Van life: on the road for over three years

How did you arrive at the decision to live in a campervan?
Martina: It was a pretty spur-of-the-moment decision: we started our own business in 2015 selling our first book and Dylan’s talks – so we were travelling a lot. At the time, our dream was to have a ‘tiny house’ somewhere in the countryside. But that wasn’t quite so easy to achieve. Then one day we had an idea: with our VW campervan, we actually already had a tiny house, and a mobile one at that, which suited us even better. So, that same day we handed in our notice on our flat...

How did the two of you meet?
Dylan: It was 2011, in India. I had been travelling around the world on my motorbike for three and a half years and we ran into each other in front of a temple in Hampi.

Martina: I didn’t intend on talking to him at first because, as a woman travelling alone in India, you get chatted up by men umpteen times a day. But we got talking anyway, and I fell in love with him that same day. I realised then and there that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this man. But Dylan wasn’t interested in a relationship at the time – he was still on his quest to find himself during his trip.

What happened next?
Dylan: I carried on travelling. Martina returned to Switzerland. I then travelled to North America via Southeast Asia and Australia. My final destination was Argentina. We kept in touch throughout and Martina visited me in Cambodia, Australia, the US and again in Costa Rica while I was travelling.

Then it got harder to keep in contact at times. Why was that?
Martina: Between Panama and Colombia, the Pan-American Highway is cut off by a huge jungle area. Central and South America are not connected by road or ferry. So Dylan built himself a raft in Panama, using his motorbike and a sail for propulsion. Then he travelled for six weeks across the Pacific to Colombia. We hardly had any contact during this time – and of course I was worried. Dylan had never sailed before, and definitely not at sea. Luckily, I only found out afterwards that he had gone completely off course temporarily due to the currents and almost ended up on the Galapagos Islands.

Dylan: I loved my idea. (laughs) And despite all the problems, it was one of the best experiences of my life. But yes, I could perhaps have prepared better – but I really wanted to set off before the rainy season. By the way, the film we’re currently working on is about that raft journey...

What happened next?
Dylan: I came back to Switzerland in 2013. We moved in together straight away and got married in 2016.

How do you both make a living now?
Martina: Dylan gives talks about his round-the-world trip and does a lot of photography. I work as a journalist. We also wrote a book together about Dylan’s voyage. We’re currently working on a second book and the film Dylan mentioned.

So what does day-to-day life look like for you?
Martina: We are travelling a lot and are rarely in the same place for more than one night. During the day, we usually look for somewhere where we can work in peace. Sometimes that’s a totally secluded spot in the countryside, other times it’s a public car park. We do our work, sit at our laptops a lot – just like everybody else does, just not in a stuffy office.

How much are your fixed costs?
Dylan: We don’t have a budget and don’t usually worry about our financial situation. So I can’t say for sure. But not paying rent gives us a certain amount of financial freedom. For example, we pay our insurance, have a mobile internet connection and fuel to pay each month. So it’s not as if we have no fixed costs.

Can people camp anywhere in Switzerland?
Dylan: It’s a bit of a grey area. The law says that you can stay overnight to ‘restore your capability to drive’. In other words, you can sleep in your car, but you’re not allowed to set up a huge encampment with a barbecue and awning. We’re always very careful not to disturb anyone; we tend to stay out of the way and of course we don’t leave any rubbish behind. Here’s a good example: just yesterday we were parked in a meadow that had cows in it. When our vehicle and laptop are empty, we normally have to turn on our small generator – but we didn’t because we didn’t want to disturb the animals.

Martina: Since we’ve been living in the van, so for more than three years, we’ve only dealt with the police once. That was in Germany and the matter was resolved straight away after a short, friendly chat. I think it’s just really important that we behave considerately and thoughtfully. When we arrive somewhere and find rubbish, I often just pick it up quickly – little things like that hugely increase the general acceptance of our way of life.

How do you choose where to spend the night?
Dylan: Sometimes we just find nice places by chance, sometimes we head for places that look good on the satellite image. I’ve gained a pretty good instinct from my travels around the world.

Martina: My success rate is a bit lower... (they both laugh)

Dylan: Yes, it’s wrong almost 90 percent of the time.

Martina: Oh come on, it’s not that bad!

What do you do if there’s an argument?
Martina: It doesn’t happen that often any more, to be honest. But since we’ve been living in the van, we sort things out quicker than we did before and make up more quickly. It’s not that easy to keep out of each other’s way here...

Dylan: We complement each other quite well, and not just in terms of our work. Martina likes cooking and I’m a qualified car mechanic. This creates a bit of clarity on who does what, and we each do what we like best: if we break down or there’s work to be done on the van, that’s always my job. And Martina takes care of the food.

The space in the van is limited. What is the most important item for each of you?
Martina: Our laptops, I think – we need them to work. And my milk frother is very important to me. I can make a great latte macchiato with it... (laughs)

Dylan: We used to do it with a cordless screwdriver. But it didn’t rotate fast enough.

So do you have storage space somewhere? And where does your mail get sent?
Martina: We still have some things at my parents’ house, but we can’t even remember what they are now. Our post goes there too. When we visit my parents, we do sleep outside the front door in the van. They thought that was a bit strange at first, of course – but they’ve got used to it now...

Dylan: My paraglider, for example, is also at Martina’s parents’ house. Yes, sometimes I see other paragliders in the sky and wish I had mine with me. Obviously, we have to plan things like that more long-term than other people do.

How often do you have visitors?
Dylan: Frequently: we find a nice place, send our friends the GPS data and cook for them. Then we sit with them somewhere in the woods or by a lake and can say: just look at what a beautiful garden we have. (laughs)

Martina: We have lots of friends all over Europe. Our lifestyle means we tend to see them more often than before because we’re always travelling anyway. Overall, we probably see our Swiss friends a bit less often than we used to.

What is it that you love about life in the van?
Martina: The freedom, the spontaneity and reducing everything down to the essentials. When we moved into the van, we sold or gave away most of our possessions. It gave us an immediate sense of liberation. We know why now: you don’t need material things to be happy.

Dylan: Of course we have fewer possessions than other people. But it doesn’t feel like we’re doing without: we have a comfortable bed, a cooker, an oven, we have electricity, hot water and even an outdoor shower – what more do you need?

Talking of showers: what are your feelings on the privacy aspect?
Dylan: It’s not a problem. Whenever we ‘take up residence’ somewhere, we hardly ever meet other people and so we have a lot of privacy.

Martina: The funny thing is that in Mongolia, the most sparsely populated country in the world, we actually sometimes did have problems with privacy. You would stop somewhere and you’d be sure it was a secluded place. Then you start cooking – and ten minutes later someone is standing there with their horse watching what we’re doing.

What did you do in Mongolia?
Martina: We travelled east in our van for six months with Mongolia as our goal. I was there for the first time in 2003 and experienced the poverty first hand, but was totally fascinated by the country and the people. So, after the trip, I founded a day care centre in the capital Ulaanbaatar with three friends, which caters for 175 children aged between two and 18 from poor backgrounds.

Where do you spend most of your time?
Dylan: Last year we spent about three months in Switzerland. The rest of the time we were travelling or were on the road in Europe for the talks. This year it’s different: we spent the entire first six months in Switzerland because we were working on our film project. Basically, though, we want to be on the road all the time and have as much variety in our lives as possible.

You had a serious car accident in 2017. What happened?
Dylan: We were on the motorway in Germany on the way to a talk. A driver on the wrong side of the road who was trying to commit suicide drove at full speed into oncoming traffic and hit our van and other vehicles. Two people died in the accident, while the man who wanted to kill himself is actually still alive. That was terrible.

Martina: Our van, which is our home, was wrecked after the accident. We had to get a new van organised very quickly, which Dylan then converted on my parents’ drive in the winter. We have to say: we were incredibly lucky. And we’re doing exactly the right thing by living our dreams now. Life is too short to be unhappy.

Van life is all the rage right now. How do you feel about it?
Martina: Of course, it’s great to see so many people getting excited about it and enjoying the outdoors. On the other hand, more people doing the same thing can also lead to more problems. Anyway, our message is not that everyone has to live in a van to be happy. We think more generally: do what makes you happy!

When do you think you’ll move back into a permanent home?
Martina: I’ve no idea now, maybe never! For us, it’s not a travel project, it’s a way of life. But if it doesn’t suit us any more at some point, we’ll just change it.

Dylan: Yeah, if we can’t stand the sight of each other at some point, I’ll buy her a trailer. (both laugh)

Martina: If I ever get fed up with your jokes, that’s a really good idea. But luckily we’re nowhere near that point...