Considering going fulltime! (1 Viewer)

[Shrimp]

You will get far more for your money (and probably better build quality) in an older used van.

I think that as well. Look at everything you can but definitely go for a winterised van an older German van and don’t be too put off by mileage!
Good luck

 

[SGNV]

Add on: think about the reality of where you will be staying. You say wild camping in Cornwall. What kind of place are you thinking of, will you ignore "no overnight camping", the reality of needing water, empty cassette, being on the move all the time, having to find somewhere to stay (the free and easy moving about of a holiday is very different from having to for months on end).
That's really my biggest advice, be brutally honest, make a distinction between the day to day reality and the dream in your head.
And don't get me wrong, I'm 4 years in and I wouldn't change it.

 

[Dorset Diver]

from south Somerset. Good luck with your quest.

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[ChrisL]

Insurance can be an issue for full timers, there is only one underwiter as far as I'm aware that will cover you which is Aviva brokers like Comfort, AIB and others will give you quotes, however they will most likely be through Aviva, as a general rule they won't insure vans full time over 10 years old unless it is fairly high value, my own Hymer is 16 years old but because it's value was quite high Comfort covered it, AIB said they couldn't help. If you insure it as not full time, most insurers will want to know where it is being stored when not in use and will want to be happy with your storage location. Full time insurance is also expensive and likely to be at least double what you might pay otherwise.

 

[Calamaster]

Welcome Ben,
We have fixed rear bed over garage and Mobile office in Autotrail Cheyenne 696 SE 2006. See my Article on how to set up.

How to make a motorhome mobile office set-up - Practical Motorhome

Whether you need to keep in contact with workplace computers, or you just want to stream online content at speed, Julian Allen has the solution

www.practicalmotorhome.com

 

[StephandJohn]

HI Ben, quite a number here already do as you propose, so you are in the right place for help. Unfortunately, you have chosen a time when motorhomes are in short (ish) supply, so prices are all a bit higher than they were last year. There are still plenty for sale though. Full timers need a decent payload and a fixed bed. So make those two items your starting point

Make sure you ask plenty of questions here before parting with your cash. Best of luck, and welcome to the fun

Not wishing to naysay our revered leader, Jim, but we full timed for three years without a fixed bed and it was fine. We wanted to be comfortable driving on small country roads if we wanted too and not have to do motorways so we and chose a 6.6m van with a good shower (so we didn't have to rely on campsite showers (especially in the winter or bad weather), a comfortable place to lounge, and a cooker and a fridge. We had to sacrifice the fixed bed to get all this in.
You have to approach it as if you were buying a house/flat. Things you put up with on holiday could become a pain while you're actually living in the van.
It's a great life though and we loved every minute of it.
Good luck and keep asking questions on here.

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[artona]

Hi Ben,

I'm a photographer and we full-timed for three years, and when we did I made a good living shooting family portraits. We stopped so our three year old could try school and she loved it. If she hadn't we would have resumed full-timing and educated her ourselves.

She is almost 16 now, and I still use the van conversion I made 11 years ago, which she helped with, although we did not full-time in her, we had a bigger van when we did. She is already planning her own van conversion.

Have you watched some of the youtube videos about people living in their vans? I've included a link to a full-timing girl who writes, but she is also a content maker for companies. She has a load of videos, and is probably the most organised van-dweller I have ever come across.



all the best

stew