DIY Feature -Wayne Berrey
They love camping and being outdoors but often travel north to escape the Texas heat. While at a Texas campground, they discovered a DIY TCC gathering and were warmly welcomed by Randall and Mechelle. Inspired by the creative homemade campers and the sense of community, they saw how camping could stay authentic while adding comforts like AC. With resources like Wander Tears, they were instantly hooked.
Wayne started building his own DIY Vaga in Houston, TX.
What made you want to build a tiny camper?
A big shout out here to Randell and Mechelle of the DIY Tiny Camper Community. We love to camp, preferring to be mostly outdoors and not indooors in an RV, but it is restrictive in the Texas heat, and we often go long distances north to achieve this. However, we were at a campground in Texas and stumbled across a gathering of the DIY TCC and we were heartily welcomed by Randall and Mechelle to join their tour of all the home made campers. It was inspirational and I was impressed with the different designs and built by people with different skill levels and resources. Essentially the fact that it was still camping without the headache of pitching in rain and we could incorporate AC to keep cool. In just one day I was given a plethera of resources, of which Wander Tears was one, and the sense of community had us hooked
What was your experience level with the skills required to build a camper (wood working, electrical, metal work, etc.) when you started?
My career has taken me all over the globe, initally with the Armed Forces and then with many different industries where I have been fortunate in being able to amass all the skills required to have a good stab at all the elements required to build a camper. After finally settling in the USA I have also been able to stock my workshop/garage with tools and power tools that give me an advantage. However, I am truly proud of the work and build quality I see other builders do with far less than I have and it can definatly be done by others.
What was the first step in your build?
Planning took a significant amount of time before starting on anything. I wanted to do as much as reasonably practicable myself and read books, magazines, and joined social media groups to get to a final design, which of course is the Wander Tears Vaga that we loved the tear drop shape, design and resources. I purchased the plans and decided to also build the trailer with the torsion half axles so started welding while slowly building up the other stuff required to continue build
What was your favorite part of the build?
Finally assembling onto the trailer and finding the galley cabinets aligned. It was a real sense of achievement to see a big chunk come together after a long period of welding, cutting and certain bit of rework. A great part of the build is having 4 generations of the family involved, from my 6 year old granddaughter helping paint the floor to my 78-year old father doing one last long haul flight and building the hatch I was dreading, pretty much single handed
What was the most difficult part of the build?
Installing the floor to the trailer, but that was failure on my part to read the instructions correctly and cross check against the Sketchup drawing. We opted for the sunken table but, despite it being in capital letters and bold font, I failed to heed the warning "DO NOT TRIM THE FLOOR BOX OPENING YET!!'. So it was more pain to do a bit of rework than actually difficulty building
How long did it take you?
I started in April 2024 and despite hurricanes and having to work overseas I hope to have it on a campsite this April 2025, albeit the final design for the galley drawers might not be complete
If you're comfortable sharing, what was the total cost of the build?
~$6,300 but I had a lot of donations
Would you do anything differently?
I do not regret doing it all myself but in future I would definately purchase a trailer and a kit. I have proved I can do it, but my welding resulted in an imperceptible bow at the galley end but still had to be shimmed to make sure the hatch and everything else wasn't out and I had some woodwork rework to do.
What are you most looking forward to?
Although it hasn't hit the road yet, the interest from neighbors and strangers driving past my garage and seeing the build progress and stopping and commenting on it has been fun. It has also resulted in donations of their excess materials and parts that have reduced build cost including donations of flooring, lumber, UV epoxy, teak and holly panels that will be used on the side walls and even a chandelier...yes wait til you see that in the final build :-). Although we're not the most social people I'm looking forward to camping and meeting more DIY campers
Any tips for someone that wants to build a tiny camper but doesn’t know where to start?
Don't be frightened by build and tools and skills required. I was surprised at how many friends and neighbors that gave help and support. However, be realistic in your skills and consider buying a trailer with a kit that is easier to assembly than to build from scratch.
There are many Social Media groups and Youtube content that help immensly in choosing a final design and help with build, without you having a camper in the first place.
How did using Wander Tears DIY plans and having the resources provided affect your build process and time?
The plans, Sketchup, Youtube videos and Facebook build group helped significantly in reducing build time and reduce errors and rework. It was good to see builders who were more advanced in their build come across issues that were resolved before I got to the same point.
“Daring to plunge into the unknown may very well land you in paradise.” ”
Looking to build a DIY Teardrop Trailer of your own? Check out our detailed DIY plans to get started now and adventuring sooner!