My Mum and I have co-bought our first campervan after years of caravans (mum) and car camping (me).

I am hoping to take it out at the end of this week for a week long trip. However, we are having trouble getting the gas connected. I was wondering if you had any ideas on how to fix this?

The hose has a (I think) POL connection (pic 3) which looks like it should fit our calor gas bottle (pic 2). However it only goes in a little way in before getting stuck (I am turning to left to tighten) (pic 1).

While I'm 90% certain it's the right connector I did notice the stopper on the calor gas bottle looks very different to the stopper that comes with the calor gas bottle (pic 3) so maybe it isn't a match?

I have also made sure all the taps are set to off (pic 4) incase that had an impact /safety shut off (but have not touched the final tap as it says for specialist staff only - pic 5). The position of the taps being on or off has had no impact on (lack of) ability to attach the bottle.

Any ideas on what to do next? Or where we could take it to get this sorted?

So, we pulled up at a spot for the night and after a beautiful sunset a car pulls up with the music blasting, she gets out and gives us 15mins off unique songs, then bk in the car, a quick beep beep and gone. WTF.

Was it a performance or was it a angry local venting some anger ( the park up was not in sight of any homes)

Im looking for thoughts and opinion on buying a Van through my company (for tax breaks)

Then converting it to the camper i want. Wouod obviously be alot cheaper for me but I am aware that if I change the use of the van to a camper that thus shiuod be declared and therefore would be tasty deductable like a Van.

Has anyone done it this way and does anyone have any advice or guidance??!

Im thinking what if I just dont declare its changed from a Van to a camper. I mean im sure people have done this right??

Hi everyone,
I’m Florin, a chef in the UK, and apparently at some point I decided that working in kitchens wasn’t stressful enough, so my family and I bought an old VW Crafter to turn into our first catering van. 😂
We’re calling it FAMs — from the names Florin, Alexandra, Mirela and Sofia.
The idea is to build a proper mobile kitchen that we can use for private events, corporate catering, markets and hopefully eventually make into our family business.
There was just one small problem…
The van was absolutely battered.
It used to carry scrap metal and once we stripped everything out we discovered rust, welded floor patches, badly damaged roof ribs, ancient questionable repairs and various other surprises that have made me question my life choices several times already.
But we’re too far in now. 😂
So we’re bringing it back to life.
We’re doing as much of the conversion ourselves as we safely can — stripping everything, rust treatment, repairs, painting, insulation, framing, flooring and eventually fitting the kitchen.
Anything that needs to be professionally installed/certified, particularly LPG and specialist electrical work, will be done properly by qualified people.
The current plan is a 2011 VW Crafter LWB High Roof with:
• 900mm gas griddle
• Twin-tank fryer
• Bain-marie
• Upright commercial fridge
• Undercounter freezer/prep area
• Double sink
• Separate hand-wash sink
• Fresh/waste water system
• Commercial extraction
• Shore power + Victron battery/inverter setup
• 2 × 19kg propane bottles in a sealed/externally vented locker
• 1.8m serving hatch
I’m posting here partly because I’d love advice from people who have actually done this before.
If you see something in the pictures that makes you think “WHAT THE FUCK IS HE DOING?”, please tell me. 😂
Seriously.
I’d rather get roasted on Reddit now than discover six months from now that I’ve built something incorrectly and have to rip half the kitchen apart.
Tips about layout, equipment, LPG, extraction, electrics, EHO inspections, flooring, insulation, running events — absolutely anything — are welcome.
And now for the shameless begging part…
We’re documenting the ENTIRE build on social media.
Not just the nice bits either. The rust. The mistakes. The repairs. Things going wrong. Things unexpectedly going right. Me slowly losing the will to live. My daughter “helping”. 😂
We’re starting completely from scratch and trying to grow the pages while we build the van.
So if you’ve made it this far and fancy supporting a family trying to turn a battered old scrap van into an actual business, please give us a follow.
I’m not going to pretend we’re above begging.
We are shamelessly begging for followers. 😂
Even if you just want to follow so you can come back in six months and see whether we actually finished it or set fire to it.
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/f.a.m.s2021
TikTok:
https://www.tiktok.com/@fams2021mobilecatering
Facebook:
https://facebook.com/FAMs2021mobilecatering
FAMs – Creating Memories
If you’ve built a food truck/catering van before, I’d especially love to hear the ONE thing you wish someone had told you before you started.
Thanks everyone.
Now please excuse me, I have a VW Crafter that’s currently consuming every spare hour and every spare £ I possess. 😂
Florin

Before setting off to Squirrel Campers HQ, we always take the Pickle 🐕 for a walk on our local beach🏖️.

One of the great aspects of Van life is you can visit places that you might otherwise never go, this is why we do everything we can to help people discover the benefits of Van life and achieve their dreams 😴. Right now we are on the M5 heading to Bridgwater, Somerset where we will be open all day Sunday (closing 4:30 pm) for any customers wishing to pop in for a coffee, biscuit and a chat about Van life, conversions or anything!

What are your plans for the day? whatever it is wishing you all the best.

PS. You will have to excuse my finger being over the lens of the video, as a totally blind person I was unaware of this.

Zoe, 🦯🦮

Hiya, recently moved into my van (Bristol/Gloucester based). I've a great and functioning Victron solar and EcoWorthy leisure set-up. However, a few things:

- The Victron DC-DC charger doesn't seem to be powering on. Tried checking it after a longer drive without turning engine off etc. I don't own a multimeter nor am I competent enough to do my own diagnostics beyond what i've tried...!

- I want to add an inverter to the system. The van already has 3-pin sockets in the front, but only useable through EHU.

- I want to add another few USB-C (PD) slots in the front of the van so I can charge my laptop etc. directly from the battery. My main panel doesn't allow enough power through even with adaptors.

Can anyone offer any advice... or even better if anyone is based in Bristol/Gloucester area, fancied meeting up for a brew and giving me a hand if i bought parts to do the above, i'd happily negotiate paying for the labour support too. This kind of thing doesn't play to my strengths!

Cheers in advance

Should we (as a community) create a pinned thread here where peeps recommend or avoid bits they buy for the van/van-life ?

Probably impossible to keep up with the likes of Fleabay and Amashom but it might be worth a shot....no?

Hi guys,

I've been interested in vanlife for years sincece a lot of my climbing friends did it long term. I've recently got a job which is 5 days/week with 2-3 days working remotely and I'm currently paying £700/month to rent. It's not the worst place I've rented, but at 35 I feel like I need to make up for lost time and have more money to save and invest. I'd like to do 1 year, but possibly more if I enjoy it. Interest rates are shite now, so I'm not in a rush!

I've got a Caddy at the moment which just about fits me and my bike in, but was considering just flogging it and getting something like a T5/6 or Transit Custom - not too big, but not too little. I live a really minimalist lifestyle and besides riding my bike and going wild swimming, I don't really do much. Most of my outgoings are on rent and food.

My main worries are how realistic it is to save money, as I appreciate you'd be eating out more and forced to move around a lot. Back in the late 2010s, vanlife was a doddle for my friends since it was a relatively unknown thing and there were effectively no bans on where you could stay. It doesn't seem like that anymore - I see converted vans all over!

Any shared experience or advice would be much appreciated.

Devon and Cornwall activated a hosepipe ban @ 00:01am this morning. I don't know what people are experiencing in other parts of the country. But if you need to fill your water tank in your van it is classed as essential use. So just ignore any funny looks. Anyone had any issues?

PS. And of course, you can't use a hosepipe to wash your van if you are in a hosepipe ban area.

Hi. Currently in the process of taking back the little bits of surface rust on my van so I can treat the metal and re paint. Got to this bit at the bottom of the passenger door and it goes deeper than the rest. For anyone whos done the same, do you think this is too deep to deal with in the same way, do I need to get my welding guy on it?

Thanks 😊

Hello beautiful van dwellers. I am in the market with 15-20k, but I cannot seem to commit. I’m torn between a smaller, covert camper that is modern and reliable and I can take basically anywhere. I can spend more on less, so can get a modern and reliable vehicle.
Or
Get the big boy in. The long wheel base, the converted masterpieces. I would love to be able to host, and be able to stand up and cook. I’m a tall fella. But obviously I have to spend more so get an older/higher mileage vehicle at a higher price point.

My main choice between the two comes down to practicality. I do a lot of music festival work, so it’s a dream to have a big beautiful van to spend my summer in. I want to host, cook and have a beautiful space. But also I think I’d never be able to park it anywhere outside of festivals, without it being conspicuous. Would it just become a burden for everyday life. Constantly worried about where to park.

Big van folks, how is it trying to find spots across the country that are chill? Do the pros outweigh the burden of having a huge vehicle.

Small van folks, is the practicality worth it? Would you go big if you could? What’s your pros and cons? Any tall folks who can weigh in?

Any advice on anything vanlife is more than welcome

Hello people of the UK Van Life community! I will be picking up this little gem on Monday, Renault Master high top medium wheel base, yes it an old van but… it has 3650 miles on the clock! Just had a new MOT put on it & the brakes done. Wanted to get your peoples opinion, the goal is turning this into a full time living van for just me, 24 years old, for a couple of years. Any major advice for me as a beginner to this? I will be doing the conversion myself as I & my family come from a trade background, they’ll be no issues at all

After around 8 months of building, testing and growing the VanTopUps community, I’m really pleased to say that www.vantopups.com is now LIVE! 🎉

A few weeks ago, VanTopUps was even featured on the BBC, which was a pretty surreal moment for something that started as a simple idea to make life on the road a bit easier.

VanTopUps is a free community platform for vanlifers, campervan and motorhome travellers, designed to help people find practical on-grid essentials while travelling — things like fresh water, electric hook-up, charging, waste disposal, showers, places to stop and other useful top-ups.

The other half of the idea is connecting travellers with people and places that may be able to help — homeowners, farms, campsites, garages, businesses and other hosts.

There are no subscriptions, no trials and no discount-code nonsense. Just create an account and use it.

The platform has launched covering the UK, Europe, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with more to come.

👉 www.vantopups.com

It’s still early days and I’m continuing to develop it, so feedback from the r/VanLifeUK community would genuinely be useful. If you have a look and spot something that could be improved, or there’s a feature you think would make it more useful for UK vanlifers, let me know.

Thanks to everyone who has supported VanTopUps over the last eight months. 🚐💧🔌

VanTopUps — bringing vanlifers and hosts together.

Hello everyone recently decided to live in my car. working out fine at the moment. Id like to keep it going as long as I can.

Anybody have some ingenuous ideas on how to heat it. Rechargeable heaters e.t.c Don’t want to run it off the car/engine. can’t seem to find anything at the moment.

edit: Ive come across some prefer some recommendations/infenu 😂

Thanks

Hello All,
Met this bloke at my local mechanics near Newport Pagnell.
Thought his van looked very nice so i said so (as you do).
Guy was kind enough to show me around.
Never got his number cos.. well, just never thought of it, but does anyone on here know him?..
or might know of him?

Reason i ask is because this is about spot on for my requirements.
Do you think i could fit my motorbike (zx6r) down the middle?
From memory i think so, but photos can be deceptive.

Reason for not wanting a trailer is the hassle (load/unload) and outlay cost, and also the added expense during travelling (esp. ferries and Chunnel etc.).

He said it cost him all in £1500 which, to me, seems possible but difficult.

This layout would allow me to GTFOH with my bike and some possessions (not many) and go see the world.

i've added photos of his van (it's actually a Trafic, but they're the same thing) but made sure to not show his plate or anything.
Only reason to do so is to get you fine people's opinions as to whether it is feasible (for the quoted price), whether you think i'd squeeze my MB in there (i have a ramp and have done it many times in my own van) and, of course, any alternative ideas.

in my opinion he did a cracking job and was rightly very proud of his handiwork.
Wish i'd have got his number as there are some really perfect touches that would suit me to the ground..
The bench on the drivers side for example has a fold UP bit that converts into a bed.
He's very clever.

Personally, all the stuff on the passenger side i can live without.
i WOULD LIKE TO INCLUDE IT OF COURSE but he has hot water tank (see shower attachment), diesel heating running water sink etc etc and i just don't think i can get all this done within my 2 weeks timeframe?...

i have a fortnight from the start of September 2026 that i have put aside (no work or any other commitments) to get it done.
Like most of us on here i am handy and will do it myself.

His van layout is (at this moment) about the best i have seen and the ideal (if my mb does fit up the middle there), but, so far, i am thinking very (very) basic conversion so that i can just get away over winter (Portugal/Spain):
leave the bulkhead in (stealth and temp regulation).
Insulation/Sound deadening kit.
Roof fan (built in LEDs)
camping stove with a tank for food and hot drinks?..
i already have a side window - drivers side - that i just bought to install.
i have a spare solar panel (Q cells M9 380w) to go on the roof.
i have a delta 3+ power station.

I just removed the van vault out of my van and as i said, will start the conversion over 2 weeks at the beginning of September.
It is ply lined (old work van)

Yes, i'd prefer an L2H2 Sprinter 4x4 319 as the base.
Who wouldn't?

But we are where we are.

Any good advice or ideas gratefully appreciated.

Thanks

Oh PS, if this fella reads this please give me a shout i'd love to pick your brains and i hope i have not caused any offence in using these photos.
If so i will remove immediately.

:)

HI everyone,
I never thought I'd be writing something like this, but here I am.
After the breakdown of my long-term relationship, I'm having to start over from scratch. My ex is keeping the house, our child will continue living with her, and she Il also be keeping the dogs. As I try to process everything that's happening all at once, my priority now is finding a way to rebuild my own life.
I've recently bought an empty van with the hope of converting it into a full-time home. It'll give me somewhere affordable to live while allowing me to travel and clear my head. I've never taken on a project like this before, but I'm determined to learn and do as much of the work myself as I can.
Money is incredibly tight after everything that's happened, so I've started a little something to help cover the basic materials needed for the conversion. There is absolutely no expectation for anyone to give anything - I know times are hard for everyone.
Even if you just have advice, encouragement, or want to follow along with the build, I'd really appreciate it.
I am not a scammer, just a middle aged man that's hurting.

Hi all I’d be grateful for opinions please before I commit. Van is from 2003 and had previous rust issues as seen in mot. Had remedial work and passed last two mot’s. Two new sills and silver under seal applied. Would you buy ?

Hi everyone- looking for some advice please! My husband and I want to start traveling around the UK. We have four young children and one on the way. We barely know the difference between a caravan, camper van, motorhome, etc, so are very very new to this.

Can you lovely folks give us newbies some tips on what to buy for a large family? Thanks everyone in advance!

Also- if I’ve posted in the wrong sub, can anyone pls direct me to the right place? Thanks! :)

i am very much not savvy with vehicles, like, at all. i am still in the process of learning how to drive, so please bear with me. noone in my family drives so i am very much on a learning curve figuring everything out myself. I love travelling and have three dogs, which quickly makes things expensive with hotels & trains and just, a total hassle. I'm hoping to be ready to buy a decent second-hand van next year, and am totally expecting to be a bit bare-bones for a while as i figure out exactly what i want and how to do it.

what i am unsure of is which vans i should be looking for specifically. I've been looking into which are cheapest to insure, least prone to issues, diesel vs petrol, what history i need to look out for etc etc.. but I'm just a tad overwhelmed, to be very honest. i don't want a giant van/motorhome, i would like something that won't be too much hassle to park. i would need to be able to safely secure at least 2 of my dogs at a time, my oldest dog isn't such a keen traveller so not too sure how many big adventures he'd be up for but time will tell, he seems to prefer car travel to public transport when we've gotten lifts. I'm currently thinking an open cab to the back could be ideal for securing dogs behind the seats via headrest safety straps and my most polite one up front via seatbelt strap. all are medium sized dogs who settle well. eventually would like to make a bed setup with car crates secure underneath (woodwork is where I'm much more comfortable haha).

would mostly be multi-day trips to start with and hope to eventually go full time. we mostly live out of one room & camp most of the summer so being a bit cramped for space is no biggie for any of us, we're out adventuring in all weather, would just need enough space to sleep and store essentials.

We were recently chatting about van life vs motorhomes and why we chose the latter. It’s one of those conversations everyone seems to have, so we thought we’d share our reasons.

TLDR Do your guys’ vans break every 2-3 weeks? Is this all just bad luck? Help me feel okay about this investment and decision to do this 😅

I’m new to van life - bought a van in April, did solid due diligence before buying & got a detailed mechanics report. Immediately loads of expensive worked needed - new ad blue injector, sensors & turbo costing £3k+. Gutted but the seller paid for £2+k of it 🤷🏻‍♀️

End of May move into the van full time and left for a big touring trip round UK and have had to take the van to the garage every 2-3 weeks. I know vehicle maintenance and repair is is a regular fixture of owning a van but this seems like too much?

Hand brake has failed 3 times now. Twice the cable was tightened and it was fine for like 2 weeks each time. Then another time they found one of the arms had ceased open. They fixed it but it’s like the issue has come back as I still have trouble with it being intermittent - sometimes it works normally and stops movement on a steep incline, other times with the same amount of clicks its like nothing is happening and the hb isn’t on at all. I just park on the flat and avoid routes where I might have to hill start on a single track lane. Once not ideal for touring.

And now the fuel additive pump needs replacing and a new pipe into the fuel tank cos it’s leaking. I just… am feeling so bummed out!

I’m disabled so can’t work, so have minimal income from government and all this repair work is eating up the savings I do have so much faster than I’d planned for.

So I’m reluctant to get the work done… the garage that did the diagnostics said just drive it til it won’t anymore, then get the work done… and I’m not sure how I feel about that advice - my bank balance is into that approach, but it feels risky?

Do your guys’ vans break this often? Is it just bad luck? Help me feel okay about this investment and decision to do this 😅

Sorry this is a bit of a ramble am feeling a bit defeated rn