It’s been 18 months since I left the UK. It’s been a craziest best 18 months I’ve ever had – see my vanlife summer post here. But now it’s time for a pitstop… but only a pitstop…
The plan
Go to the UK for a few weeks, see friends/family, sort out the van and then head back down, south. I want to spend the winter in Portugal and Morocco.
I’ll give the van an overhaul – fixing any rust, checking things, giving the engine a full service. I also need to sort out the MOT and insurance. I’ll keep you posted on this stuff.
What about the blog?
During these few weeks I’m in the UK I’ll do some posts on more of the practical things of van life – the things I’ve learnt and how I managed to do certain things. I’ll also maybe share a bit of what UK life is like coming back. Let me know if you have any post requests or suggestions.
I’ll also be organising all the hundreds of photos by country and sorting out the gallery section.
Thank you!
Thanks for following me and getting involved on this blog over the past 18 months or so. This blog has changed my life and it just wouldn’t happen without people actually looking at it. So a BIG thanks for all your likes, comments, shares and nice emails of support.
But I’m still getting a lot from travelling and living in a van (will I always feel like this?) and there’s loads more I want to do and loads more I want to show you. So stick with me and let’s get ready for the next chapter 🙂
Thanks got doing what you do! Hope one day I can do the same!
Hey Mike!
Been following you for a while now. I would really like to have more feedback on what you would do differently about the van conversion, if you had to start again from scratch (toilets/no toilets kind of stuff ;-)). This point is a bit missing in your ebook.
Best wishes,
Marc
Hey Marc, I know it sounds weird but I’m pretty happy with everything still. It’s probably useful to know that I don’t use the toilet although it has been used a fair bit when people stay. The shower also doesn’t really get used much as a shower but that whole enclosure part is pretty useful anyway – but not entirely necessary. Maybe if I were to do it again I’d travel further and look for an old Mercedes van simply because it can be fixed pretty much anywhere and parts are easily available. The LDV is good if I don’t stray too far… but what about China?
But in terms of the setup, layout, style, components chosen, It really is perfect for me and everything has worked really well over the past 18 months. If I were to build another I’d probably try and do something quite similar
Thank you for your answer ! It seems you did things right the first time indeed 😉
I am going to buy my van in a few weeks, departure scheduled 6-7 months from now. What I’m looking for is an Iveco Daily.. Your comment on parts availability is interesting ! You have been -and will be- of great help for me, thanks a lot for that.
See you on the road.
Cheers,
Marc
Kind of right the first time… but I redid a lot of things as I went along. I hardly ever did things right the first time whilst building it. I guess I took it slow enough to see when things were not working so I could backtrack or correct it.
Yeah good luck!
Marc, the way to know if parts are common is probably to search ebay. Also search google for known faults. My LDV Maxus had a gear selection problem but it was a common issue and a £2 fix on the clutch pedal. Just one example!
Hi Mike
been following your blog for some time now as we are on our second ldv camper and love it, we intend to change to a bigger mercedes van soon though as we want to take our daughter on a european road trip for 6 -12 months when she leaves primary school. Just out of interest what sort of vans were they using in Berlin? we’ve been looking at Merc Varios but they are so expensive, was wondering about reliability and parts availability on older Mercs. Cheers Simon
Hi Simon, hope you don`t mind me answering this as my next van will be a Mercedes minibus or small bus and I`ve been doing a bit of research, I currently have an earlier Sprinter and have retro fitted the older type engine as I kept getting limp mode on the original engine, the older engine has no electronics, I`ve rebuilt 4 of the older merc engines my personal view is unless you can buy new or nearly new avoid the common rail engines as they are not built to do big miles and cost a fortune to fix- usually injection systems need overhauling £1,000`s, the varios are modified older engines with loads of electronics to pass emissions. When I buy my bus it will be 90-96 with the older simpler stronger engine as I also run my sprinter on veg oil and want to do the same with the bus as it will save a small fortune in fuel look for a 609, 611 or 614 non vario. You can get something reasonable for around £2000. on a G-P plate hope this helps
Gary
Your ebook was a great source of technical details but maybe your sequel could be the things you’ve learned since? I’m sure living with your creation has taught you a few things?
Yeah totally. I’ve learnt loads about loads of different things….and still am. There’s more to come 🙂
Excellent. Mine has a bed and a toilet so far, so my wife and I are taking a 10 day holiday in Cornwall. If I can get up those coast roads!
18 months, wow. You’ve been a major inspiration for me and my own conversion. I’m actually working on an LDV conversion of my own, these vans are dirt cheap for so much space! Planning on spending winter in morocco as well. I’m not too far from Sheffield so if you get a free afternoon and fancy a chat about vans and travel, let me know man 🙂
Well thanks for following! yeah just make sure you properly inspect and take off all the rust on the LDV. But yeah they run really well and you get a lot of space for the money. Hows the conversion going? I may pop in to Sheffield on my way back down to the ferry out of UK
Conversions going well, slowly, but well. Think my self imposed deadline of the end of this month will be well overshot but it’ll get there eventually. I actually thought that you were Sheffield based, my bad. I’m actually in Leeds, but if ever you’re within a couple of hours let me know, would be invaluable to actually speak face to face with someone with first hand experience. How long do you reckon you’ll be in the uk for?? Good luck sorting the van for round 2 of the mot
I would like to know how you can afford to do this. I, myself am travelling across the U.S. and finances is the one thing that Im always having to worry about in order to continue my journey to the next place. I usually travel via bicycle or hitchiking in order to cut down on most expenses. Im surprised I havent seen others asking this same question. Any insight into how you can afford this amazing experience would be of much help:)
Well since the new year the blog started to make small amounts here and there. I also put adverts on (I had to). But now I just sell the ebook and I’ve taken all the ads off the blog. It’s early days and I don’t know how long it will sell for but it seems to work at the moment
Very helpful thank you!!! If you find the time, i have a few more questions if you wouldn’t mind emailing me. I know that might be allot to ask. But us adventurers do hold the best discussions!!:D molfo2292@gmail
Thank you for your answer ! It seems you did things right the first time indeed 😉
I am going to buy my van in a few weeks, departure scheduled 6-7 months from now. What I’m looking for is an Iveco Daily.. Your comment on parts availability is interesting ! You have been -and will be- of great help for me, thanks a lot for that.
See you on the road.
Cheers,
Marc
hey mike. also thinking of heading back home to the uk for a pit stop soon. because of the MOT mainly – needs renewing in november. you were away for 18months – how did you sort that one – if there was a way to do it from abroad (france a the moment) i’d be very interested. i’m also interested to read more about what an engine overhaul involves, and will also be doing rust repairs on the bodywork this winter. any tips appreciated. cheers
For the MOT it is never checked when abroad, you DO need to have insurance though. On your return to the UK have an MOT booked for the day you arrive off the ferry and you are technically driving to it (only time it is legal to drive a non MOT’ed vehicule in UK ) the moment you get on UK soil. Hope this helps
Yep. This^
interesting. that’s great. cheers
ps – danielwarnerburston@gmail.com if you prefer to email
Hi, Mike,
been following your blog for a while and really enjoying it, I`ve got another 3 years hear in the Uk and then I`m selling up, and bumming around Europe in a converted Mercedes bus, when I decide to put down roots again it will be in Spain, you`ll love Morocco, travelled it`s full length twice and on down into Mauritania, once on a motorbike and once in a car.
Long may your adventure continue.
I wondered if you’d head home! My friend, my dog and myself are currently in Germany but heading towards Spain in the next week to winter it out, so maybe see you there! – Emma
I’d be interested in the MOT/Insurance stuff. Can you get your van MOTd or insured in another country? As you’ve been away for 18 months you must of come across this issue.
Any help appreciated.
We’ve just bought a massive luton to convert, work has commenced 🙂
Hey, yeah the MOT was well over due! I really didn’t mean to be gone this long and yeah, technically insurance wouldn’t be valid (I think) but no one said anything. Good luck with the luton
Yo man,
I emailed you a minute ago but forgot to ask what you do for work to fund your travels?
Peace.
Hi Mike, some practical stuff would be great. I’m not sure if you have a way of knowing, but do you have any idea how much power you consume per day?
It depends really. In the spring I was using my computer all day every day for around 8-10 hours. That’s about 6amps at 12V which is 72W. You can just multiply this by 8 hours to get the consumption. So 576Wh or 58Ah (divided by 12 to get the current).
Without my computer running, It probably averages at a couple or a few amps over the day
great to meet you in hull this eve…take it easy…see you in Europe x
Yeah good to meet you both! good luck with the van
i WILL SPEND WINTER IN MAROC ! IM FROM PORTUGAL…WE KEEP IN TOUCK…I HAVE A IVECO DAILY BASIC VAN =) IF YOU WANNA SURF…LETS GOOO! =) IRIE
Nice one! Yeah we’ll keep in touch and I will be updating the tracker/location page as usual
O M G. I’m giving you €1000,- if you’d just tie me to the back of the van and take me everywhere. Yes, I’m bribing you.
But seriously, what an incredible adventure!
O M G. I’m giving you €1000,- if you’d just tie me to the back of the van and take me everywhere. Yes, I’m bribing you.
But seriously, what an incredible adventure!
Hey mate. Where are you at right now ? i’m portuguese, still in my hometown Porto, in the middle of fixing my van as well to do pretty much the same, starting in february. If you do come by in the winter, let me know. would love to meet and you can crash or just drop for dinner if you feel like it. best of luck for you !
Very cool.