You will probably recognise Lilly and Thilo’s wonderful red van from their instagram @vanderlust.vanlife as they live and travel through Europe so we thought we’d ask them about their experiences of vanlife and what they love about it.
Who are you?
We are Lilly (27) & Thilo (33)
Where are you from originally?
Lilly is from France and Thilo is from Germany but we were living and working in London (UK)
What type of van do you have?
We have a Mercedes Sprinter 2012 MWB
How long have you had it?
We bought our van in Germany at the beginning of 2017 and it took us 3 months to convert it into a campervan
What do you call your van?
Our van is called Johnny Jumper
What is it that drew you to travelling in your van?
We wanted to go travelling for a few months to try something else other than our office jobs but we wanted more than “just” a backpacker experience. The idea of converting a van and building our own space seduced us and 2 months later we got a van!
What’s the best thing about living/travelling in your van?
We are sleeping in amazing places, the kind of place you can only have by camping or sleeping in a van. We love opening the door on a new view every morning. Living in a van also gives us a lot of freedom: we can go where we want, when we want. If we like a place, we can stay for a few days, if not, it’s easy to leave/ It is also great to have our little home with us, we feel comfortable everywhere.
What’s the hardest part about living/travelling in your van?
We wanted to travel in a van mainly to stay in remote places. The thing with remote places is we were on our own more of the time… which is amazing for a few days/weeks but after a few months we were craving social contacts! It can be tricky to live with the same person 24/7
What would you be doing if it weren’t for vanlife?
Still trying to figure it out! 😉
What’s your favourite feature of your van?
We have a small unfolding table on the top of the cabinet to work or to have a quick dinner, we are using it all the time! There is an article about it on our blog!
What was the buggest surprise about vanlife?
It is not a surprise but we found ourselves with a LOT of free time. It is quite unusual to have that much free time for such a long time. First it was a bit weird but after a few weeks we got used to it and started to do and learn new things.
What advice would you give to anyone thinking about getting a van of their own?
Go for it! And make sure you read and plan enough before starting as it is asking for a lot of work to convert it.
Keep track of all Lilly and Thilo’s adventures on their instagram @vanderlust.vanlife as well as their website van-derlust.com
