably our November 2026 update and expenses, unless something else is worth reporting on earlier.
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