Arran
Free Member
Hello,
Just a quick introduction, seeing as I'm new to this forum, but not to the motorhome scene.
Back in 2013 my girlfriend and I bought an Iveco Daily ambulance, which we converted to a basic campervan. I built the interior from plywood, making a sofa/dining area, which converted to a bed, a cold running tap, microwave, fridge, hob and a solar panel and inverter to power it all.
It served us well, taking us abroad a couple of times, but mostly around the UK. We even did Glastonbury back in 2016, where the solar panel meant free electric all week without having to run the engine!
By this time we had gotten married, adopted a little spaniel and was awaiting the arrival of our daughter. We contemplated refitting out the camper, but in the end we thought an upgrade was required.
After many months of deliberating, looking at vehicles and visiting the NEC Motorhome Show, we finally found the perfect vehicle. A 2009 Mercedes-Benz Atego 818, a mobile library from the Isle of Arran. The chassis and engine were in good shape, the body and interior less so.
Anyway, after 2 years of working on it, between working full time in the RAF as an Aircraft Engineer, we went away on our first camping trip! It was amazing, despite the second hand inverter/charger packing in.
Back in August I left RAF Brize Norton for the last time, we packed up the contents of our house, put it in storage, moved in to our motorhome and set off around Europe. Our plan was to head north through Finland to Nordkapp, then head south through Norway to get to Italy as winter set in.
Clearly we couldn't do that in the end and spent most our time in Scandinavia, it was a real challenge keeping on top of developments, we got deported from Finland one time. However, we had an amazing time, especially our daughter who met Santa Claus at his office in Rovaniemi on her 4th Birthday.
Anyway that's us, we're back in the UK now, soon to be moving back to Oxfordshire in our motorhome. We'll be living in the motorhome initially before we find more permanent accommodation.
Feel free to check out the blog my wife put together as we travelled - it's mostly photos, so not too much reading!
https://napierfamily.travellerspoint.com/
Mik
Just a quick introduction, seeing as I'm new to this forum, but not to the motorhome scene.
Back in 2013 my girlfriend and I bought an Iveco Daily ambulance, which we converted to a basic campervan. I built the interior from plywood, making a sofa/dining area, which converted to a bed, a cold running tap, microwave, fridge, hob and a solar panel and inverter to power it all.
It served us well, taking us abroad a couple of times, but mostly around the UK. We even did Glastonbury back in 2016, where the solar panel meant free electric all week without having to run the engine!
By this time we had gotten married, adopted a little spaniel and was awaiting the arrival of our daughter. We contemplated refitting out the camper, but in the end we thought an upgrade was required.
After many months of deliberating, looking at vehicles and visiting the NEC Motorhome Show, we finally found the perfect vehicle. A 2009 Mercedes-Benz Atego 818, a mobile library from the Isle of Arran. The chassis and engine were in good shape, the body and interior less so.
Anyway, after 2 years of working on it, between working full time in the RAF as an Aircraft Engineer, we went away on our first camping trip! It was amazing, despite the second hand inverter/charger packing in.
Back in August I left RAF Brize Norton for the last time, we packed up the contents of our house, put it in storage, moved in to our motorhome and set off around Europe. Our plan was to head north through Finland to Nordkapp, then head south through Norway to get to Italy as winter set in.
Clearly we couldn't do that in the end and spent most our time in Scandinavia, it was a real challenge keeping on top of developments, we got deported from Finland one time. However, we had an amazing time, especially our daughter who met Santa Claus at his office in Rovaniemi on her 4th Birthday.
Anyway that's us, we're back in the UK now, soon to be moving back to Oxfordshire in our motorhome. We'll be living in the motorhome initially before we find more permanent accommodation.
Feel free to check out the blog my wife put together as we travelled - it's mostly photos, so not too much reading!
https://napierfamily.travellerspoint.com/
Mik