Where tio stay overnight?

[mistericeman]

Lovely photos .... but you're really not helping!! I'd leave this office right now tbh and step out and off the grid for a while and live looking at those views. The middle ground is buying my first van as more of a day van/overnighter with the kids and its swb for practicality but long term ..... It looks like you've have some great adventures and you cant beat an OS map, I absolutley love them.

Just do it as soon as you can .....

We went for a jumbo simply for the room to have a fixed double bed AND space underneath for the 5 hounds ....access from the back for when they are soaking after hooning about on the beach AND then through another door into the living area when they have dried off ...

We have omitted a fixed toilet AND cooker/sink as we went for split charge/solar/inverter/microwave/electric kettle/toaster/slow cooker instead ...to give us most room and flexible cooking.

Scotland is fantastic wild camping wise BUT so is Derbyshire (on my doorstep)North Wales and Yorkshire with care in choosing spots ...love some camp sites too BUT only the nice quiet ones .

Follow the roads to the sea on the OS map and look for small roads with little habitation around and you'll find some gems .

[PunkyJan/Billy]

http://www.searchforsites.co.uk/ We use this site.

[GuyT]

mistericeman - interesting that you omitted so many 'standard' things in such a large van but I can fully understand why. Im starting with a swb and its going to be more of a day van for cycling, kiting and walking but with a bed option and overnighting but I see many swb with a fridge and cooker and sink and I just cant understand why, i can wash up outside and I'll take a coolbox which remains cool for atleast 5 days with 4 bags of ice thrown in (yes Ive done it ) I will install the electrics side although it daunts me a little but you just have to get stuck in and when I started to think about this idea/project I also thought about the slow cooker idea which I think is a brilliant idea. As regards toilet, there's the great outdoors or Mcdonalds

I just need to seal the deal on the van at the start of next week and then come up with some time to start a 'build'

[vampirequeen]

We have a leisure battery but mainly use gas and rechargeable lights. Our fridge is an electric cooler which we can run from the cigarette lighter when the van is in motion. We also put ice in it which helps to keep it cooler. We've never had a problem with food going off. Water is available from supermarkets for around 20p for 2 litres. We have a two ring gas hob but no cooker and simply heat water in a kettle which we pour into a bowl when we wash up. Collapsible bowls are useful but don't invest in them until you know what you need as they are quite expensive. We have a collapsible washing up bowl and a collapsible colander.

When you're planning your van layout think carefully about what you need. Will you be travelling alone or with another person? A toilet is useful. Do you really want to go outside on a cold, dark, stormy night? Also you have to be careful with bodily waste. It has to be buried away from a water source and deep enough to avoid it being dug up by animals. We built a cubicle for our toilet (LWB van) but you could simply box it in and use it as a seat when not needed. Have a look on line to see what other people have done.