Dave's Swedish "Home"

Every July I am in Sweden for 5-6 weeks thanks to the wonderful dance camp Herräng. This is 10% of my life.

I can't stay in the public (30+ to a room) accommodations or in a tent because of my wonderful cat. For years I did the expensive private accommodations, until I finally decided it was time to become a homeowner. It took a few years to find one, since the ads were all in Swedish and people don't generally answer their phones in July (vacation), but I finally came across it:

July 2009: The ad for my Husvagn

So in 2009 I bought a 1979 Polar 550. It's a 20' long mobile home / caravan, or, in Swedish, it's my "Husvagn".

With great help from Calle, we tow the Husvagn back to Herräng.

I set it up on the Football field near the school, raised my flag and the Piratvagn was born. It was already the middle of the final week of Herräng, so I only got to spend a few days in my Husvagn, but I was hooked.

The original interior was simple but solved my needs: [ interior back, interior front ]

For 11 months out of the year while I'm gone it is stored in a barn in the village of Herräng.

The next year (2010) I managed to actually track down a Fortält (tent) that was made for the Polar 550, hallelujah! My space was doubled:

Occasionally over the next years I get a chance to work on my Husvagn. Some of it is fixing the broken, and some of it is adding on to my comfort:

• Built a small table to open up space in the living room
• Repaired leaky faucets, added water tanks, pump and switches so I have running water!
• Added an air conditioner (very hard to find *anywhere* - I had to drive 6 hours to get it, then of course the stores were flooded with them next year)
• Setup bathroom cabinets and storage.
• Added a "yellow tank", an invention I came up with for my bus.
• Sewed some fitted sheets to match the strange bed size.
• Build a dance floor in the tent.

And now the Husvagn has all my needs met while I'm in Sweden. Air conditioning, storage, cat box, kitchen, running water, electricity (via the camp), heat, mini-theater, computer workstation, wifi,... And it's definitely home - I am giddy every year that I pick it up and get to set up my Swedish Home again.

Hem, ljuva hem.