Travels in a Tin Can

paperwork, and the space next to the sink, which was largely taken up by two
hobs, making a rather uneven surface on which we balanced plates. This lack
of space was not entirely due to poor interior designing - in fact the only thing
that could have been done differently would have been to provide covers for
the sink and hobs. The main area of work surface was a table, but
unfortunately this and the surrounding seating area converted into the bed,
and in order to make our lives easier we only converted it once - therefore
depriving ourselves of a table for the rest of our travels.
This was actually only partly due to laziness. It was also because we
were happy to perch on the bed to eat our meals, but mainly it was because it
was so hard to make the bed. Imagine trying to pull a sheet tight over a
mattress that is in four parts, has walls on three and a half sides of it and is
shoehorned into a space too small for it. The base of the bed was formed
from the tabletop suspended between the two bench seats and the mattress
was the four bench cushions - just like in a caravan. The bed was comfortable
enough, as long as you were only about 5 foot tall! Certainly it was the most
problematic part of the van. We only converted it back into a table on the day
we dropped it off.
The external dimensions of the van were 19 foot long and 10 foot high -
and width, well, not wide enough to lie down! We had to know these
dimensions precisely because our insurance policy meant that we were liable
for any accidents caused by us reversing - for example into a signpost outside
of San Diego - or striking anything above us - such as a low hanging branch in
a car park on the Big Sur coast. Fortunately neither of these ever happened...
at least not to the extent that they left a mark! After our initial concern that the