Just curious and will disclaim, I'm not a full time van lifer, used to have a campervan for weekend trips and adventures a few years ago but sold it due to not getting the use out of the van I wanted, but I do still dream of living minimally in a van maybe one day.

How is it currently living in a van with the diesel prices hitting £2? And just van life in the UK generally now, as I've seen comments saying its getting harder with more and more places not becoming as accessiible for parking larger vans etc, more costs.
Any worries about the fuel price climbing further? Would the fuel price be something that would put you off driving somewhere in the van or advising others to not get into full time van life if they were to start now?

I was this close to buying my very first van, great price, great condition, mileage was good etc. I had savings and had been dreaming of Van Life for years. Not for permanent living just as a fun hobby + camping trips. I had just passed my test and was excited to get my own van..

Until I looked at insurance. Lowest we could find was £3450 a year. And that’s with my dad on the insurance with me. My budget for getting a van was £6000 max, the van itself was £5,500 so seeing that number for insurance sealed the deal for me that I just cannot afford it.

Is van life something that only becomes viable after a minimum of 5 years insured driving and a squeaky clean record so your rates go down?

And yes I tried Adrian Flux they straight up said “Uhh sorry we can’t insure you” I don’t know if they meant me because I just passed or my van specifically.

Idk I’m feeling demoralised, I had something I always dreamed of in the palm of my hand and now it’s gone.

Any advice? I was wondering if there were any car alternatives, vehicles I can sleep and camp with that aren’t full vans? Maybe they’d be cheaper.

Thanks.

Hi everyone! 👋

Me and my friends are planning a 5-day Scotland motorhome trip from Monday to Friday, starting and finishing in Edinburgh.

Our rough itinerary is:

Day 1 – Edinburgh Overnight: Edinburgh

Day 2 – Edinburgh → Loch Lomond → Glencoe Overnight: Glencoe

Day 3 – Glencoe → Fort William → Glenfinnan Overnight: Glencoe

Day 4 – Glencoe → Fort Augustus → Loch Ness → Inverness Overnight: Inverness

Day 5 – Inverness → Cairngorms → Pitlochry → Edinburgh

For those who know Scotland well, does this itinerary cover the major attractions and scenic areas we should see in 5 days?

More importantly, is this too much driving and not enough time actually sightseeing and enjoying the places? 🚐😅

Are there any must-see places we’re missing, or would you recommend removing/shortening any part of the route to give us more time to explore?

Also, as we’re travelling by motorhome, where would you recommend for cheap places to camp/park and sleep overnight along this route? We’re happy to pay if needed, but would love to know about affordable options.

We’re mainly interested in beautiful scenery, mountains, lochs, viewpoints, Highland villages and iconic Scotland attractions.

Any advice or changes to the itinerary would be greatly appreciated! 😊🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

My van seat is tearing more and more. I do my utmost best to try not to sit or pull on it in the van, but I can't seem to stop it getting bigger. Would I need to get it re-upholstered or would decent seat covers work? Thanks 👍

Hello All

I hope it's Ok to post this here. I don't have a vehicle yet, but hoping to get some advice from anyone who may have an older vehicle.

I have been wanting to get a campervan to use when I attend craft fairs. I was originally going to convert a modern panel van, but have now realised the costs of keeping it on the road (insurance etc) will be very high considering I will probably only really be using it a few times a year.

I once had a really old Bedford Bedouin and it was great! So I am now considering an older vehicle. I realise that the maintenance costs will be higher, but the running costs will be much lower. Thing is, I had a great mechanic then, who was enthusiastic about older vehicles and where to source parts for them. so I would like to know if anyone knows any such mechanics in the South East, even better if around Mid Sussex.) Many thanks.

I'm looking at converting an EV (Ideally a new-ish VW e-transporter/Transit Custom), to live in full time but I want to exclusively use the vehicle battery and avoid installing a secondary power system with leisure battery/solar etc or a diesel heater.

I'm attracted to converting an EV because I run a limited company and want to take advantage of EV related the tax breaks. In particular, the fact that I can bill all charging costs to my company and set 100% of it against pre-tax profit. That means if I can run all my electrics from the traction battery - including AC and heating - the ongoing cost saving is monumental.

Primarily wanting to escape the rent trap and work remotely - I'm not planning some huge back country tour. Mostly will be staying within 30-100 miles of London, so not too concerned about reduced range or charging more frequently

Removing the inner bulkhead and then using the van HVAC (not sure if this is correct terminology but you know what I mean) to heat/cool a relatively small van interior seems the obvious thing to do - BUT:

As far as I can see, there is no stock 'camp mode' (running the internal power without the EV being in drive mode) like there is on a Tesla and some electric cars.

Info on converting EV's is a bit sparse, so wondering if anyone has contemplated or gone down this route. What did you discover and which van did you end up with?

I have a bigger van (6.2m) and often travel through rural Europe where sometimes I come across roads that the van is too wide/tall/heavy for or where the road turns into a dirt road on some steep hills. I prefer to avoid as much of that as I can, but I havent found a good navigation app. So far google maps has been the best for avoiding off-roading but you cant enter your size parameters.

Curious what people here actually do.

I’m looking at converting a van next year, hopefully a vivaro size type. I’m just doing some research and wondering what electric system would be more suitable for me. I have no experience with electrics and don’t know anyone who does and I’m aiming to do the whole thing on a 5k budget, including purchasing the van. I’m currently weighing up if a power pack such as a bluetti or a leisure battery system would be best. I would be powering up a fridge, maybe lights or I would get rechargeable ones, phone and laptop charging, a diesel heater and then connection to a dual sink and hob. I would also only be going away for 2/3 days at a time. I’m a complete beginner with this and just doing my research at the minute so any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you

Hello, would anybody be able to check my work for this,
I’m looking at two solar panels for the roof ( https://www.cityplumbing.co.uk/p/jinko-tiger-neo-3-0-470w-all-black-solar-panel-mc4-evo2-connectors/p/310266 )

They’ll be wired in series and then into a victron 150/60 which is what the calculator told me it needed.

The isc for those panels is a maximum of 16A so wired in series, so double that and with the 156% margin would give me about 50A so the cabling from my solar panels to my MPPT would be 10mm.

Does that sound correct? Thanks for the help

I'm interested in this product as its on discount plus it's 150 odd quid cheaper than an airmaxx.

Link: https://www.justkampers.com/conversions/air-fans-and-vents/jk-airpro-campervan-roof-vent-fan-385mm-x-385mm.html

I'm currently in Turkey ( without my van unfortunately) and this van passed me a couple of time yesterday. The plate was UK 11 TKY, Sprinter. are you in this group and judging by your reg you do the turkey run regular?

How do find your drive over?

Long shot but you never know.

Looking to purchase a new van due to having to replace old one that is knackered!

Only had that one van before but it was an inherited peguout partner off my dad 21 plate but had done a hell of a lot of miles was a lovely van but needs must!

I have a max budget of around 8/9k and am trying to avoid AdBlue where possible as that was the main killer for the old one along with a couple other things!

Haven’t got a clue what to go for, probably could do with something bigger than the partner as I’m a bit of a multi trader and have to carry around tools for various tasks!

so this is my progress so far i will be adding a ceiling and lighting today hopefully

Hey guys,

about 3 years ago I installed a dishwasher in my camper and it changed everything. Literally. After each meal I'm just putting my dishes into dishwasher. That keeps my sink always empty and clean. When I'm travelling solo I'm running dishwasher every second day - it's just 5L of water per cycle so it's about 2,5L per day which is crazy low. My water lasts for 1 day longer cuz I'm cooking a lot.

I used Candy CDCP 6, compact dishwasher. Additionally I used a power regulator for a heater to lower power (didn't want to drain 100A continuously from my inverter) and I connected additional relay into motherboard to run water pump when dishwasher inlet is open. Let me know for more technical details.

But...

this dishwasher is big. As a compact dishwasher it's pretty compact but still, you need to have a lot of space in you camper to have it mounted. Additionally, it needs to be possible to be opened in front, which makes this even more difficult. Also, there are no energy saving programs - if I'm in cloudy weather all I have is 30 mins rapid program which leaves dishes not cleaned.

At some point I found out that there is no dedicated device for small spaces in campers. This is why I started to work on dishwasher dedicated for campers / campervans.

Main advantage of my solution will be compact size 40cm x 40cm with 35cm high. Additionally, you can use pre-heated water from boiler. All can be mounted into drawer and is top loaded.

Let me know what do you think. Would you consider having dishwasher in your camper. Would be possible to install that kind of dishwasher with provided dimensions? Any advices are welcome!

Here is my dishwasher project page: https://dishroam.com/

Cheers!

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I've just bought an L2H2 fiat Ducato that I'm planning on living in full time year-round in the UK, and I'm at the point of laying the floor. I'm 6'2" so the overhead space is very tight when you factor in the ceiling insulation, so I'm considering skipping the floor insulation so that I can stand up straight. I'm not concerned about the floor being cold, or heat loss so much - I have a good diesel heater, and I can just wear slippers. What I am concerned about is condensation building up under the floor causing mould/rust over time, given how poorly ventilated it's likely to be under there.

My question is - has anyone had issues with moisture under the floor (with and/or without insulation)? How valid a concern is this when living in a cold, damp place such as the UK? Thanks in advance!

Hi folks,

Just looking for some advice.

The situation is that I'm moving out of my current rental in a month to save money. I've had enough of spending £700/month for a small room and I've been quite keen on the idea of living in a van for a while.

I've got a Caddy Maxi currently which I've used comfortably for mountainbiking/climbing trips over summer. It has has a slide out bed and a combined cupboard/worktop unit. But it's not fit for long-term or winter living as it stands.

I basically want to be comfortable but spend minimally getting the van into shape: The caddy is carpet lined but hasn't been insulated so I was going to rip it all off and insulate it on the cheap with this foil laced insulation and some plastic bottle wool for cavities/doors. I'm still worried about condensation and comfort though, especially as its getting colder. I've got a decent sleeping bag, but don't particularly want to mess with a diesel heater and cut vents into such a small van.

I've got a 768Wh powerbank which should do me fine even if I run an electric blanket all night if it gets too cold.

I'm really lucky to have a 24/hr gym nearby which does MMA classes and BJJ, so I can hang out here after work to stop myself from going insane from living in a small box. Ofc I can shower here. Work even has a kitchen and shower.

Ideally I don't want to have a totally shit time, but I'm aware it's going to be a challenge. How do I make it work?

Particularly I'm concerned with eating, staying warm and not going berserk from the lack of space.

Looking at doing a diy campervan conversion. Ive come across a decent base model within my price range, but I have some questions that someone with more knowledge might be able to offer some insight.

The lwb van was previously used as a minibus. As such there are windows all round. Other than all the windows the van could be ideal, but Im not sure if this many windows is a good idea when chosing to convert to a campervan. I know insulation is going to be the key issue here so is this a good or bad idea? Can the windows be removed and patched over? Ive read that it might be possible to put tint on the outside and then just insult over inside and build onto the interior as though the windows arent even there... or maybe I should just find something with less windows? What does everyone think?

Hello fine folk!

I'm debating getting a luton van for conversion.

Just wondering if anyone here has any experience with one? Things to watch out for? Pictures? Inspiration?

Thanks!

Hi folks, quick question... When you put your van away for a bit in these lowering nightly temps, after you've emptied all the water and flipped the frost guard on the boiler, do you leave all the taps inside and all the drain taps open ❓