Searching for our next home.

When one door opens, well, it can close again. The search for our next home continues.

We’ve been trolling the used market for a van that ticks as many boxes as possible—a search that’s made more difficult by the fact that we had our hearts and minds set on something very particular and, I suppose, a little unique. But with that said, now that we’ve had some time to consider other options, some important pros and cons have come to light.

The van we had on order was distinctive in that it had very wide, angled bunk beds which would have given Alina a great space of her own, along with having a high sided shower that would also make for a bath, making bathing and showering kids a simpler process. The van also had excellent external storage, however, with that unique interior design came reduced internal storage, and with it, a blunted living space which made it feel a bit more claustrophobic. That was always a bit of a sticking point for me, but one that I was prepared to live with for the advantages it offered. Typically, bunk bed caravans have a little corridor, for lack of a better term, created between the bathroom and the standard width bunk bed. This mainstream design seems to open up the van a bit more and allows some more storage by way of cupboard space at the end of the small corridor space. The challenge is finding a design and layout that will be most suitable for your needs and preferences. I reckon if you’re hooking yourself up with a van to go away for weekends and the odd week here and there it’s less of an issue—you just make do. If the van is going to be your home for 12 months or more, though, well, for us it needs to be as much as on point as we can get it with the budget we’ve got.

We did manage to find a couple of these wide bunk vans on a caravan sales website. One was a new van in another State, the other was a used van being sold privately. The latter looked a great option, packed with plenty of upgrades including airbag suspension and additional water tanks. The issue for us was that in explaining the van’s capacity to take a decent payload, the owners explained that they had been travelling around at a couple of hundred kilograms beyond the aggregate trailer mass (ATM), the vans maximum total weight, without any issue. It was probably all good and fine, but at the price they were asking, and without the support of any kind of warranty, it was a risk we weren’t prepared to take. Each and every van on the second-hand market had some pros, but enough cons to not quite hit the mark. Perhaps our view was simply tainted by the prospect of a new van.

To this point, we have only checked out one used van in person—the price was about right, coming in at $10k or so under the price on the previous one we had a contract on. But to be honest, everything was just, well, used, with a few trimmings being loose, and a couple of fixtures not quite fixed. It was an off-road van, a spec that we don’t need I suppose, but want, and it came a with a warranty that was actually outstanding for a used van…provided it never left a sealed road. We pointed out that, being an off-road van, it makes the lure of the warranty completely useless, to which the salesperson could only agree, but that’s just how it was.

Since then we’ve came across a van from a manufacturer that is reasonably new to the market. For a couple who typically err on the side of caution, we’ve taken a leap of faith in even thinking about this option, but we’re doing our best to look past the sharp sales pitch to try and see this option for what it appears to be—a reasonably new manufacturer who are doing their bit to make their mark against a flood of competition, and be considered a real option for new van buyers wanting value for money. All things have to start somewhere, is what we’re thinking. In considering new brands to the market, perhaps you don’t want to be an early adaptor, but then, getting on board way down the road can have its pitfalls too. If what we read is to be true, many other manufacturers are now far removed from the quality build and craftsmanship they were known for since their early years. This new brand we are considering have been putting out vans for barely a couple of years now and producing around 50 vans annually. They seem to be on a mission to make a name and stand out in the crowd, so with a couple of years build experience, and being a brand on a mission, now might be a good opportunity to get on board. I can see this is beginning to read like an infomercial, but rather, I think I’m trying to justify to myself why we’re even considering this virtually unknown brand as an option.

In any case, as it’s been every step of the way since the seed of our big adventure began to shoot, we have a great deal to think about. And whilst we feel like we’re running out of time, we don’t want to make the mistake of poor decisions being the outcome of feeling rushed. We’ll keep you posted!