Those views are surely worth the bugs Kitt! ahaha Thanks for being honest and showing the highs and lows of van life. What would you say is essential gear (stuff you guys use or wear everyday) that people might not think of, and what stuff has been a complete waste or time/space?
Haha!! Yes you’re totally right, I’m just a big baby! 😂 Thank you SO much for your lovely comment, and thank you for the awesome question! We really appreciate comments like this as we’d love to answer your questions in a next video! Stay tuned we will cover this 👍🏼
I like your simple and cost effective approach. Lots of people go overboard on the build and then don’t like the lifestyle! I think keeping it simple and adapting as you go is a great approach. Having done a fair bit of van living with some similar epic trips my advice is stretch it out while you have the freedom and enjoy the moment. It only takes a good job and / or baby or some other commitment and before you know it roaming free isn’t as easy. Enjoy ❤
Thanks Richie! Appreciate your comment. We bought a van towards the end of COVID for UK and weekend adventures, we discovered a love for it and decided to go for it. It was the perfect intro to van life for us at a small cost!
Hi guys, thanks so much for creating your realistic and inspiring content. I have a kangoo too and have struggled with deciding how to kit it out but your videos have shown me how it can be done on a budget and still be lived in without all the frilly bits. Please keep putting stuff out there and if you're ever back in the UK I'd be well up for a kangoo meetup! Fran
Hey Fran! So sorry we missed your comment, it's much appreciated and we're so happy you found our video helpful 😁...ooww we'd have so been up for a Kangoo club but we've sold her now!! 🤦
Nice one Ian, we're pleased you found it useful! We'd do it again tomorrow but yeh it comes with it's challenges 😅. What are you thinking of getting? Lee 👍🏼
Congrats from Portugal ! Gr8 glory days u got to remember a lot! I had also a GPL camperized Kangoo but never went far away from the ibérica penínsul. Lol U should try visit Spain and Portugal too. Keep Having a nice life you Twoo!
Cheers Matt! We'd love to explore Spain and Portugal by van one day...had it not been for Brexit making it more difficult to spend a longer time in Europe, I'm sure we would have! 👍
Winter was our downfall in the end ...for sleeping it was absolutely fine and always kept us warm, but on cold, miserable days there's nowhere to relax or work, and it wasn't feasible for us to spend all day, every day in a cafe or a bar. Thanks for the comment, glad you enjoyed the video 👍🏼
Love the video - i'm sure you've thought of it, but i guess if you upgraded to have a roof tent for sleeping, you could turn the back of the car into a sitting around area/kitchen? or even workspace?
Thanks for the comment Tierno...absolutely we also thought of this, and considered doing it. For sure it would have created more space, but on the other hand makes it a little harder to stealth camp when needed...that was certainly helpful on places like Tirol where camping isn't tolerated like other places in Europe. Pros and cons of each setup I guess. Lee 👍
@@lifelemonstravel yeah..,,, stealth wins. I just bought the kangoo maxi van, a four year old van....about to convert to a micro camper. it's more modern than yours (sorry, not gloating), and it;s got a great roof rack but i doubt i'll put more than a solar panel on there, because it does feel better to be self contained. So my kangoo maxi is a car sized white van type thing,.probably more space than you guys have/had because the maxi has an extra 40 cm in length than the, er, 'not maxi'. But it's still teeny. It's about the smallest thing you can make a camper out of, apart from a Citroen Berlingo. Also i'm quite tall, so i'm gonna have to put the bed LOW DOWN to get my asse low enough so i can sit up straight when i'm in there, sitting on the bed. Having your head bowed is a no no. That means i'll lose under bed space (which makes things worse) but i think i might be able to mount a cabinet up at a high level across at the back (the feet end of my bed can fit under it), if i sacrifice easy use of the rear doors, and always enter and exit via the side sliding door. Luckily there's only one of me just now, but even then, full time would be a challenge, but hoping to do some long trips at various times. But hey, the kango0 is, of course, just a life support pod to come back and sleep in, though, through thoughtful design, i also want to push the envelope so as to be able to sit up straight in some part of the van, for using laptop, or cooking on one ring(either with the door fully open, or with a good roof fitted extractor fan, floor air inlet, and of course, a carbon monoxide alarm in addition, just to be double safe) If i was to give 'first prize' for a video blog of a skilled conversion of a teeny weeny van (not a kangoo but VERY similar to current kangoo small van models) for long term van life, i'd probably give that prize to an american called Scott who has a channel called 'Static Camper Van' (no idea why it's called that, because he is NOT static at all). But even then, it's about as minimal as you could get for one person....plus he's a small person. But some GREAT tips and ideas and 'how to' guidance for living in a tiny space with incredible financial, electrical, water economy and efficiency. There are a few videos out there where two people have converted a kangoo to a micro camper, (yours is one example of this fine genre of course!) and it can indeed just work if you are mad for the outdoors, skiiing, hiking, the outdoors etc, survival pod stylee Good luck on your travels !
It's a fair point...the reality is we wouldn't have been able to jump up and drive off straight away. It took us about a minute flat to get the bed put away so we could drive. I suppose it would depend on the emergency if that is fast enough or not. With it already being such a small space, sacrificing the size of the bed isn't something we were willing to do! Would you do it a different way yourself? Thanks for the comment 😊 Lee
You're allowed to spend up to 90 days in the Schengen zone (within a 180 day period) and then you need to leave to a country not in the Schengen agreement. At the time, Croatia was an EU member country but not a part of the Schengen agreement if that makes sense? So we decided to make our way there leaving a few days of our 90 day allowance to spare in case we needed to head back the UK within the following 90 days. Turns out I (Lee) only had one day left, due to a miscalculation of dates, and we had to drive from Zagreb to the France-UK border in one day 😅.
European spiders are nothing! Drive down to Australia. We train our Huntsman spiders to be friendly by getting them to retrieve sausages. In no time you'll have them queuing up to join you in your van as bodyguards. Very useful if you lose your mosquito netting as those little buggers can arm wrestle you down to the ground!
😂😂 Sorry for the slow reply Liam. I (Lee) haven't been to Aus yet, but if course I'm well aware of the insects on steroids compared to Europe. Generally I'm not too bad with insects and spiders, but I suppose I haven't truly been tested yet haha! Kitt on the other hand, well, it's gonna be interesting when we head to Australia later this year 🫣
Hey! Thanks for your comment! The back side windows click open 1-2 inches and obviously yeah the front windows can be wound down a crack! But other than that no proper ventilation such as a fan ☺️
Just recommended you to these happy days channel. They are giving up a bigger van and moving into a Berlingo micro camper. People being negative. But I recommended your channel. You are both so positive and an inspiration to watch. ❤
Those views are surely worth the bugs Kitt! ahaha Thanks for being honest and showing the highs and lows of van life. What would you say is essential gear (stuff you guys use or wear everyday) that people might not think of, and what stuff has been a complete waste or time/space?
Haha!! Yes you’re totally right, I’m just a big baby! 😂
Thank you SO much for your lovely comment, and thank you for the awesome question! We really appreciate comments like this as we’d love to answer your questions in a next video! Stay tuned we will cover this 👍🏼
I like your simple and cost effective approach. Lots of people go overboard on the build and then don’t like the lifestyle! I think keeping it simple and adapting as you go is a great approach. Having done a fair bit of van living with some similar epic trips my advice is stretch it out while you have the freedom and enjoy the moment. It only takes a good job and / or baby or some other commitment and before you know it roaming free isn’t as easy. Enjoy ❤
Thanks Richie! Appreciate your comment. We bought a van towards the end of COVID for UK and weekend adventures, we discovered a love for it and decided to go for it. It was the perfect intro to van life for us at a small cost!
A great honest account guys, a real eye opener
It's not all pretty 🤣
Hi guys, thanks so much for creating your realistic and inspiring content. I have a kangoo too and have struggled with deciding how to kit it out but your videos have shown me how it can be done on a budget and still be lived in without all the frilly bits. Please keep putting stuff out there and if you're ever back in the UK I'd be well up for a kangoo meetup! Fran
Hey Fran! So sorry we missed your comment, it's much appreciated and we're so happy you found our video helpful 😁...ooww we'd have so been up for a Kangoo club but we've sold her now!! 🤦
Love this. Thank you looking into getting a micro camper and love your honest views.
Nice one Ian, we're pleased you found it useful! We'd do it again tomorrow but yeh it comes with it's challenges 😅. What are you thinking of getting? Lee 👍🏼
I was thinking of something similar to a Kangoo, would still need to be able to use it as a family car...
This one was so interesting guys! Can't believe how well you've organised it all!
Aww Loz thank you so much! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and new year! ❤️
Congrats from Portugal !
Gr8 glory days u got to remember a lot!
I had also a GPL camperized Kangoo but never went far away from the ibérica penínsul. Lol
U should try visit Spain and Portugal too.
Keep Having a nice life you Twoo!
Cheers Matt! We'd love to explore Spain and Portugal by van one day...had it not been for Brexit making it more difficult to spend a longer time in Europe, I'm sure we would have! 👍
Absolutely brilliant, make the most of it and enjoy, hopefully it’ll inspire others to get up and just do it.
Nice one John, when you setting off then? 🤣 Appreciate the support mate! 👍 Lee
Wow! Amazing we have Renault Kangoo too. I can get good ideas for camping here
Amazing! Glad you found this useful 😁
How would your van do in winter months
Kool video
Winter was our downfall in the end ...for sleeping it was absolutely fine and always kept us warm, but on cold, miserable days there's nowhere to relax or work, and it wasn't feasible for us to spend all day, every day in a cafe or a bar. Thanks for the comment, glad you enjoyed the video 👍🏼
Amazing video!🍀
Love the video - i'm sure you've thought of it, but i guess if you upgraded to have a roof tent for sleeping, you could turn the back of the car into a sitting around area/kitchen? or even workspace?
Thanks for the comment Tierno...absolutely we also thought of this, and considered doing it. For sure it would have created more space, but on the other hand makes it a little harder to stealth camp when needed...that was certainly helpful on places like Tirol where camping isn't tolerated like other places in Europe. Pros and cons of each setup I guess. Lee 👍
@@lifelemonstravel yeah..,,, stealth wins.
I just bought the kangoo maxi van, a four year
old van....about to convert to a micro camper. it's more modern than yours (sorry, not gloating), and it;s got a great roof rack but i doubt i'll put more than a solar panel on there, because it does feel better to be self contained.
So my kangoo maxi is a car sized white van type thing,.probably more space than you guys have/had because the maxi has an extra 40 cm in length than the, er, 'not maxi'. But it's still teeny. It's about the smallest thing you can make a camper out of, apart from a Citroen Berlingo.
Also i'm quite tall, so i'm gonna have to put the bed LOW DOWN to get my asse low enough so i can sit up straight when i'm in there, sitting on the bed. Having your head bowed is a no no.
That means i'll lose under bed space (which makes things worse) but i think i might be able to mount a cabinet up at a high level across at the back (the feet end of my bed can fit under it), if i sacrifice easy use of the rear doors, and always enter and exit via the side sliding door.
Luckily there's only one of me just now, but even then, full time would be a challenge, but hoping to do some long trips at various times.
But hey, the kango0 is, of course, just a life support pod to come back and sleep in,
though, through thoughtful design, i also want to push the envelope so as to be able to sit up straight in some part of the van, for using laptop, or cooking on one ring(either with the door fully open, or with a good roof fitted extractor fan, floor air inlet, and of course, a carbon monoxide alarm in addition, just to be double safe)
If i was to give 'first prize' for a video blog of a skilled conversion of a teeny weeny van (not a kangoo but VERY similar to current kangoo small van models) for long term van life, i'd probably give that prize to an american called Scott who has a channel called 'Static Camper Van' (no idea why it's called that, because he is NOT static at all).
But even then, it's about as minimal as you could get for one person....plus he's a small person. But some GREAT tips and ideas and 'how to' guidance for living in a tiny space with incredible financial, electrical, water economy and efficiency.
There are a few videos out there where two people have converted a kangoo to a micro camper, (yours is one example of this fine genre of course!) and it can indeed just work if you are mad for the outdoors, skiiing, hiking, the outdoors etc, survival pod stylee
Good luck on your travels !
Thanks for the video
BUT what happens if you NEED to drive off in an emergency ?????
It's a fair point...the reality is we wouldn't have been able to jump up and drive off straight away. It took us about a minute flat to get the bed put away so we could drive. I suppose it would depend on the emergency if that is fast enough or not. With it already being such a small space, sacrificing the size of the bed isn't something we were willing to do! Would you do it a different way yourself? Thanks for the comment 😊 Lee
This has been one of my faves 😂
Aw thanks Skye, pleased you enjoyed it! Kitt did a great job with the comedic editing on this one 🤣
How does this work with Brexit rules?
You're allowed to spend up to 90 days in the Schengen zone (within a 180 day period) and then you need to leave to a country not in the Schengen agreement. At the time, Croatia was an EU member country but not a part of the Schengen agreement if that makes sense? So we decided to make our way there leaving a few days of our 90 day allowance to spare in case we needed to head back the UK within the following 90 days. Turns out I (Lee) only had one day left, due to a miscalculation of dates, and we had to drive from Zagreb to the France-UK border in one day 😅.
European spiders are nothing! Drive down to Australia. We train our Huntsman spiders to be friendly by getting them to retrieve sausages. In no time you'll have them queuing up to join you in your van as bodyguards. Very useful if you lose your mosquito netting as those little buggers can arm wrestle you down to the ground!
😂😂 Sorry for the slow reply Liam. I (Lee) haven't been to Aus yet, but if course I'm well aware of the insects on steroids compared to Europe. Generally I'm not too bad with insects and spiders, but I suppose I haven't truly been tested yet haha! Kitt on the other hand, well, it's gonna be interesting when we head to Australia later this year 🫣
What kind of side awning do you have ? Thanks !
tentandtrail.com/shop/awnings/medium-side-awning-2-0m-x-2-5m/ 👍
How do you get fresh air at night? Is there any ventilation or do you need to have windows open?
Hey! Thanks for your comment! The back side windows click open 1-2 inches and obviously yeah the front windows can be wound down a crack! But other than that no proper ventilation such as a fan ☺️
What a lovely couple.
Thanks you, that's lovely of you to say! 🥰
Just recommended you to these happy days channel. They are giving up a bigger van and moving into a Berlingo micro camper. People being negative. But I recommended your channel. You are both so positive and an inspiration to watch. ❤
please chack your Email