Tell me a bit about yourself?

I am a 31 year old male living alone in my caravan. I worked as a regional manager before this, looking after a wide range of businesses in the electrical wholesale industry. I was brought up in Hamilton but born in Tokoroa. I have always been interested in living with less and enjoying life in a more simple way.

What is your caravan model and age?

2018 Weinsberg 450 fu

What tow vehicle do you have and would you recommend it?

Toyota Mark X 2005 2.5L AWD works well but fuel consumption when towing is high.

Why did you decide to buy a caravan?

I wanted to live off grid for at least a year. I had looked at many tiny designs but I eventually decided I wanted to stay mobile and a caravan seemed like the best way to go.

What has surprised you about living in a caravan?

Emptying the toilet waste is not so bad. It’s amazing how easy living in a caravan is – you give up very little.

What have you added or improved to your caravan? What are your definite musts?

I added a large amount of solar and a lithium battery system as well as a generator and 2x 12kg gas bottles so I can stay off grid longer without the need to go to powered campgrounds and be able to go longer with no gas bottle fill ups. I think in winter down south a generator is a must if you don’t want to go to a powered campground.

Is there anything else you plan to improve?

Adding another toilet cassette so I don’t have to visit the dump station as often.

How did you learn the practical aspects of caravanning?

Forums, Youtube and from the dealer who sold me the caravan.

How do you afford this lifestyle?

I have money from my house sale.

What advice would you give to anyone thinking of living permanently in a caravan?

Join the NZMCA, make your caravan as off grid capable as possible and add as much solar as you can fit on the roof. One of the biggest costs is petrol so try to set up a home base in one location as long as possible.

Do you still have a home base? Where does your mail go?

I have a friend that I send all my mail to. I do not have a home base as such. I sold everything aside from what I have in the caravan.

What New Zealand camping sites have been your favourite so far and why?

Lots all of them. The freedom campground at Lake Pukaki was really nice as well as the Tekapo NZMCA site.

What does your ideal camping site need?

Water, dump station and a pretty view.

How do you find driving and reversing with a caravan?

Driving is okay. Keep in mind that the caravan is wider than the car and take it slowly. Reversing is something I’m still getting used to.

What is your power set-up and do you find you have enough?

I have 2x 150w and 1x 260w solar panel, with a 200ah lithium battery, and a Ryobi 1100w generator. It depends where I am – most of the time I can stay running off solar, but in the deep south where sun hours are less, I find I have to run my generator more.

How do you find collecting water and disposing of waste water?

Not too much of an issue using 20L containers with my 80L onboard tank I am able to collect water then pump it into the tank.

How do you find the toilet and shower onboard?

The toilet is good. The shower is okay, but the space is small. It would be nice to have a larger space, but it works as intended.

What are your favourite websites or YouTube channels for practical advice or inspiring RVers?

Travelingk and BuslifeNZ

What is your plan with this caravan lifestyle? Do you think you’ll still be in the caravan in a years time?

I was planning to do this for 1 year but beyond that I don’t know.

Have you recently bought a caravan, bus, motorhome or campervan? I’d love to hear how you are finding the experience.

The post Interview with David and his Weinsberg 450 fu Caravan appeared first on Travelling K.

I met Geoff & Patsy while staying in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand.

They have lived in a modified school bus for over 8 years and have so many stories to share. I knew I wanted in interview them as soon as we met.

Here are some of the main parts of the interview:

Why did you decide on this lifestyle?

I think to get away from the stress of modern life. To get away from the 9-5 job.

I think we figured that we wanted to retire early. If our health was fine, then we get those extra years, if our health wasn’t fine, then we get it now.

When did you start?

We bought the bus in 2005. Took 3.5 years to convert it. Then we went away. 10.5 weeks we took off. In 2008.

At the end of 2009 we left work full time and headed off in the bus.

I remember getting back from that 10 week stint and thinking – yep, we can do this.

And we just put plans into action. Finalised our jobs. Packed the house up.

That was it. Got some really good tenants for the house. That was a weight off our mind. And took off.

Why a bus? What lead you to deciding on a bus?

I think we just fancied the idea of a bus.

We liked the idea of just being able to drive away if we needed to. Not that we’ve ever needed to.

I think a bus might be a little more roomy.

And it’s a little bit different. We like old things. So an old bus.

And you can also carry water and waste water easier in a bus.

We’ve never looked back with a bus. It’s never been an issue.

We’ve been able to park it. If you go to the supermarket, well, you just need to walk a bit further.

Which is not a bad thing anyway. It works, it works for us.

I think as long as you have wheels, it doesn’t really matter, as long as you get out there and do it.

What did the bus look like when you first bought it?

It was a school bus.

On the Friday it did the school run.

And on the Saturday we came and picked it up and bought it home.

So it was definitly Gus the old school bus. Right from the beginning.

And you renovated it just yourself?

Yeah, and I think the good thing is, we did it on our own. In a field away from anyone else.

So we didn’t copy anyone else because we didn’t know what they were doing, so we just did it how we wanted. And there was no interference by other people. Which is good, we just did it.

And we’re happy with how it’s come out.

The hot water cylinder! I normally don’t study the manual, but I studied it several times. Because I just couldn’t get my head around how it was suppose to go in. But I got it. And it’s worked fine every since.

And you’re a tool maker by trade. Was that helpful?

Yeah, having the practical mind.

And I was still on the tool room at that time, so I was able to use some of their gear.

To do some welding or cutting or whatever, make parts up.

What tips would you give people renovating a bus?

First thing is to figure out a layout you prefer yourself.

We didn’t really work it out. We just started at that end of the bus. Put the bed in and worked our way forward.

I wanted to have the two couches aligned with each other. Which they’re not. But it seems to have worked fine anyway.

You want a large shower and quite a large area to get changed. To get in and out of the shower. One of the things I would have changed.

Had I built it again, I would have built the shower with much more drain towards the drain hole When you park your bus, it’s never flat, so that helps your shower drain. I think that’s very important.

We used a queen sided bed and we’re very happy with that.

And we got the biggest fridge you could buy. And that’s fine, it has a good freezer appartment which helps you last a little bit longer. We’ve gone from shops for four weeks at a time and it’s been fine. We’ve managed to do that.

How much waste water and fresh water do you have?

Up until recently we’ve only had 200L of fresh water. Which gives us six days. Shower every day.

And we’ve just put in another 90L tank. So that gives us 290L of fresh water. Which should give us 9 days. Which would be nice.

What we find is when you’re away. If you’re away from civilisation, you can usually find a stream, or catch rainwater off the bus. And if we’re using stream water, we just have it in a bucket beside the sink. Everything but cooking and drinking, we use the river water. For washing and rinsing. And so that makes water last a long time. Certainly conserves it.

What is your power set-up with the solar panel and the battery?

Ours is very old. We’ve had it nearly 10 years.

We’ve got two 80W panels on the roof.

I want to go more but I’d need a bigger controller and I don’t really want to invest in that now. Seems to work fine. And we’ve got four deep cycle batteries. I think they’re 200 amp hour each.

We chatted to a man up in Gulf Harbour. Who was a specialist in batteries for boats. He had not much to do one Monday morning and I went and chatted to him. And he told me all about deep cycle batteries. He enlightened us. He was good. And he said Trojean which we bought and I’ve been very happy with them Cut the mustard.

And in the middle of winter there is not a lot of sun. So that helps immensely having good batteries.

And we plug in the battery charger if we have to and we’re in a campground.

Do you have a generator? No we don’t, we’ve been meaning to buy one, but we don’t have a generator.

With the sun shining now, we’ve got more power than we even need.

You do learn to be conservative tho. If we’re running low in power, we wont watch TV that night. Radio doesn’t use much power. Or read a book.

And you learn to be conservative of water too. When there’s lots of water, you don’t really care, but when there’s not much water you’re very conservative. You stop and start the shower. Make sure you get a shower that you can stop and start. That certainly saves water.

When you go travelling, do you leave your car and motorbike behind?

No, the motorbike can go on the back of the bus.

And the car, we just bought it for a length of time. Normally 6 months if we’re in a place. And we just buy a cheap car. But for some reason this car has stayed with us. We’ve had it about 2.5 years. Someone’s always wanted it while we’re away. We’re just kept using it. And it’s been a particularly reliable car. But normally we’d just sell it. Which we’d probably do at the end of this stint.

And just use the motorbike as an emergency vehicle. If we need it.

And the motorbike on the back of the bus, don’t bother doing it. You never use it. We have used it in an emergency. Oh, we had a broken fuel line. We have a broken fuel line and we were in the middle of nowhere. Once. And I am going to work on the motorbike at the moment. It is nice to have that second vehicle.

Apart from push bikes of course. They’re good.

So you’ve got some push bikes as well?

Yeah, a couple of push bikes, and a kayak on the roof.

So we’ve got all bases covered.

How do you afford this lifestyle? What tips to save money?

Living in the bus on the road is not that expensive really.

You’ve got your normal grocery bills.

$350 a week with fuel?

We don’t normally pay campground fees. We’re usually freedom camping. Or we get the DoC pass. Which is $156 a year. And then off you go to most DoC camps. With no more expense. 

I thinking being here is actually costing us more being here. Because we’re got more access to shops and things like that. And of course when you’re close to a shop you spend money. When we’re on the road we don’t do that. We don’t spend near the same amount of money. As what we are being stationary here. There’s no nice cafe’s just down the road. No, no, you have a coffee in the bus.

It’s actually cheaper for us to be on the road. Cos we’ve shopped for a month at times. And yes, you might spend $400-$500 on a shop for a month. But really, that’s cheap. Over a month. Cos you don’t go to another shop again. For that whole month after that. And bulk buying as well. But at the end of the month you have some pretty funny meals. But you’re still eating.

How do you make money in this lifestyle?

We’ve been planning long before we got this far. We’ve got our house that we rent out and other houses that we rent out. So that brings in an income. Enough to fund our $350 a week easily.After we pay rates and insurance and everything.

And so the working we’re doing at the moment is for a special trip. Something extra.

When we go overseas we do it on the cheap. But when you’re at the good thing, you’ve got to do the good thing. When you’re at the Effil Tower, you’ve got to have a coffee up top. That sort of thing, you’ve got to do it.

We usually buy the cheapest vehicle we can get. And so far we’ve been able to get around Europe, around America, around Australia. All you want are wheels and a bed.

What tips would you give people seriously considering this lifestyle?

Just do it.

Take that leap of faith and do it.

We haven’t looked back. There were a lot of reason not to do it.

But I guess we were lucky and it was a 10 year plan for us.

And don’t do it too late. Yeah, 65 is too old. For some people 65 could be too old to start a retirement.

And you’re meeting people all the time?

All the time. And the kids are only a phone call away. They’re not far away. New Zealand’s a small place really. We can be with them within hours.

So it’s freed up more time and simplified your life?

Simplified like you wouldn’t believe. And you’re far more relaxed as a person. Far more relaxed.

You don’t realise how much you give to a job.

A nice feeling is driving away in the bus.

Starting a new adventure each day. It’s a pretty cool feeling. Everything you have is in the bus and off it goes. Heading down that road. We say, next adventure, next chapter in the book.

The post Interview: Bus Life with Patsy & Geoff appeared first on Travelling K.

I recently interviewed Lieselot who is exploring Canada in a van. She is a European who I met (via Skype) while living in New Zealand and is now in Canada with her kiwi partner.

As you know, I’m interested in everything to do with mobile living and Lieselot was kind enough to answer some of my questions.

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Tell us a bit about yourself

I’m Lieselot! I’m a traveller who lived 3.5 years in New Zealand and just moved to Canada to experience the vanlife. My partner and I bought our white van (with a mirror on the ceiling!) in Vancouver and have been exploring the country since two months. We’ve done lots of hiking and taken many photos. Vanlife in Canada is pretty awesome!

Why did you decided to get a van?

My partner and I wanted to be flexible when travelling through Canada. Buying a van gives you a lot of freedom, and you end up saving some money too. Our van is our car, our home, our kitchen – almost everything. We do a lot of photography, and being able to sleep in the van gives us the luxury of parking and sleeping close to a photo location.

What type of van is it?

It is a ’98 Dodge Ram 2500.

What have you modified?

The van was in great condition, so we didn’t have to change much. There were seven seats, with the back ones turning into a bed. Because we’re quite tall people it wasn’t big enough for us, so we took two seats out to create more space and extend the bed. We added two big storage boxes to make the bed longer, which also function as our closets.

We didn’t remove much more, but we did add some things to the van. We installed a little drawer, which stores our food and is our tiny kitchen, and also put a cooler in between the front seats, with a cutting board on top of it. In the back, under the bed we had quite a bit of space, and managed to put three more boxes, to store our hiking and other gear.

Here is a video where you can see the changes we made: Our Tiny Home on Wheels

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7YTNhN4Eig[/embedyt]

 

Do you still want to make any changes?

I would love to make it cosier, but we’re no experts in that department. The van is great at the moment, but maybe next year we’ll get the seat/bed out and install our own bed. It would be great if we could also have more of a kitchen area, but the bed now takes too much space – on the other hand we have a very big bed!

What were your concerns before getting the van?

My biggest concerns were bears and the cold. As a newcomer to Canada, I had no idea if bears could smell the food in our van and would try to break in at night. It turns out that it’s no problem to have food in the van. And regarding the cold, I’m still concerned about that… haha. It gets really cold in Canada (-30C), and van life doesn’t seem very attractive then. So far we’ve been warm enough with our three blankets, and when it really gets too cold we’ll rent an AirBnb. 

What have you found the most surprising thing about travelling in the van?

How it really becomes your home and you quickly get used to living in it.

I’ve done lots of van-weekends back in New Zealand, but it’s the first time that I’ve lived in a van for a longer period of time. It’s going way better than I thought it would be. 

Where do you get fresh water? What do you do with the wastewater?

We get fresh water at water taps in town. Canada is great like that. Almost every town has a water tap or fountain. We have 10L water tank. We don’t use that much water, as our van doesn’t have a toilet or a kitchen. We only use water to drink and to cook. And regarding cooking, we try to measure it perfectly so we don’t have any wastewater. In case we do have wastewater, we usually pour it in public toilets. 

How do you find the toilet?

We don’t have a toilet on board, and I have to admit that I had to train my bladder. Most public toilets in Canada close at a certain time (often 10 or 11pm), so now I just make sure that I go right before they close, and usually I’m good until the next morning.

Where do you usually park the van at night?

We try to avoid official campground, as they are very expensive here (30 dollars). There are recreational sites, which are often free to camp.  They have toilets, and are often next to a river on in the woods, which makes it even better.

If there isn’t a recreational site in the area, then we just park in town or in the woods. We haven’t had any problems yet, so that’s going well!

How do you find the parking spots?

There is this really good website, called freecampsites.net. It shows the recreational sites, and indicated if it’s free or paying. I also often google the area where I’m in, to see if there are some spots I don’t know off.

What has been one of your favourite moments while travelling in the van?

One day the weather was really bad (read: lots of snow), and we felt like taking it easy. We stocked up some food, jumped in bed and did a lazy movie day. We watched lots of series and movies and just relaxed in our cosy van. I loved it!

What has been the least favourite moment?

When we broke our window wipers. As newbies to Canada and the snow we made a rookie mistake. After a huge snow dump in Jasper we turned on the wipers without wiping the snow of the window. The connection broke and they didn’t work anymore. We googled and YouTubed on how to solve this, and managed to fix it. That’s the advantage of travelling in the van, you learn more about cars.

How is vanlife different in Canada to New Zealand?

I find New Zealand easier to live the vanlife. There are more locations to park your van, and way more free ones too. On top of that, in New Zealand you are really close to mountains or lakes, while in Canada (which is more touristy), those locations aren’t available for camping. Both countries are great, but I would say that New Zealand is a bit easier to live the vanlife. 

What tips would you share for people about to start travelling by van in Canada?

When you buy a car, make sure to have proof of you driving in your home country, as the insurance in Canada is extremely high! If you’ve driven 5 or 10 years in your home country, you will get a huge discount. Also, buying a car and insurance is more expensive in British Columbia than in Alberta.

And then as a last one: Just do it! The nature is gorgeous, and what better way to explore it than by van!

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Lieselot is a Belgian travel blogger based in Canada. You can view her work on Instagram and her website The World is a Circus.

The post What is vanlife like in Canada? appeared first on Travelling K.

Fast forward to now

I persuaded them to show me their bus on my recent trip to Melbourne. They have it stored in a workshop. When they first rented the building, it was run down had needed a lot of work done first, before even starting on the bus. They had previously parked the bus outside their home, but it had been vandalised. Windows broken and graffitied. The warehouse is a much safer place.

They bought the bus 3 years ago and have slowly been working on it. Slowly buying all the parts they need.

Keen to speed things up, they recently left their $650 a week rental property and are house-sitting for friends – paying just $160 a week. All the saved cash is going into the bus. They are pushing themselves to get more done in the evening and weekends. All they need now is time.

They currently have the basic interior shape in place, the shower base has been put in and metal framing added. It was fascinating walking around, visualising how it will all look. I can’t wait to see it complete!

Do you know someone with a similar project? I’d love to learn more about it in the comments below.

The post Couple Converting Bus Into Home In Melbourne appeared first on Travelling K.

I visited Geoff’s workshop in Tauranga, New Zealand recently. He makes K-Pod Teardrop Campers and customises them to suit his customers. When I visited, he was in the processes of building three and agreed to be interviewed.

I had came across K-Pod Campers when researching teardrop trailers for this blog post. There is something about them that fascinates me. It might be that they are all described as fun. Just fun. Easy to tow and reverse as they are so small. They have everything you need for a holiday. Storage, seating area which converts into a bed, kitchen, water, power. It really is like a tiny caravan or van.

Geoff has been making teardrop campers for 5 years. He started with an aluminium shell, but converted to using fiberglass, which is lighter. Geoff designs the moulds then has them made by a local company which speeds up the initial build.

He has his own design features, like an extra bump on top and a dropped down floor for more comfort when sitting inside.

There is a basic price and then you can modify and add-on to create your desired model.

Watch the above video for all the details.

Fascinating features

Some of the components that grabbed my attention are:

• You can have 2 doors, one on either side
• There is a double lock for added security – always a consideration for solo female travellers
• Windows have blinds and insect screens
• Can have TV and radio with inbuilt speakers – for evening entertainment 
• You can connect to the power at campsites and also have a solar panel too
• There are power plugs inside and in the kitchen area, as well as a USB charger
• Plenty of storage under the seats
• Kitchen area has a sink with hot water, tiny stove and fridge
• The kitchen tap extends to become a shower
• Can add awnings for privacy to kitchen and sides
• There are fresh water and waste water tanks underneath
• Designed to fit in a normal garage

There are 3 different types, with the off-road version becoming more and more popular. I personally love the grunty look of them with the larger wheels and there have been times when I wished my caravan could handle some of the paths less travelled.

Make it your own

Geoff is all about customising each teardrop camper and has a variety of colours for the exterior sides and seat covers. He even has a vinyl cutter for whatever idea you come up with. One extra cute idea was red with white polka-dots and the owner extended the idea to polka-dot kitchen accessories.

If you are interested in learning more about these teardrop campers, contact Geoff at www.kpod.co.nz. Mention TravellingK and I might get a finders fee

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Are you as curious about these as I am? Have you tried a teardrop trailer before? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments below.

The post Teardrop Campers made by K-Pod | New Zealand appeared first on Travelling K.