BY: SAMANTHA TAPP
It’s a tale as old as time: your 9-5 job isn’t everything you’d always imagined, your daily routine has become boring rather than comfortable and you find yourself itching to ditch it all to travel the world. For some, they turned this dream into a reality in the form of travelling the world in a van.
Now their daily routine is a bit different. It may include waking up on a beach or in the middle of a national forest, their work can be done from their laptop in their van and travelling isn’t a far off dream, but rather a daily reality. If this sounds like something that you’ve been toying with for a while, then these VW buses may make you want to quit your day job immediately and buy the next van you see.
These are 10 VW buses that will inspire you to ditch your day job and hit the road:
1. Karol & Aleksandra Lewandowski’s VW van
Why: The couple bought this van for $600 and have travelled to over 50 countries and five continents while only spending $8 a day. Oh yeah, and the actual van is pretty epic.
Coolest feature: Free showers. They installed an electric device on the top of the van to keep clean and save some cash.
2. Lauren Smith & Calum Creasey’s VW van
Why: This couple has been travelling for five years and over 80,000 miles in their 1996 VW T4 van. The couple surfs, hikes and run a creative studio from their van. Talk about life goals.
Coolest feature: The interior design of the van. Think comfy, creative and pretty much anything you’d ever want in a dream van.
3. Daniel Norris’ VW van
Why: Daniel Norris bought this van after he signed a $2 million signing bonus with the Toronto Blue Jays. Yeah, he’s a professional baseball player (and millionaire) and he lives in a 1978 Volkswagen Westfalia camper van. Need I say more?
Coolest feature: His van is named “Shaggy” and he travels in it to Blue Jays’ training ever year. It also features a kitchen and bedroom, but no bathroom. Norris insists the van keeps him grounded and we’d have to agree.
4. Lauren & Craig’s VW van
Why: This couple travelled for 8 years and through 51 countries while living out of various vans for $10 a day. Currently the couple is working on buying their fifth van with no plans of stopping the van life.
Coolest feature: Clearly that the van says “some live to dance,” but the best feature is that each time they buy a new van they break even so they don’t end up losing any money on moving to a new place in the world to travel.
5. Bryan & Jen’s VW van
Why: This couple bought a house, converted the garage into a tiny-home to live in during off-season, rents the rest of the house out and then travels around the world in their VW van for free.
Coolest feature: The van has solar panels, the cabinet doors and fridge face are made from ecologically-friendly materials and the bus is sound proof.
6. Lars & Katrin Schneider’s VW van
Why: This couple and their 8-month old son travelled in their van across multiple states and national parks. I mean the fact that they lived the van life with a baby is inspiration enough for us all.
Coolest feature: The van is so special to the family, once they finished their journey across America they shipped it back to Europe where they live.
7. Sarah & Matt Park’s VW van
Why: This couple renovated this rusty, old VW van into an epic van. They lived in the van through Utah winters (without a heater), but in the end came out successful and are living the life of freedom they wanted.
Coolest feature: The van has a homemade wood beam roof, much like one on a regular house.
8. James & Rachel’s VW van
Why: The couple bought their VW van (aka Sunshine) while they were in college and have been on the road full-time together since.
Coolest feature: The van runs LED lights off of the battery at night, they store their food in a non-electric icebox and the backseat pulls into a bed, which allows for four to sleep comfortably in a bed.
9. Adam, Emily, Colette & Sarah’s VW van
Why: This family of four has been travelling for over three years in their van. They have no plans of leaving the van life and even had their second child while on the road.
Coolest feature: The interior of the van has been transformed into a family home and their life is so inspirational that they have over 100,000 followers on Instagram.
10. Dave Manning’s VW van
Why: Dave has had his van, or ‘Vincent’ for 27 years. He is a musician that travels, makes music and lives in a van. Basically he’s living a real life movie plot.
Coolest feature: It’s famous! ‘The Bus Movie’ is a documentary about Dave and his iconic VW bus.
