So – I know I haven’t posted in a while – but I have been busy, honest!

And to prove it there are some photos below of our wonderful campervan conversion.

Things are going a bit slower than I would like, but then I’m impatient.  We will finally be leaving next Wednesday.  And heading straight to Sweden

So – the photos of the van…

The starting point of converting the van

This is the stuff what will keep us warm

View from the back of the van

Front of van with bed one in the foreground

Well there you go, I will post more when she is fully finished and will do full posts on each of the steps when I actully have some energy.

Anyways, hope you are all ok.

Take care.

Si.

In memory of Kate – who still plays on my mind.

Yes, after too long a wait the LDV Convoy that I was after has finally been purchased and is now parked on my driveway being stripped out.

I have attached some images below for you  guys and girls and will post some more updates later this weekend.  To be honest I am a little bit knackered from stripping out the ply-lining, dashboard and cab area, door trim, and floor.

Once these were off I discovered a build up of dust that could only be described as having it’s own landscape!  Oooh and I also found an authentic 2007 banana skin tucked behind the dash.  Lovely!

So there we go, one step closer to turning this van into a campervan.

And for those of you who want to know, yes it is an ex Parcel Force in GPO Red, LDV Convoy, Hi-Roof, LWB 3.5tonne, 2.4L, 90PS, Ford Transit Duratorque TD.  How did you guess? ha!

——Laptop is not behaving, please see link below for photos —— http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=67978&id=502954239&l=8545f8ed4a
And I’m going to bed, hope all is well with your world. Special Shout out to Kate, whom I have learnt so much about.  May your trip bring you all you want it to.

G’Night,

Hey guys,
Just a quick post as a few people have asked this question and a few others have come from google search.

So – How are campervans charged on ferries?

There are two factors to take into consideration. Height and Length.

For height different ferry operators have different limits, depending on the size of their car decks in the ferry. Some have a maximum height of up to 2.4 metres, others 2.8 and if you take the eurotunnel, then it is just 1.8 metres tall, so all those cars with top boxes – beware!

The next is length. There seems to be universal agreement amongst ferry companies that anything over 6 metres is classed as “long”.

Of course going over these limits, either height or length, means that you will be moved into a different category and charged a different rate for your crossing.

Expect to be charged 20% more than the normal car rates for travelling with a campervan, and serisouly try to avoid the busy peak times. Your 6 metre long motorhome could fit two little peugeot’s in so the ferry companies will make you pay!

Finally, remember that travelling later at night is always cheaper. I usually book myself onto a midnight ferry crossing ad then find a place to stay on the motorway for free overnight.

You can do this if you are in France or Germany, please remember that in Belgium and the Netherlands that stopping overnight in anywhere apart from deisgnated campsites is illegal.

What do I book for my usual ferry?

I use NorfolkLine.com – £45 for a campervan over 2.4 metres tall, each way. I book the ferry for midnight (but usually turn up around 8 and they put you on the next available for no charge). So it is usually around 11pm that I get to France, and a quick scoot at the speed limit later, we’re into AAchen in Germany, which boasts a wonderful motorway services, and plenty of trees to keep away the noise.. Good night all.

Hello all, how are you?

Well I have been doing some planning for my travels recently.  Which makes a change to messing around with the look and feel of this site. (Which I hope most of you find ok).

So, what have I been up to?

Well I have come up with a “first draft” of the route, this is by no means finalised and there are going to be a few changes to it, but here it is draft numero uno.  Official Travel Route of Overland Wannabe.

Any suggestions of places along this route are very welcome!

Ok so on Friday I finally finished work, packed up my office and buggered offski!

(comments jump)

I took Saturday as a complete day of nothing, did some chores round the house, got my car cleaned ready for it to be sold and then had a day off from thinking about the future, because it got real pretty quick.

Today I am back – It’s not a good thing to think that I am not actually working anymore, in fact it’s quite the opposite. I am working harder than ever before in an attempt to actually become a travel writer. There you go guys and girls – my secret is out!

I have always loved writing, and even went to do Journalism at University (that’s another story for another time)

So it’s something I am keen to get back into. Next week I shall be sending of letters and emails and a whole snow storm of other applications to writing places etc to see what I can get. I will also be tracking down some of the leisure magazines, campervan mags, tenting mags and of course you guys will get the first peak as usual.

Also – and I say this with a small amount of trepidation, I will be moving this blog!!

It will be moving to a lovely new page where I have a nice layout, my own domain and the best thing of all – lovely galleries and some other funky stuff. I will let you know when this is all going on but I want to give a huge shout out to ITsimple.co.uk who have done me some remarkable favours for this to go ahead.

I hope you will all join me when the new one is created.

As usual comments are very welcome.

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!

Ok, so I promised you a post on car / van insurance for Europe and here it is!

Please remember that this is only my own findings, if you have been told something different to what I have written here then please let me know – It might be something I have missed out on!

Travelling Abroad

Two Europes

Again though be careful of which countries you want to visit. “Old Europe” will cost you less whereas the “New Europe” countries will cost you more.

As usual please post any questions in the comments and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible.

Happy Travelling
Overland Si

Evening all, I have been tagged by the wonderful Lis over at the Travel for the Over 30′s blog, in one of these wonderfully easy yet enthrallingly interesting games that us travel bloggers do.

So, I am to tell you now seven secrets about yours truly and why I love to travel. So without further ado, please continue reading below or click here to add a comment.

1. I was born and raised, for most of my life, in Germany and I still consider Germany “home”.
2. I changed Primary School 12 times as my farther was in the army and was posted to different places
3. I went to a military boarding school in England so that I wouldn’t have to move about so much in my secondry school education – and we moved only once after this!
4. I have never owned a car that could be described as “normal”, it’s either been a bright colour or some strange, yet practical, travel wagon.
5. I love country music and electronic chillout
6. I play the saxaphone.
7. I travel because it is the only thing that presents a new experience everyday.

Ok so now I have to tag seven more blogs to do the same, hopefully some will respond, but mostly these are links to blogs I read and find interesting.

Flight Level 390 – this is a blog from a pilot, Dave, and gives a good view into their lives and thoughts. I would feel quite safe flying with this guy!

Also Kevin Littleton keeps a good blog of his daily adventures and thoughts. A good read that contains thought-provoking pieces.

Previously.Bitten is pebble dashed with brilliant photos, informative travel articles and some brilliant travel tips!

The Foodie and Travel Bug Blog from Mei Ting is also good for travellers, it is filled with all sorts of information and if Mei does a post about food I will usually end up salivating like Pavlov’s dogs!

An absolute must for all travel bloggers is Nomadic Matt’s site, brilliant photos, brilliant layout, brilliant writings – I think its a crap site though, nothing to do with jealousy, nothing at all. hehe

For those that are interested in building your own campervan then a look at “The Journey Continues” is an absolute must. I love the ideas on this blog and may soon steal some ideas for my own DIY Campervan

And finally for all those who wish to take up the nomad style of living then you must visit Working Nomad – a fellow brit who has “made the dream”
Just before I go though – a quick reminder of my offer from the previous post

You can add a compliment here (comments sound too negative) hehe.

Happy Travelling
OverlandSi

Insurance, Campervan Conversion, Planning and Budgets!

Short post today folks. I am suffering from information overload at the moment so just trying to grab some “brainspace” and unplug myself from the laptop for an evening!

As is normal here is where I say please leave a comment, even if just to say Hi - it’s nice getting to know you all. I am slowly getting round to replying everyone.

Well I have had a fun day of talking to insurance companies. And actually it has been a lot better than I expected

Bonus points to Nick @ Herts Insurance today for explaining everything simply and giving me loads of advice and options. I’m going to go for 3rd party fire and theft, purely for budget reasons!

Bit of a roundup and scary list below

• I must re-register the van as a campervan, for both insurance and other legal reasons
• The van must be valued at more than £2,000 for it to be insured by Herts Insurance
• Fitting the van with a gas supply is just asking for trouble!
• My brain hurts
• I have only 10 working days left
• I need to sell my current van
• I need to buy the LDV van
• I need to plan some sort of route
• I need to book a ferry crossing
• Also need to plan the layout of the van and “spec” it up
• My brain hurts
• Get travel insurance
• Oh and need to price the conversion of the van as well
• Need to get some writing done, see if I can get some query letters off to publishers
• Get something done for MatadorTravel – they are offering some reasonably articles.
• Budget, Budget, Budget
• Sleep
• Eat
• Stop brain pain

Despite that list I am still remarkebly excited and upbeat. I have just come up against my own biggest flaw – organisation.

To put it into perspective – spare a thought for all those in Australia right now.

Picture below is for the dreamers of us out there, to all travellers, the world over.

From Skiing

Me out – Happy Travelling guys and gals.
Overland Si

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

I had better start this post by saying a big thanks to all who left a comment on yesterdays post regarding my update for everybody coming across from Blogs of Note (Yes this blog is noteworthy…apparently!) I will get back to you all soon!

I’m still feeling a little surprised that my random scribblings have been nominated for anything, but that’s the way this twisted blogosphere works!

Anyways, enough of blowing my own trumpet – How are you all?

This is kind of an update, part deux, on my plans.

I have been chatting away to some other bloggers who travel and work, and they seem to be convinced that you can make money whilst travelling. One of the guys to do this is WorkingNOMAD, strangely enough he is also a fellow Brit! I have his book on how to live this life, and for only £10 I think it’s a bargain, you can find it here.

So I am going to attempt to be doing some of that. I think a lot of it revolves around writing, which I enjoy anyway so shouldn’t be too much of a stretch.

The other way I am looking to make money is by working in bars or other temporary jobs such as picking hops, strawberries, grapes or anything else that is pickable. Whilst travelling in Europe I do not need any working Visa’s or permits, making this a whole lot easier.

I have been thinking a bit about the route as well.

I have always wanted to travel through Scandinavia. The sheer beauty of the Fjords, lakes and mountains combined with the bizarre isolation has always appealed to me. If anyone knows of anywhere that is a definite must to visit then please leave a comment and let me know.

So I will most probably be heading up there first. The route will take in England, France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland then back down from Helsinki to Tallinn (Estonia) and back through to Germany.

As I speak German it will make getting a temporary job here a lot easier. This will hopefully bolster my income, allowing me to travel more.

So – What will I use to travel round Europe.

Well, nothing is confirmed yet but I am looking at a 1999 LDV high roof van. It seems to fit all my criteria, as shown below.

My Campervan Criteria:

• Be tall enough to stand up in
• Have a reasonably comfortable bed
• Be diesel powered
• Be 3.5ton gross weight or under
• Have a shower, or somewhere to put a shower / toilet

(Photo Credit)

I am still looking through a few web sites but as soon as I find something I like I will let you all know.

And for those of you who have commented that they don’t think they have the money for this -
My van budget is £1,000
My travel budget is also £1,000

I will explain more about where I am planning to stay in the next post and how I plan to get away with my budget.

Oh and also -7th March – Stop Work, Start Life

(Photo Credit)

Happy Travellin‘
Overland Si