[jago25_98]

oh Arragonis don't do this to me please! ha ha

I love VW vans too and I thought I had it nailed. I've got very attached to mine. Not only is it sorted out mechanically now but I know my way around it. And yes, it's very convenient in that I can get a roll up surfboard, 2 more surfboards, skis, boots and poles, a kiteboard and all stuff to live in for a couple of weeks in there.
I'll take bikes inside it (with the bed), WVO, everything. It is fantastic as you say.

I've got so used to sitting in the back eating lunch at the supermarket,
or sitting out watching the waves! I am sploit.

But man!
I'm a efficiency sort of person and... do you know what ego is? When I say spoilt I mean. Give it up for lent. Where a part of you IS the car? I'm a surfer, the van, it's like it's me. That's no good. Whenever there's something like that you got to break it off and find a part of yourself that's new. And that may mean no campervanning at all. ...or something completely different. It's like it's too easy, you know. That's so apparent when I look in my van and I see all the gear I got in there...

a socket set `just in case`
snowchains `just in case get stuck in mud`
an iron!

^this is madness!
All this stuff wieghs us down in life. In our houses it does. But boy it really hits come when you're at the pump and your standing there while nothing else but be reflective... pumping in over a ton (£100... ~$200!) ! For me that's not really too bad because I don't use it as much as most people do a car... but it's the principle of it. I really cringe.

The answer's got to be move to cycling distance of the beach! And that is yet another problem all linked in! Cheaper to leg it to a remote tropical island perhaps. All these things... chains that bind the mind. As much as I love my camper (and it is genuinely fantastic), it's also another thing bogging one down.

The other fear is that I'll be left with this RHD van in the UK while I'm the other side of the world and no money to take it anywhere... no one wanting to buy it because diesel's at £5/litre.

The thing is, the cash. This may be enough to get me out of the UK...

I love my camper so much so I even thought about importing it to Argentina! ...until I realised no shipping container is quite that high... you'd need a double.

Then again loads of people say to me `Hey, ever get in any trouble you can always sleep in the van`. Yeah, that's good for a week but it's crappy any longer than that. Plenty of homeless people start out living in their cars anyway. I think to myself, what's the main difference? -being able to stand up! If you're that desperate there's not much between a van and a car; you're still getting hassle no matter where you park it. Might as well go low key.

Hence, normal car and trailer if I need it methinks... like a little guy trailer.

However, maybe I should compromise with a T5 instead of going mad downing to a Octavia... what mpg do you reckon you could get out of a T5 without spending silly money? That is, all the fairly straightforward mods. Assuming a T5 is more efficient to justify the extra 30% price that is (I don't go in for looks and speed).


Regards the Octavia. I wouldn't be leaving it as a standard car. First thing, privacy film, then curtains all around. Then a heater under the bonnet and the bed attached to the back of the seats. Even debating taking all the seats out and starting fresh a-la a van, to do insulation properly. Basically I reckon you can get the basics enough for a night or 2 in the back... but no storage... not without a trailer... which has the advantage of being able to decouple and keep things organised you see.

Plus I reckon that way you enforce discipline. It is so hard to keep a van light. I can't emphasise that enough.
This IS importantant. For example, I basically knew I had to go away in the van for 3 days or more because of the fuel costs vs B+B savings. That's what got me wondering. Not that you can put a price on the wonderment of just driving through France until... whenever you want! Pulling over... somewhere you'd never otherwise go... in silence... and sleeping for free.


I actually slept in the back of a fiesta van with a surfboard above my head for 2 days at a time once!

Basically I guess the 2 things of a car and camper don't compare. I say if you haven't done it - do it. But I guess I've been there and so I want to cut down a bit to something a bit more modest.