FOR THE WANDERERS

With the growing popularity of life on the road, it begs the question: How can you make your van a home? A local couple proves this is completely possible.

- BY SAADIQAH SCHROEDER

Wanderlust is a wonderful thing. It drives us to explore, to search, to open ourselves up to the what ifs. One of the questions might be whether or not you could live on the road indefinitely, and if so, how would you make your mobile house feel like a home? This is where Michael and Acacia, of the online platform Wanderers and Whiskers, have excelled. “On our first date, we drove to a lookout point in Michael’s minivan and enjoyed takeaways with a view. I guess we were destined for van life!” Acacia enthuses. After being given a month's notice to leave their flat, the pair were spurred to begin their imagined van life in 2021. Now, nearly four years later, the East London couple (and recently their cat, Rusks) have lived from campsite to campsite across the country — all out of their renovated 2016 Fiat Ducato named Yeti.

“We purchased a completely empty cargo van and tackled the conversion ourselves: Everything from cutting holes to installing windows and roof vents,” says Acacia. “We had no prior building experience going into this but we decided to attempt everything, learning as we went. We often even watched YouTube videos the night before attempting a project.”

And after dedicating two months to daily conversions, they transformed the interior into a warm space that is airy yet creatively quaint.