SOME INSIGHTS
What began as casual build updates and travel stories quickly turned into detailed guides and step-by-step articles. As more people started reaching out, asking questions and sharing their own projects, we realised that there was a real need for honest, practical information about campervan conversions and vanlife. Not just the highlights, but the full picture.
Several years later, CamperPals has become a growing resource for people who want to build their own campervan and design a lifestyle with more freedom. We still publish new content regularly, and we take that responsibility seriously.
Life Before Vanlife
Was there a problem with our “previous” life?
If we’re honest, not really! Before vanlife, our lives were stable and comfortable. We had secure jobs with benefits, a cosy flat, and a close circle of friends. Jacob worked as an engineer, Amanda in finance. We didn’t spend much on things, apart from the occasional piece of sports gear, and we felt fortunate to be able to afford experiences and travel.
There was nothing “wrong” with our life.
But when we looked back at the moments that made us genuinely happy, a pattern was impossible to ignore. Travelling, exploring new places, meeting people from different cultures, and learning by doing were always at the centre of it.
As we approached our thirties, the years started to blur together. The idea of working full-time and squeezing life into a few short and expensive holidays each year felt limiting. We began asking ourselves a simple question: how could we build a lifestyle that allowed us to enjoy more of what we loved, while we were still healthy and curious?
The First Build and the Turning Point
Redefining “Normal”
The spark came unexpectedly. Friends had just returned from a long roof-tent road trip through Poland, and around the same time Amanda had been quietly following campervan and vanlife channels online for years. Building and living in a van had always been a dream, even if it felt unrealistic at first.
That dream quickly turned into our first campervan project.
Change in the Air
Along the way, chance encounters played their part. One afternoon at a café in Italy, after several coffees and more than a few Negronis, we shared our idea with Roxana, a backpacker who had been travelling across Europe for months. She immediately understood the vision. That conversation marked the beginning of what would later become a three-person team behind CamperPals.
From Expenses to Transparency
Living and travelling in a campervan changes how you think about money, space, and priorities. Fewer expenses often come with a smaller income, and every purchase suddenly matters. You can’t stockpile supplies or buy things “just in case”. Everything has to earn its place, both financially and physically.
When we started planning our own conversion and travels, one thing became very clear: reliable information about costs was hard to find. How much does it actually cost to build a campervan? What does vanlife really cost month to month?
So we started tracking everything.
We documented our conversion costs in detail, every hour and every expense, organised by task and category. We also published our travel expenses to give others a realistic baseline for planning their own journeys. Transparency became a core part of Camperpals, and it still is.
From Side Project to Full-Time Resource
Tip: Quit your full-time job = smaller income. You’re welcome.
Originally, the plan was simple. Travel for about a year, use our savings, and eventually settle somewhere along the west coast. Camperpals began as a way to stay creative on rainy van days, sharing photos, layouts and travel stories.
Somewhere along the way, it grew into something else.
Today, Camperpals is used by people all over Europe who are planning or building their own campervan. While our day jobs made vanlife possible in the beginning, the website turned it into a sustainable lifestyle. We are deeply grateful to everyone who reads our guides, uses our affiliate links, downloads diagrams or shares our content with friends.
Without your support, CamperPals simply wouldn’t exist!
Vanlife Costs
We publish our travel expenses to make things simpler and more transparent before you take the leap. There are several years of data you can use as a baseline for planning your own trip and conversion (don’t forget to adjust the numbers for your lifestyle).
Campervan Conversion Costs
We tracked every single expense and every hour spent converting our van. It’s organised by category/task, it doesn’t get more detailed than that.
We hope it helps!
Redefining the Dream
Vanlife taught us a lot, but it also showed us that balance matters. Living on the road full-time is incredible, but it comes with compromises. Over time, we had to let go of parts of our lives that once defined us.
The pandemic forced us to slow down and reassess. It reminded us that having a place to return to can be just as valuable as the freedom to leave. Today, our idea of balance looks different. We aim for several weeks of travel each year, combined with a stable home base and new creative projects.
CamperPals continues to evolve with us. Just like any good story, it has chapters. And the goal has never been to escape life, but to design one that feels meaningful.
Our Team
The People Behind Camperpals
Jacob O.
Engineer with a passion for problem-solving, layouts and technical systems. Jacob focuses on structure, design logic and turning ideas into functional campervan builds.
Roxana S.
Traveller and creative mind with extensive experience of life on the road. Roxana contributes perspective, storytelling and a deep understanding of long-term travel across Europe.
Amanda C.
Finance background with a strong eye for usability and everyday comfort. Amanda brings balance between design, budgeting and real-life vanliving experience.