Vantastic Voyage

This little guy was calling our name when we browsed the small collection of campers at the seller’s lot. It’s a 1986 Volkswagen LT 28 1.9 liter diesel engine (manual transmission). The first thing that struck us was just how much he looked like an old computer. My dad suggested Mac, and we thought it was quite fitting. The other option of Gonk (that little trash can in Star Wars that shows up from time to time and pictured below), did not quite have the same ring.

The look of the van to an old 1984 Mac computer was too striking and so Mac it was.

We were a bit nervous when it would not fire up and had been sitting in the lot for at least 3 months. We were provided with some reassurance that the van had €3,800 of work done to the engine and had since only been driven about 60K Kilometers. The Netherlands require an annual inspection that analyzes some 130 points of the vehicle to insure it is safe and roadworthy. The seller took it in for an inspection, fixed the tire, heater and replaced a battery for us costing them €450. We paid for 6 months of Netherlands road taxes €56 per month (required while registered) and insurance €100 per month.

The van had a nice amount of storage already in it and a number of modifications that we were planning to add ourselves. I must say, I am bummed that we are not creating a custom conversion from scratch, but as we have exceeded our budget for the van thus far, modifications will be minimal. That being said, we are quite happy with the amenities that it provides and are only wishing there were more storage compartments installed. It is roomy and quite a joy to drive. We have nearly hit a speed of 130 kph, which must be done on the freeway going downhill, but he enjoys the comfortable cruise speed of about 90 kph.

Ratha did some great work on hand sewing new covers over the old pink ones and things are looking quite a bit nicer inside. We have bought some fabric for curtains and will likely be doing that ourselves as well. More pictures to come of the inside.

We were planning to buy bikes in the Netherlands and were pleasantly surprised to find out that Mac came with a pair of bikes. He’s equipped with a two burner stove, a sink with an electric pump, pioneer speakers in the front, a pull out awning on the side and a solid bike rack on the back.

Finding a van has proven a bit more difficult than what it originally seemed. Our searching for the best country to purchase a van led us to a dead end. We sought vehicles in Spain, France, Great Britain, Germany and the Netherlands. Cost, value, steering wheel placement, and the ability to have a place to custom build a van were a few of the main considerations. We had a very kind offer from a new friend I had met in Bolivia in February of this year. Ralf and his family who live in west Germany made a generous offer to host us and allow us to stay while we were to work on making our dream machine. What we discovered however, is that for the countries we searched to buy a van in, none of them would allow a non-resident to purchase and insure a van as a visiting foreigner on a tourist visa. If we were to remain on our tourist visa and avoid renting a vehicle, a resident of one of the aforementioned countries would have to purchase the vehicle, own and hold the registration, as well as file and pay for the insurance on it.

Ratha’s friend’s family found a dealer that would ultimately lead us to our van (shoutout to Don and Beth Irby and Jim and Kim Ward for connecting us).

We are currently in Bochum, Germany spending time with our friend Ralf who seems to have a party every day of the week (https://youtu.be/nlmjslPjmek). We are planning to head south for the winter and will have more info coming soon. We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and we will share our experience here as well in the coming days.

***If you are interested in vehicle registration, visa info and the Schengen zone, read on, otherwise the rest may be of no interest***

Vehicle Registration

In the EU, there are various types of vehicle registrations and associated requirements and benefits with each. There are “cargo” and “camper” registrations available for this type of situation. If you are to buy a “cargo” van, it will be registered as such until you meet the country’s specific guidelines for a “camper” classification. This may include things like having a minimum standing height in the vehicle, a stove, a refrigeration unit etc. Most of the required changes you must make would be desirable anyways for a long trip on the road, but you would need to ensure they were done in a way that satisfies the requirements. Though this is doable, you will also need the registrant of the vehicle to take it to a 125 Euro inspection to change the registration type. If it does not pass the inspection, you will need to make the changes and bring it back again and pay another 125 Euro. The benefit to changing the classification is that you will pay a monthly insurance of around 200 Euro with a “cargo” classification type while you pay roughly 50 Euro a month for the “camper” type. It may go without saying, finding someone willing to host you while you search for a vehicle that they will have to purchase, register and insure on your behalf will be difficult. That being said there are a couple of possible loopholes that would allow you to purchase, register and insure on your own.

Loopholes

From the research I have done, there are two possible solutions. In order to do the aforementioned yourself, you must gain some type of residency, which will most likely be temporary, unless you plan on moving to Europe. The first loophole would be applying for a student visa. In order to do this in Germany for example, you would need to show intent of studying by registering for a school (i.e. language school), securing an apartment that you would be staying in (this appears to include the first month of rent and providing a lease agreement). These things can be done when you arrive to Germany. As a U.S. citizen you have 90 days in the country without needing a visa (read more about visa details below). This could give you the ability to study German, part or full time and also allow you 1 year travel throughout the Schegan zone (read more below about this). Considering this method would just be used to get a visa allowing you travel throughout Europe for one year, you won’t likely be studying German. The downside of this is that you have to pay for German classes that you won’t attend and at least one month’s rent that you may not be using as well that provide proof of your intentions to stay.

Schengen Zone

The Schengen zone covers 26 countries (including Scandinavian countries) in the European region which until recent events with terrorist attacks and large numbers of refugees, did not have border controls in place. As a U.S. citizen, you are allowed travel within the zone for 90 days in each 180 day period. The days need not be consecutive and the clock resets after each 180 day period. From what I have read there are people who have overstayed their 90 day limit of varying lengths, some without penalty, some with. These would come in the form of fees and future travel restrictions or scrutiny if you plan to travel the EU in the future. For us, certainly not worth the risk to overstay. If you don’t want to travel too far outside the EU, your options are a good number of countries south of Hungry and Slovenia until you hit Greece (part of Schengen Zone), all of the UK as well as North Africa.