I renovated a camper van for under €9,000 ahead of Electric Picnic - here's how
Caitriona Redmond in the camper van she and her family converted. Photograph Moya Nolan.
I need to introduce you to my new fella, Jason.
After 19 years of marriage and some lacklustre holidays abroad, I felt it was time for something new. I was bored and burnt out.
Stuff is strangling our society. In Ireland we throw away as much as a quarter of the food we buy, globally enough clothes have been manufactured to dress everyone for many generations, and yet social media is crammed full of people showing us the next thing we should purchase.
“It’s not a want, it’s a need” — captions many a post, with links to shops (often affiliated) shoved in our faces.
But take a close look at any music festival that involves camping, and the associated waste is astounding.
There is a misconception that the tents left behind will be donated to charity, but this depends on the tent being in pristine condition.
Anything that has been damaged or badly soiled will end up in landfill and in the UK, it’s estimated that tents comprise 17% of all the landfill associated with music festivals.
For some festivalgoers heading to Stradbally next weekend, the decision might have been made to opt for a pre-pitched tent or glamping to avoid purchasing a new tent and the various ‘must haves’ that go along with it.
Considering my motto is ‘money is better in my pocket than somebody elses’, there was no hope that I was forking out for either.
I am sure the facilities are great, but I’d leave with nothing to show for my weekend.
So when I originally booked our tickets to Electric Picnic after scoring in the grandparent lottery (yes, I know how lucky we are), the plan was to borrow or rent a campervan. Home comforts on holiday are where it’s at, even at Electric Picnic.
We could bring drink, food, and save a fortune, pile up the van with our own duvet and pillows, have a secure space we could lock at night and cook in if we wanted to. It was the only way I was prepared to head to the music festival of our dreams.
The more I thought about it, the more it made sense for all our family holidays. We could get our two teen boys used to sleeping in camp beds with their own bedding, we could bring their favourite foods and cook their preferred meals.
We could pick where we pitched and stick to consistent bedtimes and routines all on our own terms. This is so important for the boys who are both neurodiverse. Holidays otherwise can be fraught due to dysregulation. So, here’s how we did it.
A photo of a silver work van pinged into my messages from my husband. He’d acquired an old beat-up long wheel base Volkswagen Transporter T5, Jason for short.
Thus began the process of converting what was once a carpenter’s van to a camper.
The van was in pretty poor shape and the engine needed a lot of work. It felt like every single time we touched it, the van burned into our finances.
Nobody warned me that renovating a campervan would be a black hole into which money would disappear forever.
Who knew that finding a replacement right wheel arch would mean shipping from Poland and that its shipping would cost more than the part itself?
How much van insulation did we really need? What are injectors and why do they need to go for reconditioning? They cost how much?
From May into June, we scrubbed and pulled apart the van with the boys. At least it gave them something to do when the secondary school holidays started.
Our next challenge was finding parts. So many Irish people are renovating campervans at the moment, so certain parts can be difficult to source.
We had plenty of suppliers to call but many were simply out of stock. There was a panicked trip to Belfast on the June bank holiday weekend to get the last set of matching van windows to be found on the island.
The following weekend was spent on the road to a border county to find a kitchen manufacturer who also made a rock-and-roll bed which doubles as back seats.
We struck gold when he installed certified seatbelts on the bedframe to secure passengers safely in the back of the van.
Truth be told, the boys would be delighted to charge their devices on the leisure battery and play games in the back as we trundle along.
Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork. Who knew that converting the VRT (Vehicle Registration Tax) on a commercial van to a campervan would be so much of a palaver? I can see how the system favours the professionals here.
We had to have the van assessed twice; once for the CVRT (Commercial Vehicle Roadworthiness Test) and a second time for SQI (Suitably Qualified Individual) to make sure that the conversion was sound.
We coupled our certificates with a bundle of receipts and a calculation of how much the conversion cost us and sent everything off to the Revenue Commissioners to assess.
Here, we got tripped up by demand again and it took four weeks before they determined the VRT difference between the van and a camper. It has to be paid to convert the vehicle and retaxed, before we can get insured.
Our first road test was the August Bank Holiday. We all piled into the campervan and drove to an ecocamping site in Clare for the inaugural trip.
The van sleeps two people, so we accommodated the boys in an attached awning tent in their sturdy camp beds.
The first evening we lounged in the sun and played an uproarious card game until the light failed; we all had aching ribs the following day from laughing so much.
On the Saturday, we hitched a lift to the Cliffs of Moher on the free shuttle bus which services many tourist locations across Co Clare.
From there, we caught the Bus Éireann service to Kinvara for a ramble and lunch before returning in the rain.
The following day we reluctantly packed up the van in advance of Storm Floris and made our way home, leaving no trace behind.
On social media, we watched campers at All Together Now festival get caught by Storm Floris and wake up Monday morning to their tents collapsing or even blowing away in the strong winds.
Including the campsite, food, drink, and the fuel for the campervan, two nights away for our family of four cost €300.
It would have been even cheaper if we’d stayed closer to home and also not stopped by a pub close to the campsite for a few drinks.
Regardless, it’s a very small fraction of what our off-peak week in the Canaries cost last year and we all enjoyed it far more.
I have no doubt that the more we use the campervan, the more our investment will continue to pay off.
I’m not sure we will be able to persuade family to help mind the boys for a long weekend again in a hurry (I don’t want to press my luck), but I can’t wait to head off in the camper to Electric Picnic, knowing I’ll be sleeping safe and sound no matter the weather, and with no associated guilt about a one-off tent purchase.
And post-Electric Picnic? We are already planning to take the campervan further afield and explore the Isle of Man, Wales, and Scotland. Wherever the road takes us.
|
Cost of Renovation: |
|
|
Van purchase |
€ 800.00 |
|
Engine parts & reconditioning |
€ 1,000.00 |
|
Kitchen, presses & bed |
€ 3,100.00 |
|
Sink, insulation & hob |
€ 1,000.00 |
|
Wiring, heater & lino |
€ 500.00 |
|
Gas bottle safe & switches |
€ 500.00 |
|
Campbeds & mattress topper |
€ 400.00 |
|
VRT |
€ 850.00 |
|
Insurance |
€ 433.00 |
|
Certification SQI & CVRT |
€ 400 |
|
Totals |
|
Read More
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
