The art of letting go: We have to sell our beloved campervan

We never claimed this move would be easy. Of course, we are working hard to make things go as smoothly as possible, but some things you cannot really prepare for. One of these things is reality hitting you and having to make the tough decisions, even though they hurt. And so far, the thing that hurts the most, is the realisation that we have to sell our beloved red campervan.

Good intentions

When we started thinking about our move in more detail, we briefly mentioned the option selling the van. But, soon, we thought we’d be better off keeping it. After all, once we move into our rental, our journey to find a place to buy and settle will begin. It would be terribly convenient to be able to do that in our campervan. Tour during the weekends, maybe sneakily staying near the house we’re checking out to see how quiet it is at night, things like that. And it would be stupid, we said, to get rid of the van so quickly after building it. We had built it completely to our own specification. A lot of blood, sweat and energy (no tears!) went into it. We’re proud of that stupid big red thing.

We had also brought our motorbikes with us from the Netherlands to the UK, and had to make modifications (moving the steering wheel, hahahhahahaaaaa) like changing the headlight to one suitable for right-lane driving. So, we had done this before, how hard could it be?

Research

We do love a bit of research and planning. You might have noticed. So, we weren’t just going to take the van and see where we’d end up and accept it was going to take some time. I asked in various Facebook groups about experiences with matriculating (that’s what it’s called) a self-built campervan and got a lot of genuine responses that discouraged us from trying it.

One of the big hurdles starts in the UK, actually. This issue is with the DVLA, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. They have certain criteria that a self-built campervan has to adhere to in order to be changed on the official paperwork from a ‘van’ to a ‘campervan’. But… the success rate of them accepting your conversion as such is very low. Insanely low. We have seen pictures of vans that applied and were rejected that could not be more like a campervan… Check out this link by ClimbingVan.co.uk to see how ridiculous it all is. We didn’t even try.

The domino effect of this is that when trying to matriculate the van to Portugal, they will probably not accept it. Apparently, Portugal is very strict on making modifications to vehicles. Even if it would have been a campervan on official documentation, they would still adhere to the original manufacturers standard. This includes things like the removal of the bulkhead, changing seats, additional windows, roof ventilation. Basically, everything that makes a van a campervan. The chances of them accepting it. So… we found ourselves at a crossroads, or a T-junction, rather. Try and take the van, or not.

Rip off the bandaid

So, we’re going to sell our beloved red van. There. I’ve said it. It is scheduled for its MOT next week, and we’ll give it a proper service as well. New oil, new battery, new other fluids. And then it’s going up for sale online for people to hopefully buy it from us. People who will love it as much as we do, and who are going to get some amazing trips out of it.

We’ve already had a look online, and hopefully, after moving and getting our Portuguese driving licences, we’ll be able to buy a temporary replacement. Of course, we will build our own again once we have the space to do so. But, while we don’t, we still need to go out and explore where we can build that next campervan!

Silver linings

And, to be honest, even though we LOVE our van, there are things we’d now do differently in the next van. So, the silver lining of all of this is that we’ll get to take all those learnings with us into the next van that we will most definitely build. We’ll also have a left-hand drive, which, while we are very used to driving with a right-hand drive on the mainland, will actually make it a bit easier for the driver to see things.

All in all, like with our home here in Bradford, we will shed some tears when we have to say goodbye. But, we also know that there are other adventures ahead. We’ll new van to buy and build. A new home to make our own. A new country to explore and fall further in love with.

It’s possibilities rather than restrictions. We think in solutions, not in problems. And that, in the end, is what lead us to the decision to sell our beloved van. Even though it hurts.

If you read this and are interested in the van, please drop us a message!