'We turned an £8k carpenter's van into a motorhome - now we explore the UK's hidden gems'

EXCLUSIVE: 'We turned an £8k carpenter's van into a motorhome - now we explore the UK's hidden gems' A couple converted an £8k van during the pandemic, despite having no experience, and since then have swapped exotic trips abroad for staycations to some very unusual UK locations A "battered" carpenter’s van that cost £8,000 changed the course of one couple's lives after they turned it into a home on wheels. Andy and Claire Stocks, also known as St Christopher of Atlantis to more than 45,000 followers on YouTube, have swapped foreign holidays for staycations in their van, sharing their adventures across the UK’s underrated spots with their fans. The Barnsley couple fell into van life accidentally, taking on the task of turning a van into a motorhome after their Mercedes broke down during the pandemic and they were unable to get parts. “It started to get this intermittent fault on the dashboard and I didn't really want to part with the car, but it got worse and worse, and it was coming up more and more," Andy explained. Do you have a travel story to share? Email [email protected] “I was a little bit annoyed at it. So, I decided to buy a van instead. I just kind of threw the teddy out of the pram because the car that I liked, I couldn't have.” But that van ended up being life-changing for the couple. They swapped exotic jaunts to hotels and Airbnbs in the Far East and Central America for simpler staycations, and have now semi-retired to spend more time on the road and focus on their YouTube channel. The couple has also turned their adventures into a book: It Started with a Van, due to be released in paperback on July 16. The story begins with them finding a van and deciding to give vanlife a go, with Andy noting he had no experience and “an unrealistic amount of confidence” when he took on the project. Andy admitted that the start of the project had its hitches. "The first job that I had to do - there's a bulkhead that separates the cab from the back to stop things flying into the cabin. So, I had to remove that. I thought that was going to be a really easy job. And I started taking the bolts out, and they were all good apart from one bolt, and that took me two weeks to actually get rid of. So it kind of set the tone for everything else that followed.” While they learned some skills from YouTube and a book on conversions, the couple went into the project blind, doing jobs after work in the winter whenever they had enough light. In addition to the initial cost of £8,000 for the van, the couple spent a “few thousand” on the renovations, although they haven’t worked out the true amount. Andy joked: “I might be in trouble with her if I did.” Their first trip in the van was to Conwy in Wales, and it took place with the build half-done. The couple admitted it was less glamorous than many vanlife influencers would have you believe. “I was trying to sell the lifestyle to Claire. What actually happened was we sat in a car park with a sandwich. On the bare floor," laughed Andy. As they worked on the van the couple had the idea to put updates on their progress on YouTube. They have since built a base of thousands of subscribers. But at first, the reception wasn’t quite what they expected. Andy said: “When we put it out on YouTube, I think people thought it was a bit of a joke. Some of the initial comments were, 'Oh, that was really funny. That was, you know, you made me laugh.' And actually, that wasn't your intention at all. “No, I put my best foot forward thinking this would show people how to build a van, but they thought it was more of a funny sort of parody type thing really." However, they persevered and have now cut their work days to three a week to allow them to spend more time in the van and creating YouTube content. In a typical day, the couple travel to a campsite and create a video tour of the facilities. "A lot of people book campsites off the back of us. We turn up, we set the pitch up, then we grab the cameras, and then we will go and tour the campsite and the surrounding area. And then when we've done that, we come back to the motor home and we're working basically," Andy said. “The illusion is that we are out and just on campsites and enjoying ourselves., But we're editing, we're dealing with the social media side, the comments. And so it's like our motor home now, it's a bit like an office on wheels.” Despite the success of their build, Andy conceded that if they had to do it all again, he’d “probably get somebody else to build it because I really found out what my limits were.” After enjoying adventures that took them all the way to Italy through Switzerland, Germany, and Belgium, plus lots of staycations, the couple eventually traded in their carpenter’s van, opting to buy a motorhome instead. As a couple on the road all the time, Andy and Claire noted that living in tight quarters can lead to annoyances. Their original van had no separate seating area, just a bed, and no built-in toilet, so they had to rely on campsite facilities and stay “mega organised” to cope. The couple also dealt with breakdowns and an incident where they ended up trapped in a full-blown blizzard. Perhaps most memorable was when they ended up in completely the wrong place. Andy said: “We did have an occasion where we put in the wrong location into the satnav. I went to the completely incorrect country. It said we should have been somewhere in France. We ended up in Belgium.” Debunking a common myth, Andy and Claire say they like to support the local economies in places they visit, often highlighting local cafes, bars, and shops on their channel. And their trip highlights? The Isle of Mull was a favourite of Claire's as it has “the most wonderful sunset we’ve ever seen”. She recommended a campsite called Fidden Farm and said: “And the beaches truly are white beaches up there”, comparing it to the Maldives. Andy’s favourite was a little more unusual: “This is a really random place that we would never expect it. We went to Hartlepool Marina and we saw dolphins. It was so beautiful, kind of an industrial location actually, but then you look up and you’re watching the dolphins.Goodness! “The Northeast is a bit like that. You know, you can be on a beach and you look one way and there's industry, but then you look the other way and you've got wildlife. Everywhere has got something going for it.” So, will Andy and Claire ever hang up their motorhome keys? The couple said that they’d like to stay on the road for as long as possible. “We are quite young to be motorhomers. The demographic of our channel is a lot of people that are older than us. So, we've got all that to go and we'll do it as long as we enjoy it," Andy added. And his advice to anyone thinking of taking on this kind of life? “Just do it now while you can. Just do whatever you want to do. Get out and do it. That's my advice.” Have a story you want to share? Email us at [email protected]