So after arriving a long day touring around Copenhagen, followed by touring round the Viking museum, followed by driving around heading north and all the rest of it – we were glad of the break offered to us by Del, a friend of my parents – who used to babysit me apparently.

We took the chance to catch up on some washing (very much needed) and some comfortable sofa’s! It also gave me the cahnce to catch up a bit with things on this here blog.

So – what is Sweden like as a tourist destination.

Well, it certainly is worthwhile trying to make your trip in the summer months of July-August.  Everyone talks of the massive parties and just lively atmosphere that seems to swell in Sweden, and in particular the region of Skane in the summer.

We came up to Sweden because we thought arriving before the high season would mean cheaper campsite fares (it does) but the down side is that we have got worse weather than we had back in England!  Rain and Wind, and bloody viious wind at that!

The other thing we have found hard to find in Sweden is somewhere to empty our waste water and fill our clean water ( ver- & ensortung).

We were spoiled for choice in Denmark with tha stations being placed at every motorway service station, but in Sweden we seem to have lost them completely and this is compunded by our innability to lay our hands on the much coveted Nordic Camping Guide, which gives directions to all of these stations and more.  No campervan dealer, motorway service station, fuel stop o camp site seems to have a copy, though they have all heard of it.

I am starting to think that there is a conspiracy going on….

Moonlit Beach @ Karlskrona

Random Shots from Driving through Sweden

Bring on the trumpets, roll out the red carpet and marvel at the wonder.

Yes the front page is just one of the massive changes we’ve made around here.

You may also notice the menu bars at the top, where all the pages reside and the wonderful categorised posts to allow you all to find your way to the information you want an awful lot easier.

I would love to hear from you all, both old readers from my blogger blog and new readers who have found this site.  Posts will be more focused now on the conversion side of things, as the new van is coming soon.  After that we will have a little spree of planning posts then off to the travel posts!

We’re also planning for a little video action here as well, all in time though folks.  Unfortunately I am a man, meaning I am unable to multi-task.  A woman could have probably created this site in half the time, but then again a woman….. No, had better not.  I’d be shot, or at least loose some readers.

Well enough of the chitter chatter.  Please Bookmark this page, subscribe to the feeds or subscribe to the email feed, all of these can be done using the links at the top right hand side of this page.

Are you thinking about doing your own thing like this site?  contact ITSimple.co.uk

Well, I’m breaking out the champagne, who’s joining me?

Hello to all you readers. I now have nearly three hundred followers (stalkers), which is brilliant.  I haven’t bee able to look at all of your blogs because the connection whilst I am here in Germany is not the fastest and online time is limited, mainly by my Facebook obsessed sister!

Please leave a commnent and I will check out your blog as well.

In our brilliant little stellplatz there are many, many campervans. A lot of them are coachbuilt wagons that are incredibly expensive.  Unfortunately my budget will not stretch to any of these travelling mansions.

There are also a number of van conversions here.  Most of them are, of course, Mercedes Sprinters or Volkswagen Crafters and Transporters.

All of these types of wagons are brilliant for converting into campervans. Below are a few things that you may want to think about before converting choosing or converting your own van. I have noted a few of these points before in my post talking about travelling Europe and Scandinavia in a Van – Link here

When choosing a van ask yourself these questions.

Do you want to have a van that you can stand up in?

Having somewhere to stand up whilst getting changed or just moving about can make a huge difference.  If you do buy a hi-roof van then make sure you check for water ingress at the connection between the van and the roof.

Think about where you will be travelling, If you will be travelling a lot into towns and cities then bear in mind that you may not be abe to get in a lot of car-parks due to the height.  I would always recommend taking public transport into major cities though.  Much easier and usually works out cheaper.

How big do you want the van to be?

This will affect your design, think about how many people are travelling with you and what you will be taking with you.  Also bear in mind the extra costs that you will incurr if your travel plans include any ferries, most of them will charge by the metre.

Van widths vary between manufacturer, with the Mercedes Sprinter being narrow but long whereas the Fiat Ducato is short but wide. The LDV Convoy is long, wide and tall.  Making it a perfect choice for conversion in this respect. You may not be able to get down every county lane in a wider van, but fold your wing mirrors and hope for the best!

Weight

Anybody who passed their driving test after 1997 in the UK is unable to drive any vehicle over 3.5tonnes gross vehicle weight (GVW).  (I am not sure how this translates for other countries, if anyone would let me know I will be grateful.) Make sure you check before you buy the vehicle that you can actually drive it!

A lot of Mercedes Sprinters and VW Crafters are 5.5t rated, having them down-plated to 3.5t is a hassle that you could avoid by buying the right van in the first place.

Also make sure you take the weight into consideration when converting the van.  The van must never weigh more than its stated weight, even when full of people, packing and food.

Also if you plan to visit Austria or Switzerland then note that your Vignette (compulsory road tax for all) will be more expensive ifyou are over 3.5tonnes.

Is speed something that concerns you?

If it is, then you may want to look at the Mercedes Sprinter – it is a beast.  Unfortunately the more powerful vans usually means a more expensive insurance policy and less economy therefore more money spent on fuel.  Speaking of fuel – go for the Diesels everytime, try to get a turbo charged one, they have good enough power and reasonable economy.

Tomorrow I will be posting a list of all the vans I have looked through and considered.

Fameseekers can post a comment here!

(A recap for all those coming from Blogs of Note / Twitter)

Please leave a comment, even if just to say hi!

I started off being very disheartened with my job, longing for travel. I’ve never been one to stay in the same place – this mostly came from being part of an army family and often moving from place to place, meeting new people, seeing new countries and facing new challenges.

So I decided to set myself a new challenge… to become an Overland Driver.

It is a job I really wanted and sounded like almost precisely what I wanted to do. (Click here for the post explaining all about overlanding).

Unfortunately for me there were a few legal hurdles to get over, mainly insurance. I’m only 22, most of the company’s insurance policies stated that drivers must be over 25.

Rather than just give up and go back to a normal 9-5 job I decided to get out and just travel on my own.

So here I am 22, jobless and with an open plan of where I can go and what I can do. Life has never been better.

I hope you enjoy the blog and I hope this helps some of you make that ultimate jump to freedom.

Please comment if you have any questions or just want to say Hi!

And if you wish to follow me on Twitter just find @OverlandSi or find me on Facebook

Happy Travellin’
Overland Si