My name is Malcolm Hollindrake. My wife Karen and I love all things outdoors, including walking, mountain biking, scuba diving and skiing. We spend as much time as we can in Scotland and the Lake District and are half way through the munros and have chalked up a significant number of Wainwrights too.
We were looking to buy a campervan a few years ago, having grown disillusioned with the trusty old tent after a particularly wet Scottish holiday. The problem was that all the vans we saw were fitted out for hook-ups and leisure parks. There was nowhere to store all our equipment and way too much beige for our tastes!
As a result, I decided to build my own van, based on a Citroen Relay, designing this to our specifications. It was a steep learning curve, but I adapted the build as we went along. Essentials for us were:
- Small enough to drive around easily, particularly on narrow roads, but big enough to be comfortable on longer trips.
- A fixed bed, so we wouldn’t have to make up beds when returning from long days on the mountain.
- A shower room and toilet, which doubles as a drying room.
- Heating, so we could use the van all year round.
- Solar panels to charge up the leisure batteries to enable us to wild camp.
- A kitchen with sink, cooker and fridge, again to give us independence wherever we were.
- A large, secure storage space in the garage for all our outdoor equipment, including bikes, skis and hiking gear.
Having always owned my own businesses, I now build campervan conversions for like-minded people. We believe we have the knowledge to understand what ‘outdoors’ people want from a van and aim to deliver vans with a high-quality build and great value for money.