Mark and I owned Zesty the Westy, our home on wheels, for almost four years. This 19ft converted Sprinter Westfalia van was imported from Germany into the US by Airstream in 2005. Only a few remain. They are very sought after, because of their unique design, plethora of amenities in a tiny space, facilitating layout, and quality components. They keep their value and, at an average of 22mpg, have decent fuel economy for an RV (recreational vehicle). We loved our set-up and couldn’t have asked for a more versatile, manageable, all-in-one camper to live and travel North America in. You can find an introduction to our Zesty in my post “Welcome, Westy!” here.

Summer 2020, New England, USA

“Now that the camper is empty and clean, we might as well take photos in case we want sell it at some point,” I suggest to Mark.

“Good idea,” he responds. “Whenever that might be. But let’s do it up in Maine, where the view is better.”

He and I – and Maya – are committed to spending the summer in our “room above the garage” at my in-laws in Massachusetts, because of the pandemic, Mark’s parents needing help, and my goal to finish my travel memoir in 2020. 

For a couple of weeks, we move to Maine to help out family with home renovations. There, we remove (and wash) all the covers and spend a couple of hours turning Zesty inside out, opening cabinets, converting the dinette into a second bed, pulling our main bed out, swiveling chairs, and taking 300 photos of any set-up and conversion possible. I’m sure nobody here has seen the original interior of our van, since we kept every piece of cloth – even the arm rests – hidden and protected since the beginning!

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