Hi. We are Joolz and Dave and this is our #vanlife story.
We had a dream.
A #vanlife dream.
Many of our trips away were camping trips in tents. We wanted to travel and explore the outdoors without the hassle of packing away a wet tent everyday. Friends had a camper van, and we could see the attraction. So we saved. And researched. We looked at sizes of vans, makes of vans, layouts, custom versus manufacturers off the shelf vans.
We made a list of things that were important to us. We wanted a raised fixed bad across the back of the van as we don’t like making up a bed every evening and we also wanted the garage space in the back for storage. We wanted a fridge as we liked to do a bit of camp cooking. And we (Joolz) wanted a toilet. We also needed a van that was ideally 5.4m long as parking at our house was limited.
Then we searched the internet. A lot. Finally Dave spotted a custom conversion that ticked nearly all our boxes. It didn’t have a fixed bed at the back but it was the right price. Dave made an appointment to view the van and set off on the long train journey to see the van. It was what we wanted so he bought the van there and then, and drove it home arriving back late in the evening. When he got it home we had a look and it was in need of a good tidy up and clean. Joolz wasn’t convinced. But the next day after we discovered the electric step (Joolz is easily pleased!) and we had given the entire van a really good clean we were happy with our purchase.
The van was a slightly unusual custom design as it was built for a windsurfer and it had to accommodate a windsurf in the van. This meant the cupboards and storage do not go all the way down to the floor and the back of the van had two bench seats facing one another that converted into the bed but left the length of the floor of the van free to carry the windsurf.
‘The Van’ as it affectionately now known was ready to be customised and improved and our #vanlife dream was just beginning.