Vanlife

Yes, that’s right. I used a hashtag in the title. These are strange times.

Anyway, I have been living that suburban life and unfortunately that meant that I didn’t feel too inspired to write. I mean, we – my family and I – travel, I love travelling but there’s just not time to also keep up the blog. Yet, here we are.
So what inspired me this time? You might have guessed it based on the #Vanlife hashtag. The fact is…

We bought the brand new electric VW ID.Buzz MPV

What is the VW ID.Buzz?

Wikipedia has this to say:

“The Volkswagen ID. Buzz is a battery electric minivan produced by German manufacturer Volkswagen. Based on the dedicated battery electric MEB platform, it is the first production electric minivan from Volkswagen and part of the Volkswagen ID. series.^[4] The design of the ID. Buzz is inspired by the Volkswagen Type 2 (T1) Microbus.”

Hmm. Great. While true, it’s not exactly riveting. What won my heart about the Buzz is the fact that it’s a revitalisation of the old volkswagen T1/T2. Colloquially know as the hippie van or the VW bus. In Denmark, where I’m from, it’s also called “folkevognsrugbrødet” which is almost impossible to translate. “Folkevogn” is the Danish translation of the German word “volkswagen” which roughly translated means “people’s van” – while “rugbrød” is a type of dark heavy bread enjoyed in Denmark. It’s heavy, cheap and keeps you going through hard work. Similarly, when you’re biking, you’re using your “rugbrødsmotor” or your “rugbrødsengine” to power the bike. Put all that together and you get a car that’s like a people’s van that keeps on going. A work horse accessible to all.

But I digress, besides the history, it’s beautiful with it’s big smiley front, large logo and welcoming headlights. It’s also functional, spacious and just all around joyful to drive. I’m not trying to sell you this car but I want to put my enthusiasm down on paper for all to see.

Where does Vanlife come into all this?

Yes. Vanlife. It’s because I want to use this car as both our primary (and only) vehicle in the family and as an every day adventure facilitator. It’s already set up for this from Volkswagens side and although it’s not a campervan per se, it’s definitely usable in that domain.

In fact, all though it’s winter and negative degrees (celcius) here in Denmark. I’ve already taken out the van to wild camp (camping for free on random parking lots etc).

It worked quite well. Being electric it gives you lots of power to enjoy. We spent around 10% battery keeping it warm all night.

We haven’t figured out all the small details. As you see, the mattresses are 140cm wide, while the car is only 120cm so they don’t totally fit. We also need to buy camping gear. We have a Jackery 1000W Explorer pro battery that can run an electric stove and some other minor gear. It all fits under the split seat so that you have a lot of free space in the main “sleeping cabin”. However, we still need maybe a fridge, some boxes to compartmentalise stuff, an awning on the side, some chairs and a table etc. Whatever it takes.

However, as this is also going to be used as a normal every day car, we’re not going for a full rebuild or permanent installations.

What’s next?

More adventures, more gear, more stories and anecdotes, and more posts right here on worldwidewinther.com

Stay tuned!