Where our obsession began! Having visited with friends in their T5 camper on a day trip, we got the 'bug' for VW Campervans and decided we need to look deeper into joining this clan!
We had been thinking all summer about maybe hiring a Campervan and having a holiday in the UK driving around to sites. It would be. huge deviaition from our usual sun, beach and pool holiday across Europe.
Traditionally we would visit Spain, Greece, or the Canaries if travelling away with Cerys but finding out in March that we would be adding one more to our Family, we had started to discuss holidays over the coming years.
We had decided that travelling abroad with just one toddler, despite how we behaved Cerys had always been, was stressful enough in itself but was manageable. However, having one inquisitive 4 year old who wants to see and do everything and then having a newborn with you as well presents a whole new world of problems that to be honest, we did not want to face on a regular basis thought the year.
Our evening conversations turned to considering a couple of years of mostly holidaying in the UK or northern Europe to minimise the lengthy travelling and flights with children.
Angharad floated the idea of buying a caravan and caravanning around the UK for a few years. Although the premise seemed solid, being well over 6ft tall and if I'm honest, pretty clumsy, I really didn't fancy a caravan. We discussed it at length and decided that when we go away, we like to see so many different things and not stay in the same place too long that taking a caravan away would mean we would likely find ourselves staying at one site for a week and taking the car out for day trips before then returning home.
We enjoy seeing lots of places and doing lots of different thing on our trips and this felt like it would be too restrictive for our needs. Angharad has what I like to call 'jumpy leg syndrome' - If she stays to long somewhere (This can be anything up to half an hour!), she gets very irritable and jumpy and needs to go out and do something.
Considering this, we moved away from the idea of a Caravan. Then we remembered that friends of ours and a few years prior, invested in a T5 Campervan and had enjoyed a number of trips across the country as well as visiting many festivals. This idea suddenly became very appealing. Not only would it mean we could holiday across the UK, we could also drive to Europe and do the same. And with no real sense of permanence, we could simply pack up after two nights and drive to a new location to continue our stay without too much hassle unlike moving a caravan across sites very couple of days.
The seed was planted.
We started to harass our friends with regular messages to get more information about their van, its cost, the practicalities and having the van for everyday use.
In June 2018, whilst in one of these conversations with our friends, it came to light that we were at a loss for something to do in the summer holidays with our daughter. We were in the middle of a heatwave. Our friends explained that they were going to Bristol for the day in the Campervan as day visitors to Bristol VolksFest and invited us long for the day out.
“If you fancy a day out, we are heading over to Bristol for the day to visit VolksFest. Bring the little 'un and it'll be a laugh!”
It sounded like an opportunity to get to know a lot more about VW Campervans that we couldn't refuse.
We arrived having journeyed as four adults and one child in their T5. Already we were seeing the benefits of the space for travelling in a VW Camper! I've no idea what we were expecting when we arrived - a simple local craft fair in a field maybe, but to our amazement, the site was huge. It was very well organised, you had to obtain a fabric wristband to enter.
We entered to find the theme for the year was Mad Max. I was in my element! As a huge film buff, seeing VW Beetles designed and styled as if they had been driven across The Wastlelands was amazing!
We immediately fell in love with VW festivals. There was so much for the children to do, activities, rides, an interactive circus, facepainting. Cerys was having a whale of a time! Then there was the main stage for adults including live bands, bars and entertainment.
As we walked around the site, we bumped into two more of our group of friends who had by chance gone to the weekend camping at the festival in their campervan. We returned with them to their van for a quick drink and got the opportunity to see the camping facilities. Again this was well organised and there as plenty of space for each van to camp.
What had surprised us was the number of flagpoles and flags each van had, it was something that had never occurred to us but at the same time, made perfect sense. A way to personalise your space.
Having refreshed, we took a walk back up to the main site and entered what can only be described as a VW sponsored 'Souk'. The trader stalls.
I was like a kid in a sweet shop. So many companies and traders peddling their VW accessories, car parts, upgrades, conversion services. I was just disappointed that I didn't have a VW with me! I suddenly realised that I'm a perfect target for sales!
We took the opportunity to have a look some of the converted demo vans and get a better feel for how customisable the vans could be. It turns out that if you can imagine it, you can pretty much do it when it comes to VW vans! I was worried I was the only one getting excited and this would not be the type of thing Angharad would enjoy. To my amazement, when I asked if she was having a good day, she replied that she was and as we hadn't planned a holiday for the next month but both had Annual Leave booked together, did I want to hire a Campervan for the week and see how it went?
By now, our decision had pretty much been made, we were going to try this VW Van life out and see if it fitted.
It's lucky that the decision had been made by then, because with Angharad pregnant and being a guaranteed driver for the journey home from Dave & Sarah's house, Dave and I headed for the cider bar to test a few of the ciders on offer with the plan that if he got drunk early, Sarah would drive the van home!
All I can say from that point is we had a very enjoyable day at Bristol Volksfest and the decision to start our Van Life adventure had been made!
